Two profs win state award for innovation
Abbitt receives award from Chancellor Fingerhut and Governor Ted Strickland 
3/27/09
Jason Abbitt and Michele Dickey, both faculty members in Miami University’s educational psychology department, are among 10 educators honored statewide for using technological innovation to reduce the cost of textbooks to students.
Chancellor Eric D. Fingerhut created the award, which includes a $1,000 honorarium, to recognize and stimulate the development and use of innovative, affordable instructional materials.
Abbbit was honored for developing a social bookmarking system for a course on integrating technology into the classroom. Students seek out digital content related to educational technology and post it. Students then rate and comment on the items posted by other students.
A $70 to $90 textbook is not only expensive for a one-credit course, but a traditional textbook does not meet the needs of students given how dynamic the field is, said Nelda Cambron-McCabe, chair of the educational psychology department.
Dickey, who also teaches an educational technology course, was honored for creating an innovative and economical approach to Web-based learning. Her students design lesson plans and create educational media using a cognitive apprenticeship approach.
A variety of videos and flash animation materials, designed for students with various levels of technological expertise, allow learners to electronically “look over the shoulder” of the instructor and see and hear the thought process behind creating technological instructional materials, said Cambron-McCabe.
“We are proud to be at the forefront of using technology not only to improve classroom learning, but to hold down costs. It’s quite an honor to have two of the 10 faculty members honored statewide,” she said.
Dickey and Abbitt are affiliated with Miami’s master’s program in Instruction Design and Technology (IDT) but also teach undergraduates. IDT prepares students for careers in a variety of settings, including pre-kindergarten through 12th grade schools, industry, higher education, government, military, and health care.
They received their awards March 24 in Columbus. A third faculty member, Janet E. Hurn, senior instructor of physics at Miami University Middletown, was also honored.