VITA

 

CHRISTOPHER D. SESSUMS

 

Post Doctoral Associate, Educational Technology Department

School of Teaching and Learning

College of Education, The University of Florida

Gainesville, Florida 32611-7048

(352) 273-4178

(Email)            csessums@coe.ufl.edu


(WWW)         http://plaza.ufl.edu/ilji

http://eduspaces.net/csessums/weblog

http://twitter.com/csessums

 

PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS

 

                        Participatory Media in Education

                        Online Teacher Professional Development

Online Learning Communities

                        Communities of Practice

                        Teacher Education

Social Learning Environments

Social Networking Systems

User Interface Design (UI/UX)

Design-Based Research

Cognitive Psychology

 

EDUCATION

 

                        B.A.     English Literature, University of Florida, 1989

                        M.Ed.  Secondary English Education, University of Florida, 1997

                        Ph.D.   Curriculum and Instruction, University of Florida, 2009

 

EXPERIENCE

 

Post Doctoral Associate, Educational Technology, University of Florida
(2009-present)

           

Adjunct Instructor, Educational Technology, University of Florida,
(2008-2009)

 

Director, Distance Education, College of Education, University of Florida
(2006-2008)

 

Director, Distance Learning, Division of Distance, Continuing, and
Executive Education, University of Florida (2001-2006)

 

Director, Office of Correspondence Study, Division of Continuing
Education, University of Florida (2001-2006)

 

Coordinator, Office of Correspondence Study, Division of Continuing
Education, University of Florida (2000-2001)

 

Middle School Language Arts Teacher, P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School, University of Florida (1999)

 

British Literature Teacher (12th grade AP and Mainstream), P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School, University of Florida (1997-1999)

 

Marketing Coordinator, Exit Information Guide, Inc., Gainesville, Florida (1994-1995)

 

Assistant Art Director, Exit Information Guide, Inc., Gainesville, Florida (1993-1994)

 

Graphic Artist, Exit Information Guide, Inc., Gainesville, Florida (1991-1992)

 

Infantryman, 1st 1/16 Division Infantry Forward, US Army Europe, Boblingen, Germany (1989-1991)

 

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

 

                        American Education Research Association

                        International Society for Technology in Education

                        Association for Learning Technology

                        ASCD (nee Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development)

 

PROFESSIONAL OFFICES

                       

                        University Committee Activity

 

Distance, Continuing, and Executive Education Operations Committee,
University of Florida

                                    „ Chair, 2001-2005    

 

University Curriculum Committee, University of Florida

                                    „ Member, Ex-Officio, 2003-2006

                                    „ Member, Professional Degree Subcommittee, 2004-2005

 

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Concerns Committee,
University of Florida

                                    „ Member, 2008-current

 

                        Distance Education & Online Learning Task Force, University of Florida

                                    „ Member, appointed by Provost, 2007

 

                        Distance Learning Council, University of Florida

                                    „ Member, 2006-2008

 

                        Information Technology Advisory Council, University of Florida

                                    „ Member, Copyright Subcommittee, 2004-2005

 

                        Graduate Council, University of Florida

                                    „ Member, Ex-Officio, 2003-2006

 

                        Intellectual Property Forum, University of Florida

                                    „ Member, 2003-2004            

 

                        Undergraduate Advisors Council, University of Florida

                                    „ Member, 2002-2006

 

                        Course Management System Advisory Group, University of Florida

                                    „ Member, 2002-2003

 

 

                        College-level Committee Membership

 

                        Technology Committee, College of Education, University of Florida

                                    „ Member, 2007-2008

 

Distance Education Task Force, College of Education,
University of Florida

                                    „ Chair, 2007-2008

 

AWARDS

 

                        Best Individual Blog, Edublog Awards, 2006

 



PUBLICATIONS

 

                        Peer-Reviewed Journals

                       

Sessums, C. D. (in preparation) Facilitating a community of online
learners.

