About Me
Janice Cabahug is a teacher at Grange Middle School in Fairfield, CA and is the President and CEO of Educational Technology Services, Inc. a non-profit.
In her spare time, she likes to read, craft, sew, and is a certified PADI diver.
She has two children and two dogs with her husband, Erik Hammermaster and resides in Vallejo, CA.
Background/Statement of Purpose
Little did I know when I volunteered for the AmeriCorps program at Penn State University that I would actually be making a huge investment into my future. My experiences brought to the forefront a desire and a natural penchant for teaching. The AmeriCorps program was challenging, but extremely rewarding and I tutored at-risk youth after school at the local high school, and was also the designated tutor at the ABC house at State College, PA. An Oprah Winfrey funded non-profit, the ABC house or “A Better Chance,” lives up to its name by placing gifted at-risk youth in some of the nation’s most prestigious public and private schools. My second position within the program brought me to the West Coast where I taught literacy at a largely Spanish-speaking elementary school in Salinas, CA. AmeriCorps was a unique experience in which I realized for the first time that I could make a difference.
The commonality of shared minority experiences empowered me to make connections with the various students on a deeper level in a limited amount of time. It was fulfilling to simultaneously provide emotional and educational support and develop a trusting relationship. Like most teachers, I realized that once that trust was established I could explore varying methods for instruction and I would have my student’s undivided attention. Immersed in these diverse environments, I learned how to interact with varying cultures, backgrounds, and educational levels, and developed a true love of pedagogy.
After my commitment was fulfilled, I took a series of professional positions where I could develop my communication skills through marketing and customer service. I was able to secure my position here at Touro, I where was finally able to achieve some of my short term goals: to teach, to complete my bachelor’s degree, and to begin my Master’s program.
When I committed to the credential program at the Master’s in Innovative Learning, I didn’t realize how much it would change my life. I observed first-hand, the great disconnect between the learning style of the Net Generation and the existing pedagogy, and I was also able to see lack of e-leadership and professional development at the policy level. I began to integrate and apply some of the tools and techniques I was learning in my Master’s program to my College of Pharmacy Experiential lectures, and I was pleasantly surprised to see more students “tuning in.” I began to ask myself: Why are most university faculty still engaging in outdated educational practices? Is faculty open to examining their role as educators? How could we motivate faculty to adopt new methods for instruction? After sourcing through many peer-reviewed journals, I realized that very little research exists in this topic, and if it does, it is primarily faculty attitudes towards online courses.
As a Master’s student in the Touro Innovative Learning Program, we are pushed to investigate and present ideas through the various educational technology tools available in the market today. The varying degrees for the learning curve and the staggering amount of tools spurred the realization that it would be beneficial to all educators, not just professors, if one website could offer efficient training on these tools. Currently, there is no platform for such a collection.
My training programs are not limited to teachers alone. The information will useful for any type of instruction or presentation and can easily translate to an executive presentations or training modules in the workplace. I am currently in the process of building the technical training library and website.
The commonality of shared minority experiences empowered me to make connections with the various students on a deeper level in a limited amount of time. It was fulfilling to simultaneously provide emotional and educational support and develop a trusting relationship. Like most teachers, I realized that once that trust was established I could explore varying methods for instruction and I would have my student’s undivided attention. Immersed in these diverse environments, I learned how to interact with varying cultures, backgrounds, and educational levels, and developed a true love of pedagogy.
After my commitment was fulfilled, I took a series of professional positions where I could develop my communication skills through marketing and customer service. I was able to secure my position here at Touro, I where was finally able to achieve some of my short term goals: to teach, to complete my bachelor’s degree, and to begin my Master’s program.
When I committed to the credential program at the Master’s in Innovative Learning, I didn’t realize how much it would change my life. I observed first-hand, the great disconnect between the learning style of the Net Generation and the existing pedagogy, and I was also able to see lack of e-leadership and professional development at the policy level. I began to integrate and apply some of the tools and techniques I was learning in my Master’s program to my College of Pharmacy Experiential lectures, and I was pleasantly surprised to see more students “tuning in.” I began to ask myself: Why are most university faculty still engaging in outdated educational practices? Is faculty open to examining their role as educators? How could we motivate faculty to adopt new methods for instruction? After sourcing through many peer-reviewed journals, I realized that very little research exists in this topic, and if it does, it is primarily faculty attitudes towards online courses.
As a Master’s student in the Touro Innovative Learning Program, we are pushed to investigate and present ideas through the various educational technology tools available in the market today. The varying degrees for the learning curve and the staggering amount of tools spurred the realization that it would be beneficial to all educators, not just professors, if one website could offer efficient training on these tools. Currently, there is no platform for such a collection.
My training programs are not limited to teachers alone. The information will useful for any type of instruction or presentation and can easily translate to an executive presentations or training modules in the workplace. I am currently in the process of building the technical training library and website.