Betts, J David
J David Betts, Ph.D.
Biographical Sketch
Dr. Betts' works in three areas: literacy, technology and the arts. His research has taken him into a variety of Southern Arizona neighborhoods, into middle school language arts classrooms, Charter schools, the world of learning games, online course delivery, and now into the virtual 3D world. These experiences inform his teaching, and the integration of real-world technologies into classes for in-service teachers and teachers-in-training to take back to theirs.
The Wildcat School Video Project documented the first year of the charter school, starting in the weeks before the school opened. The raw material includes school activities and interviews. Teachers welcomed me into the classroom to watch them teach and interview them about their jobs. This video will have important implications and uses for reflective study of the development of this experimental educational environment. The project has yielded several video montages and a short promotional piece that have served to introduce the school to various audiences.
Related to that project, "New Literacies and the Wildcat Multimedia Team" is a formative study of the introduction of multimedia production to the student population. The Multimedia Team had a successful first year and proved its value by documenting award winning student art projects, the school play and by giving voice to student digital storytelling as members learn to plan and execute their own tales.
"Theatre Arts Teaching Artist and Teacher Professional Development: New literacies in Middle School writing class Activity System." This paper described a multi-year naturalistic formative study of experienced teachers in an economically depressed neighborhood participating in a drama residency program. They used creative drama and theatre games to expand their language use.”Integrating Arts and Technology: Games and Literacy." described an after school program called the Arts & Technology Writing Workshop (ATWW) where children used game-making software to express the roles they created in the drama and writing workshop. The formative study explored ways to integrate literacy, technology and the arts in encouraging at-risk young people to write. The computer game engine, StageCast "Learning to be a Teaching Artist: Apprenticeship in Multimedia Arts Education" described the role and development of University students working in an after school program for middle school youth. The program was five semesters long and emphasized a professional approach to art and technology.
Developing a series of LRC courses for the state Reading Endorsement has brought e-learning to the forefront. A state grant supports a dynamic formative experiment in e-learning using Activity Theory as both a design and a construction tool. Recent LRC course developments have accelerated research and writing about online education.
I teach courses that emphasize the relationship of literacy and computer mediated communication and the arts. My graduate courses include LRC 530-Literacy and Technology, LRC 515-Media and Literacy, LRC 645-Computers in Language Arts Research, LRC 560-Multimedia Authoring for Teachers, and LRC 564-Literacy and the Arts; and I also teach LRC 320- Teaching with New Technology.