About The Personalized Learning Professor
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Dr. Short grew up in Odessa, Missouri, about one hour east of Kansas City. He was fortunate to have grown up in a teaching family. His father was a high school science teacher, and his mother was an elementary special education teacher. He decided to become an educator because of them.
His mom is one of the greatest teachers he have ever known, and he is definitely not the only one who feels that way. She was named Missouri Special Educator of the Year in 2000, but unfortunately had to retire in 2004 due to Multiple Sclerosis. There was a year where she was in the hospital nearly more than she was at school! She ultimately had to choose between teaching and living; in her mind, she wasn't living unless she was teaching. After talking the situation over with her husband, who was close to retirement, Dr. Short's mother decided to retire as well. When Dr. Short thought about how many students were going miss out on the educational experiences his parents had provided, he knew someone had to do something. He decided to be that someone. Dr. Short put aside other career aspirations and elected to carry the torch of education in his parents' stead, reaching out and personalizing education in the ways his parents always had. Luckily for him, he loved teaching so much that he couldn't imagine doing anything else! Upon graduating from the University of Central Missouri (UCM) with a Bachelor of Science in English Education and a Master of Arts in English, Dr. Short accepted a teaching position at Raymore-Peculiar High School. He spent four years at Ray-Pec, and during his penultimate year was nominated for the district's Teacher of the Year Award. He worked with so many teachers who were doing great things that his nomination came as a big surprise; Dr. Short felt honored to be recognized among so many great educators. He soon realized that even though he was being recognized for serving his students and fellow staff members, there were more students at the school he would never have the chance to serve and more staff members that he would never get to share ideas with. Again, he decided to change his career plans. After a very well received presentation at the regional Write to Learn Conference about multi-modal literacies, some of Dr. Short's colleagues suggested that he should look into pursuing faculty development, but he wasn't ready to leave teaching high school quite yet. He began looking for even more ways to engage his learners and discovered systems for personalizing and blending his pedagogies. He shared them with his colleagues, and students became excited about learning in their classes. Discovering new ways to integrate technology into the classroom led Dr. Short to pursue his Ph.D. He applied for Brigham Young University's (BYU) Instructional Psychology and Technology Doctoral program. He was accepted to BYU on February 7th of 2017, his 29th birthday, and started his studies in the Fall of the same year. At BYU, Dr. Short worked with Dr. Charles R. Graham, Dr. Jered Borup, and other IP&T students and faculty on blended learning initiatives for K-12 environments. Dr. Short now provides pre-service and in-service teachers with the tools and abilities they need to better personalize and engage their learners, while increasing student agency and access through his scholarship, blog, service, and instruction. EXPERIENCE / SKILLS
Adobe Illustrator + GarageBand + iMovie + Canvas + Google Drive Applications + Microsoft Office Suite + Instructional Strategies + Instructional Design + Teaching Online + Online Course Design + Personalized Learning Design and Theory AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Open Access Award for Open Education - Texas Tech University Libraries (2021) K-12 Online and Blended Learning Promising Scholar Award (2021) Smaldino and Herring Teacher Leadership Award (2020) IP&T Student Organization - President, (2018-2019) IP&T Student Organization - Vice President, President-Elect (2017-2018) Olin J. Campbell Memorial Scholarship - Brigham Young University, IP&T Department (2018) Outstanding Teaching Award - Brigham Young University, IP&T Department (2018) Sigma Tau Delta - International Honor Society - Gamma Theta Chapter President, Outstanding Member (2012) UCM Rhetoric and Composition Faculty Search Committee Robert J. Greef Award for Outstanding English Education Major (2010) UCM Honors College Graduate Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity – Epsilon Gamma Chapter President (2009), Secretary (2008), Internet Coordinator (Fall 2007), Probationary President (Fall 2007) |
Dr. Short's parents, his inspirations for entering the field of education.
Mrs. Short, who is an elementary school teacher, and Dr. Short were married at the Provo City Center Temple in August of 2017.
Dr. Short (before he shaved and cut his hair for BYU) presenting at the Write to Learn Conference, 2015.
As a joke, Dr. Short's older sister dressed him in BYU gear for a photoshoot his University of Utah alum father was doing. Little did she know that she was predicting his future.
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