 

Sessums, C. D., Dana, N. F., & Dana, T. (in preparation) The case of an
online learning community in support of collaborative teacher inquiry.

 

Dawson, K., Cavanaugh, C., Sessums, C. D., Kumar, S., & Black, E. W.
(under review) Conceptualizing signature pedagogies in professional practice doctoral degrees via an example from educational technology.

 

Sessums, C. D., Dawson, K., Cavanaugh, C., Kumar, S., & Black, E. W.
(in preparation) Designing and supporting the professional practice doctorate for educational technology leaders: An Ed.D. program in educational technology.

 

Book Chapters

 

Sessums, C. D. (in preparation). Afterword. In S McLeod & C. Lehmann (Eds.), School Administration and Social Media. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Wiley.

 

Riffee, W. & Sessums, C.D. (2004). Development of Quality Distance
Learning Programs. Encyclopedia of Online Learning and Technology. Hershey: Idea Group, Inc.

 

Sessums, C.D., Irani T., Telg, R., & Roberts, G. (2005). Case Study:
Developing a University-Wide Distance Education Evaluation Program at the University of Florida. Online Assessment, Measurement and Evaluation: Emerging Practices, Volume III. Hershey: Idea Group, Inc.

 

Bound Conference Proceedings

 

Sessums, C. (2005). Examining the Teaching Styles of Online Instructors: A Proposed Research Study of Online Instructors At The University of Florida. In C. Crawford et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2005 (pp. 597-600). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

 

 

 

GRANT PROPOSAL ACTIVITY

 

Institute of Education Sciences, July 2009, SWEET: Student Writing
Enhanced via Engaging Technology. I served as a writing and technology consultant.

 

Institute of Education Sciences, July 2008, Examining the impact of Classroom Connectivity systems for increasing mathematics learning. I served as a technology consultant.

 

INVITED ADDRESSES

 

Sessums, C. D. & Treacy, B. Invited Speaker for Teacher Magazine Webinar discussing Can Web 2.0 save teacher professional development? November 15, 2009. http://bit.ly/edweekwebinar

 

Sessums, C. D., Invited Speaker on Social Media and Education, Harvard University, August 18, 2009.

 

Sessums, C. D., Invited Speaker: The future of teacher professional development: Re-connecting people and practice. The Future of Education Conference. University of Manitoba. June 4, 2007.

 

Sessums, C. D., & Glogowski, K. Invited Speaker: Personal learning environments: Exploring professional development in a networked world. Webheads In Action Online Convergence. May 20, 2007.

 

Sessums, C. D., Invited Speaker: School 2.0: Medium & Message: Teaching & Learning. Blogstreams Salon, TappedIn.org, March 04, 2007

 

Sessums, C. D., Invited Speaker: Is there a community with this text? Building a new view of teaching and community. Curverider Conference Series No. 1. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, September 05, 2006.

 

Sessums, C. D., Irani, T., Keynote Address: Assessing Distance Learning Courses & Programs. Educational Teleconsortium of Michigan (ETOM) Fall 2003 Conference, Traverse City, Michigan, October 10, 2003.

 

 

PRESENTATIONS

 

                        National/International

 

Kumar, S. & Sessums, C. (2010). Powerpoints to Podcasts: Students' Use of Web 2.0 in Course Assessments in Higher Education. In Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2010 (pp. 2766-2771). Chesapeake, VA: AACE. Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/35031.

 

Sessums, C. D. The case of an online learning community in support of collaborative teacher inquiry. American Educational Research Association (AERA), Denver, Colorado, April 2010.

 

Dawson, K., Cavanaugh, C., & Sessums, C. D. Using Signature Pedagogies and Design-Based Research to Develop a Blended Professional Practice Doctoral Degree for Educational Technologists. Educational Design Research: Local Change & Global Impact--A Special Conference to Honor Professor Thomas C. Reeves Upon His Retirement from the University of Georgia; Athens, Georgia, March 26, 2010.

