Erin Clarke, Dean’s Distinguished Graduate Fellow, is joining the LED research group

The LED research group welcomes Erin Clarke this semester. Erin is the recipient of Dean’s Distinguished Graduate Enrichment Fellowship and a first-year doctoral student in Learning Technologies.

Erin completed a Master of Library Science with a specialization in Digital Libraries at Indiana University-Bloomington. While in graduate school she was awarded two competitive assistantships. The first, as Metadata Graduate Assistant at Library Technologies, Herman B Wells Library. The second, as an Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Graduate Assistant, at the Lilly Library and University Archives and Records Management. While at Indiana University, she was awarded the Information & Library Science Merit Scholarship created to support students with a record of academic excellence.

Before graduate from Indiana University, Erin worked as an EAD Intern at Library Technologies, Herman B Wells Library. During her work as an intern, she explored the origins and use of Encoded Archival Description, evaluated tools and methods in creation of EAD and offered professional development training. She ended her internship by co-presenting about the future of EAD at Indiana University’s libraries in-house conference.

From 2012 to 2013, Erin was a Ronald E. McNair Scholar at Lamar University. The Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program is a grant funded program by the U.S. Department of Education. Currently there are only 186 programs across the country. The purpose is to prepare, through research and other means, first-generation and low-income students or those underrepresented in their field for doctoral study. Coincidently, Erin directed this program at Lamar University as the Director of the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program before starting her doctoral studies at The Ohio State University.

LED group member in the final stretch …

Vicki Simmerman is in her final stretch to complete the Master of Learning Technologies (MLT). Taking four graduate-level classes in one semester was an adventure,  but it was accomplished by reducing student work hours and working while traveling. Three  conference presentations were also on the plate for Vicki during the Spring of 2018 (all with our LED team members).

Now, after an additional summer course in website design, Vicki is ready to devote her attention to working on the MLT Practicum, which will be an evaluative study of the OHI/O Hackathon in October 2018.  Hackathons are 24-hour intense collaborative events that offer a way to learn hands-on.  Tired but usually happy participants have the opportunity to meet real-world sponsors,  eat great food and share ideas and challenges in a cooperative setting,  all within a 24-hour period. Several surveys were developed and would be distributed to the participants. Vicki will be coding the responses to include in my an evaluative report to hand in to the leaders of the OHI/O Hackathon. This will be followed by a presentation of the main results to this leaders.

Vicki is expected to graduate in December 2018 after two years of intensive graduate-level work.  She is feeling energized and inspired. She is taking inspiration as usual from the LED group members. For example, Karen Bruce Wallace recently finished her MLT (after her PhDin English). Vicki is looking forward to this academic adventure  – lots to do with help from her LED research group.

  North and Simmerman presenting at Innovate 2018 with the rest of the LED members (not pictured)