When teacher Amanda Sliva began looking at master’s programs in education, she hoped to help her students improve their digital literacy and technology skills. She also wanted to enhance her own knowledge in those areas. However, she needed to do so without uprooting her family or changing jobs.
Sliva lives in Mount Pleasant, Ohio, and teaches in the rural Harrison Hills City School District. She says it was challenging at first to find a graduate school option that fit her situation. “Where I’m coming from, there are not a lot of in-person programs that you can walk into,” she said.
After some research, she chose the online Master of Science in Education – Teacher Education – Curriculum and Instruction – Digital Teaching and Learning program at Youngstown State University. Sliva liked its emphasis on innovation and the future of learning.
“It helps to have extra tools in the tool belt, so to speak, as far as being proficient in using the technology within the classroom,” she said. “That’s why I was really interested in this program compared to others. I found it to be kind of unique in what it offered as far as teachers advancing their digital teaching practices.”
Sliva enrolled in May 2022 and started her master’s courses while teaching full time. Ten months into the program, she and her husband welcomed their fourth child, and she completed the degree while on maternity leave with her new daughter. As an educator and a mother, she says learning online at YSU offered the flexibility she needed.
“You can log in any time that you’re available and work on the modules for that week,” she said. “You could do your readings and assignments in a traditional program at home whenever you want, but as far as going to the classes … you have a sick kid, you really can’t flex your time,” she noted.
Sliva graduated in December 2023 and still marvels at the fact she earned a degree in her location, on her schedule. “I’m just lucky to have been able to do it online,” she said.
Bridging Rural Technology Gaps
Sliva was familiar with Youngstown State because she began her college career on campus there 20 years ago, initially majoring in premed, then music. She eventually transferred to Ohio University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Education – Middle Childhood Education, with certifications in language arts and science for grades four to nine.
Since graduating from the University in 2006, Sliva has alternated teaching both subjects. She’s also been focused on a promise she made to herself.
“I wanted to be the good force that was helping those kids in the classroom because I did not have a whole lot of good examples and understanding teachers during that time,” she explained, referencing her experience as a middle school student. “I try to be that support that I lacked when I was in school.”
Sliva believes her master’s in education from YSU is helping her follow through on that commitment by bridging technology gaps for the kids she teaches.
“A lot of our students, because we’re in such a rural area, their first time using or interacting with a computer is through the school,” she said. While every student in her district is issued a Google Chromebook they can take home, Sliva estimates that about a third don’t have internet service or a connection reliable enough to complete homework online.
Graduate coursework in curriculum development gave her the expertise she needed to design new classroom-based assignments that make use of digital tools and resources. Sliva has also enjoyed connecting with her students by learning to use technologies they’re excited about.
“The coding and the gaming courses were something that drew me to the program,” she said, “because I thought, ‘Hey, those are things that kids are really taking an interest in right now.’ So it couldn’t hurt to reach out and try something new like that and be able to incorporate that into my classes.”
Creative Curriculum and Pedagogy
Working with graduate professors at YSU gave Sliva the confidence to explore new methods for teaching familiar subjects. One of her favorite examples is a creative writing assignment she developed for a unit on poetry.
Sliva’s students composed an original poem, then used a coding application to add music, visuals or animation. “Instead of just writing their poem on a piece of paper or typing it into a Google doc, they can transform what they’re doing and bring their poetry to life,” she said.
She also created an inventive lesson plan for using the 3D game Minecraft in the classroom. It started as an assignment for one of her graduate courses, but she knew the first step would be to consult the authorities on the subject: her eighth graders.
“I’m like, ‘Okay, you guys, I need you to help me,'” she said, smiling as she remembered the moment. “‘I think you’re going to be the experts about this. What do you know about Minecraft?'”
Sliva says the quiet classroom suddenly erupted, with her excited students all trying to talk at once. The discussion helped her come up with a unique teaching unit based on the young adult dystopian novel “The Giver” by Lois Lowry. After students finished reading the book, they used critical thinking and gaming skills to reimagine the fate of the main character.
“One of their assignment choices was to use Minecraft to build a scene showing where they think Jonas ended up at the end of the story,” she noted. The task allowed her to assess each student’s knowledge of the book and its narrative elements.
Sliva stresses that this type of classroom technology integration has an empowering effect as well. She says it allows students to take learning into their own hands and accelerate their education through discovery. “It’s been helpful to go through and see the ways we can make that happen,” she said.
Charting the Future of Education
Sliva credits YSU’s rigorous coursework and supportive professors for the perspective she has gained on her responsibilities as an educator. “I’ve done a lot of deep thinking as far as what can I change in my own practice to make things more effective for teaching and learning,” she said. “I can make changes, small to big, that are going to positively impact the learners that come into my classroom.”
She says the program and its resources helped her connect with students who experience learning challenges and incorporate more activities for all students that build teamwork and communication skills.
Sliva believes that delivering K-12 course content using interactive technology, and helping young learners take charge of their education, ultimately helps them make a smoother transition to work or college, regardless of the grade level where that integration begins.
“We need to have a lot more group-centered, student-centered orientation with our education format where the kids are the ones that are diving in, they are taking initiative,” she suggested. “What we do in the classroom needs to model what they need to do in the real world. That’s how we’re going to prepare our students.”
Sliva says that earning a master’s focused on curriculum and technology has also expanded her own career options down the road, including educational consulting or guiding the next generation of teachers as a college professor.
For the moment, however, she’s enjoying the time at home with her baby and family. Sliva says that once she returns to the classroom, she’ll be better prepared to advocate for each student’s right to digital literacy and 21st-century skills, thanks to everything she’s learned at YSU.
“I’d definitely choose this program over again,” she said. “I think it’s worked well for me.”
