Shanna

Shanna Falgoust, 2009
My name is Shanna Falgoust and I am an award-winning graphics designer through the Texas Schools Public Relations Association (TSPRA) and a recognized community education instructor by the Texas Community Education Association (TCEA).

 

As a technology teacher at Boerne ISD, I researched, proposed and received grant funding to implement a game creation curriculum unit, using Game Maker Pro 7, following the interactive/multimedia section of the middle school Technology Applications TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) standards. I executed this idea to support 21st century skill building and core content integration in an effort to engage students in the classroom, encourage core content mastery, promote self-directed learning and peer collaboration, support the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as well as the growth of student self-efficacy.

 

At the International Society for Technology in Education's (ISTE) National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) in 2008, I organized a student showcase entitled, "Collaborative Game Design Projects Engage Hearts & Minds!" where students showed off their talent and shared their experiences as game designers. This showcase included one of my Boerne ISD middle school students, who demonstrated his group's Game Maker history game which was based on the various battles during the Civil War. He spoke about the process for incorporating the core content, which he learned during that school year, into his project to create an educational game that reinforced comprehension of the subject matter. Anna Sexton, A Northide ISD (NISD) high school Instructional Technologist, showcased some of her students' upper-level game design projects, while Amanda McNamara, (ISTE SIGGS Leadership Panel member, TexasGames.net founder, and community education instructor) had her fifth grade student demonstrate critical thinking and problem solving skills by creating a game during the showcase for educational professionals to observe.

 

I continued my endeavor to support 21st century skill building and core content integration as an instructional technologist for Hays CISD by proposing and receiving in excess of $51,000 for district funding to implement several new, semester-long, middle school technology courses. These courses were standardized across the district and vertically aligned with the Career and Technology Education career clusters available at the high school level; Interactive Media (Game Design), Web Design and Development, Print Media, and Broadcast Media using Game Maker Pro 8 and Adobe CS4 software.

 

Currently, I work for the Texas Education Service Center in Region 20 (ESC20) where I develop distance learning content provided to educators in Texas for the purpose of growth in professional development. In addition, I aid in the design of print materials and the Moodle learning management system, and assist in the restructuring and implementation of best practices for ESC20's online self-paced course development. In May, I was a presenter for Region 20's "Exploring 21st Century Careers" Career Day for 8th grade students from various school districts in our region of Texas. My presentation discussed the many roles and career paths in game development; the soft skills, hard skills and experience students should develop; and education students should seek. In addition, students had the opportunity to get hands-on with the user-friendly, drag-and-drop game development software, Game Maker 8 Lite.

 

My side endeavors include continuing to develop secondary game development curriculum that allows for the integration of core content; designing and co-developing the ISTE SIGGS PLC (Games & Simulations Professional Learning Community) website; promoting student awareness in the career fields of graphics design, web design and game design; and networking with local, state, national and international advocate groups to build a stronger support base for game development in education: TexasGames.net, ISTE, TCEA, TxDLA, SA-ASTD, etc.

 

EDUCATION: PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENTS: AREAS OF EXPERTISE (Skills): AREAS OF EXPERTISE (Software): DIGITAL FOOTPRINT:
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