The daily diet of 500 words continues. It’s not the end of the year yet. So, I’m getting a head start on writing resolutions. One of the main conversations of the day was the current rape allegations against UVa which Tom, Ephraim and I (and then Georgia Sharon, and Kady) delved deeply into during our post holiday walk. What a sad situation! I continually thought how sad it was that I had chosen to stay at UVa! I hate it here. Why am I here? But then I keep thinking that this is not about me. My choice has always been to focus on ePortfolios and help make a reality the vaunted aspirations of Liberal Arts Education at a traditional American institution of higher education. Now, with a clear mandate, a new Director, a new College Dean, and the tools and resources to get it done, I am on the cusp of making that dream come true. In my own way, I will contribute to the definition of an LAE through the implementation of the humble yet revolutionary ePortfolio methodology to bring about not only revolutionary teaching, learning, and assessment processes, but also the technology necessary to scaffold a solution to the dilemma faced by the US higher-education industry in general.
About Yitna Firdyiwek
Yitna Firdyiwek is an Instructional Designer in the Office of Technology Strategies in the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Virginia. Until recently, he was with the University's Information Technology Services where he worked as Instructional Technology Advisor in the Scholarly Technology Group.
Yitna has a PhD in Instructional Technology from the Curry School and two Masters, one in Linguistics (George Mason University) and one in Creative Writing (Brown University).
From 1997-2009 he was actively involved in the University of Virginia's Teaching + Technology Initiative. He also worked with UVaCollab, the University's Learning Management System, where he developed the "interactive syllabus" project. He also focused on integrating external applications into the University's LMS. He is currently involved with learning technology initiatives and works with instructors in the College of Arts and Sciences on the design, development, and implementation of innovative approaches to technology integration in undergraduate courses.
Yitna is interested in the use of ePortfolios for reflective learning and authentic assessment, and has published collaboratively on these topics. He is also interested in practical designs for efficient teaching and learning management systems, as well as improvements of technology enhanced classroom environments.
When he is able to, Yitna keeps one foot in the undergraduate classroom developing and teaching a reading and writing course in the history and philosophy of technology.
Yitna is a naturalized US citizen (native of Ethiopia), and lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.
