Dr. Jessica Somers

University System of Georgia Board of Regents

Executive Director of Academic Innovation

Advanced Learning Technologies Unit

Ph.D. University of Georgia 1995

Work History

• Personnel Coordinator, Sun Products Corporation

• Research Coordinator, Budget and Research Services

• Assistant Director, Placement and Co-op Department

• Education Instruction Specialist, IBM Corporation

• Graduate Assistant, Developmental Studies Div, UGA

• Temp Instructor, Intro to CPU-Based Ed, IT Dept, UGA

• Technology Environment Coordinator and Assistant Director, Center for Educational Technology, COE, UGA

• Associate Dir., Distance Ed and Academic Innovation

• Director, Academic Innovation

• Executive Director, Academic Innovation

Job Duties

• Responsible for System-wide faculty development activities focused on incorporating technology into instruction

• Contract with external entities to develop scalable and sustainable training solutions

• Serve as liaison for collaboratively developed online degree programs

• Represent ALT in Regents’ activities

• Conference Program Chair—MERLOT International Conference, 2001

• Repository of instructional Resources developed by USG faculty, designers and programmers

• Focuses on collaborative development and delivery of online coursework

• Preview of other course work

• USG Faculty have opportunity to adopt existing course materials

• Courses offered for credit through five institutions

SCOUT

MERLOT

• Open Collection of Resources created by faculty nationwide

• Appropriate resources for education are immediately accessible

• Learning modules span the academic spectrum, both in terms of discipline and approach

• Searchable by keyword or subject hierarchy

Site Content

• Reference Materials

• Virtual Tours

• Animations

• Interactive Instructions

• Simulations

• Sample Lesson Plans

• Links to Other Individuals in Discipline

Peer Evaluations

• All material reviewed by subject matter experts and instructional designers

• Reviewers evaluate quality of content, effectiveness of material for teaching, and ease of use

• Reviews are by peers using composite averages of all reviewers

Partners

•22 higher learning institutes are partners

•Lending their talents for the good of the whole

•Promotes more serious discussions of materials as well as implementation of technology in classrooms

Somers / MERLOT

• Represents USG as Project Director for MERLOT

• Provides leadership for MERLOT projects

• Supports peer review of Web-based learning materials by USG faculty

About This Presentation

SCOUT Website: http://alt.usg.edu/scout

MERLOT Website: http://www.merlot.org

Other Websites:http://www.codeconnoisseur.org/it/edit6100/task2

Dr. Somers’ Image: http://www.celt.lsu.edu/cfd

Background Image: http://www.deviantART.com

Publications

MERLOT for web-based learning and teaching. UCNS Computer Review, UGA, 2001

A process for initiating change: Developing technology goals for a college of education. Journal of Teacher Education, 1996

What's in a game? A study of games as an instructional method in an adult education class. Innovative Higher Education, 1993

Education

•Ph.D. University of Georgia 1995

•M.B.A. West Georgia College 1981

•B.B.A. West Georgia College 1977