 

Dana, N. F., Sessums, C. D., & Dawson, K. M., Speaker: Using Web 2.0 Technologies to Coach Teacher Action Research. ASCD, Orlando, Florida, March 16, 2009.

 

Sessums, C. D., Lecturer: Examining the Teaching Styles of Online Instructors. Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education (SITE 2005), Phoenix AZ, March 1-5, 2005.

 

Sessums, C. D., Moderator: Evaluating Distance LearningÕs Impact: Identifying Effective Models. Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications (WCET) 16th Annual Conference, Beyond Boundaries: Weaving E-Learning into the Higher Education Mainstream, San Antonio, TX, November 12, 2004.

 

Sessums, C. D., Speaker: The Best of Both Worlds: How Hybrid Courses are Changing the Face of Higher Education. Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC), Orlando, Florida, January 22, 2004.

 

Sessums, C. D., Speaker: Developing a University-wide Distance Evaluation Program. The Ninth Sloan-C International Conference of Asynchronous Learning Networks, Orlando, Florida, November 15, 2003.

 

Sessums, C. D., Speaker: Evaluating Distance Education Programs: Measurement for Institutional Change. Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications (WCET) 15th Annual Conference, San Diego, California, November 3, 2003.

 

Sessums, C. D., Speaker: Distance Learning: Development Processes Which Ensure Success. Ohio Learning Network (OLN) 2003 Conference, Columbus, Ohio, March 3, 2003.

 

Sessums, C. D., Speaker: Mainstreaming Non-Traditional Infrastructure in a Traditional Environment. International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE)/Canadian Association of Distance Education (CADE) North American Regional Conference on Distance Education, Calgary, Canada, May 26, 2002.

 

Sessums, C. D., Speaker: Who Owns It?: Parental Involvement and Whole School Change. Coalition for Essential Schools Fall Forum, Atlanta, Georgia, October 10, 1999.

 

                        State/Regional

 

Sessums, C. D., Speaker: Facilitating online teacher professional learning: The teacher educator as social artist. Student Alliance of Graduates in Education, College of Education, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, June 26, 2009.

 

Sessums, C. D., Speaker: Using social software to support teacher professional development. Florida Society of the Social Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, October 18, 2008.

 

Sessums, C.D., Speaker: Using social software to support teacher professional development. Student Alliance of Graduates in Education, College of Education, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, June 6, 2008.

 

Sessums, C. D., Panelist: Florida Association of Departments of English Panel: Distance Learning. Florida College English Association Annual Meeting, Sanford, Florida, October 18, 2001.

 

 

DOCTORAL PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

 

I completed my Ph.D. program Curriculum and Instruction from the School of Teaching and Learning in the College of Education at the University of Florida in May 2009 with an emphasis in educational technology. My dissertation, The path from insight to action: The case of an online learning community in support of collaborative teacher inquiry, examined the ways in which participation in an online learning community (as a teacher professional development organizational structure) supported/hindered participantsÕ abilities to (1) deepen their understanding of the teacher inquiry/action research process; (2) deepen their understanding of coaching teacher inquiry/action research; and (3) deepen their understanding of their own evolving stance toward their coaching practice. Accordingly, my program of study specifically focused on the ways in which digital participatory media could be used to support teacher professional development. This led me into detailed investigations of organizational structures such as communities of practice (Lave & Wenger; Wenger) and professional learning communities (DuFour & Eaker), and teacher professional development models such as teacher inquiry (Cochran-Smith & Lytle) and action research (Lewin). In terms of theoretical constructs, I examined activity theory (LeontÕev), cultural-historical activity theory (Engestršm), and actor-network theory (Latour) in detail. Methodologically, my focus evolved in and around the area of qualitative research and specifically on grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss), case studies (Yin; Stake), and personal narrative analysis (Chase).