Curriculum Vitae

Professional Overview

Introduction

My name is Tyonia but most people call me Ty. In 2015, I made a decision to join the PhD in Learning Technologies program at the University of North Texas as a full-time student.

I have always had a passion for financial literacy and personal education.  Through the Distributed PhD in Learning Technologies program, I've had the great opportunity to spend the last few years exploring not only the usage of technology in education but the many theories and frameworks that underline the field of educational technology.  Through my coursework with UNT, I have been able to explore the many connections between financial education, technology, and many other topics.  Today, these experiences help to fuel and further refine my research interests.

While my major research interests are centered around the impact of financial education, I am also very interested in informal learning and the impact of social settings on education.  Some of the learning mediums that I hope to explore through my research include online environments, mobile applications, social media sites, and video-based content sites.

I’m looking forward to utilizing my quick learning, goal-oriented mindset and attention for detail to make a lasting impact on education, especially financial education.  I hope you’ll keep browsing to see what I’ve done so far.

Reflective Intellectual Growth

When I started in the UNT PhD in Learning Technologies program in 2015, the foundational aspects of the Learning Technology field were completely unfamiliar to me.  I had no idea what ADDIE meant.  Connectionism, Constructivist Theory, and Experiential Learning meant nothing to me.

Shortly after joining the program, I was asked to assist with two different types of training, one live training for high school students and a training manual for security traders.  While going through the ADDIE model in class, I learned just how important the analysis phase was to the rest of the project, especially the design phase.  Without proper analysis, it is possible to have a design that does not meet the intended goal.  I was then able to apply what I learned to the two trainings to ensure that they each met their goals.

During my first year of the program, I struggled in many of the classes because I could not seem to organize all the information in my mind.  Since then, I’ve realized that my confusion lay in my belief that there were only a few theories that would rarely change.  I thought that I had to completely understand each theory in detail in order to be successful in the program. Through my coursework and interactions with others in the field, I’ve learned that theories and their related frameworks evolve over time. These items are used as methods for driving the expansion of knowledge so they must evolve as new knowledge is added to the field. Understanding this helped me to realize that theories are continuously subject to reevaluation based on new research and that this research is what contributes to knowledge creation.

Another insight that I’ve learned through my experience in the program is the importance of preliminary research. The level of research that needs to be done before starting to write on a subject for publication was new to me.  My Master’s degree is in Accounting so in my previous experience, changes were minimal and usually took more than a year to be make a lasting impact on the field, so research did not change practice quickly.  The instructional technology field is different in this aspect.  Theories are ever evolving and transitioning in and out of usage based on new research.  Because of this, I have learned to look more at existing research surrounding a topic before attempting to write on the topic.

Throughout the coursework for the program, many of my instructors challenged students to write reflections on what we learned.  Initially, this was a challenge for me but now I find it very beneficial to reflect on what I have accomplished and what I’d like to accomplish going forward.  This has helped me to think more critically about the impact of individual tasks on my overall academic and career plans.

Finally, one of the most important things that I’ve learned is that despite the obstacles that I encounter along my journey, I can still be successful.  Every individual has struggles but determination and perseverance are essential to success.

Research Interests

My research interests were originally focused solely on financial education.  I had hoped to focus on creating financial education curricula in an effort to increase financial literacy.  While I am still interested in designing training that relates to financial awareness, I have realized that there are many other ways to impact financial education that do not involve curriculum design.

My research interests now include corporate training (especially related to the financial industry), financial literacy, financial education, informal learning, video education, mobile education.  I hope that by exploring each of these areas I can better understand ways to improve financial skills in various communities.

Professional Goals

My passion for financial skills and education has guided me into the financial services industry for most of my career.  Although I hope to conduct more research as my career progresses, I do not want to leave this industry.  Instead, I hope to bring my financial services knowledge to all my future training products.

I plan to work with institutions to help them to understand if and how financial education can be used to increase the financial skills of their employees and other stakeholders.  By partnering with institutions, I hope to use my financial industry background and my training knowledge to make a larger impact on corporate training, financial skills, and financial education.

Education

Scholarly Writings

Scholarly Image	Description	Scholarly Project
	X “In a modern economy, the investment in human capital by firms is crucial to foster technological adoption and foster productivity growth” (Almeida & Aterido, 2015).  In an effort to increase productivity, many institutions and organizations have developed training programs for their associates. Organizations that previously did not have any training have realized the benefits of implementing training for some, if not all, associates.  In fact, Seraphim (2010) notes that, Faced with the globalization of markets and an increasing domestic and international competition, most firms are coming to the conclusion that their survival depends on their capacity to maintain well trained employees that continually acquire new knowledge and skills, enabling thus the firm to respond rapidly to market opportunities and threats (p. 109).  The trainings can often be separated into two types, formal and informal. “In a modern economy, the investment in human capital by firms is crucial to foster technological adoption and foster productivity growth” (Almeida & Aterido, 2015).  In an effort to increase productivity, many institutions and organizations have developed training programs for their associates. Organizations that previously did not have any training have realized the benefits of implementing training for some, if not all, associates.  In fact, Seraphim (2010) notes that, Faced with the globalization of markets and an increasing domestic and international competition, most firms are coming to the conclusion that their survival depends on their capacity ...   Read More >>

Professional Presentations

Title: Financial Literacy & the Digital Divide Venue: Global Learn 2019 Location: Princeton, NJ, US Date: July 2019