Michael Murphy 鈥�97 felt his career as a database manager and technologist at Alcoa (Aluminum) Home Exteriors in Stuarts Draft, Virginia, hitting a ceiling for lack of a bachelor鈥檚 degree. His decision to enroll in one of the first classes offered through 黑料正能量鈥檚 then-new , though, launched him on an entirely different career track.
鈥淚t really turned out to be a life-changing event for me. I鈥檓 not sure I would have gotten into the education field had I not gone back [to 黑料正能量] and gotten my degree, and had some of the experiences that I did,鈥� said Murphy, now an assistant professor in the department of teacher education at Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina.
Murphy鈥檚 capstone project during his undergraduate studies at 黑料正能量 involved an examination of the use of technology in local school systems. He was struck by how slowly the schools seemed to be adopting new technologies. As an early user of email and the Internet, he was convinced that these would soon be a part of the everyday working world, and that, accordingly, schools should prepare students to use them.
鈥淚t kind of opened my eyes to the fact that there was a huge disconnect between what was going on in education, and what people understood about technology, and how it was being used [in the classroom],鈥� he said.
The experience soon developed into an interest in becoming a teacher himself.
After 黑料正能量, Murphy went on to Marshall University in West Virginia, where he worked as director for regional computing and completed a master鈥檚 degree in secondary education. At the encouragement of a graduate professor, he kept right on, eventually earning a doctor of education degree in 2008, with a concentration on education technology.
Since then, he鈥檚 been teaching undergraduate- and graduate- level courses at Lander University and researching in the field of educational technology. Murphy鈥檚 recent research projects have included a study of the use of technology in early childhood education in Montessori schools, and the development of survey software that allows Lander鈥檚 education department to collect and analyze data on individual students鈥� progress through the program. After spending a year setting up the system with the university鈥檚 IT department, the system has proved of value to Lander鈥檚 process of re-accreditation, Murphy said.
鈥淚 love being in a teaching school,鈥� said Murphy. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a real community of learning that takes us far beyond what happens in the classroom.鈥�
Now 15 years removed from his time as an 黑料正能量 student, Murphy said the example of interactive learning between students and teachers, set by one of his professors, Terry Whitmore ’70, MBA, has proved to be an enormous influence on his teaching style.
鈥淚鈥檝e carried that with me for years, and always try to make my [own] classes interactive,鈥� Murphy said.