Ray Pastore has been named one of Ed Tech Magazine's 30 Higher Ed IT Influencers to Follow in 2023. The list of forward-thinking IT leaders who are lending a voice to promote the continued adoption and integration of technology was published in July.
Dr. Pastore is a professor of instructional technology at the Watson College, and coordinator of WCE’s online teaching & learning and esports programs. He has been teaching IT courses for more than 20 years and maintains a YouTube channel which has more than 11,000 subscribers.
Earlier this year, WCE’s Master of Science in Instructional Technology (MIT) program was ranked 13th in the nation on OnlineMasterDegrees.org’s list of Best Online Master’s Degrees in Educational Technology. In May, Dr. Pastore discussed the MIT program in an Ed Tech story about the evolving field of instructional technology and how it is impacting higher education.
Nearly every organization — from big businesses to healthcare, the military, and K–12 and higher education — needs IT professionals, he said. In higher education, where many faculty members come into their positions with no background in education, instructional technologists can be a resource, helping to design courses, navigate a learning management system or review best practices for conducting lessons via collaborative software.
Pastore says instructional technologists should be well versed in learning management systems and course design software, including Adobe Captivate and offerings from Articulate, and that designers can also benefit from image editing experience and training in basic programming skills, but overall the IT field is rooted in philosophy, more than in technology itself, because technology changes so quickly.
“The technology I learned when I got my master’s in instructional tech is gone. The technology that I’m teaching my students right now is going to be gone. And, with ChatGPT and AI, technology is going to change significantly,” he says. “The field of instructional technology is growing because in this environment having professionals with the base and knowledge of the field that doesn’t change is increasingly important.”
Read the full Ed Tech story here: How Instructional Technology Is Impacting Higher Education.
WCE’s Master of Science in Instructional Technology (MIT) provides a pathway to a high paying career in the $110 billion educational technology industry. Students with a bachelor’s degree in any field are eligible to apply. Courses are fully online, and applied learning opportunities offered throughout the program enable MIT students to develop a professional portfolio of work prior to graduation.
Post-baccalaureate certificate programs in Instructional Technology, Multimedia and Instructional Web Development, Online Teaching & Learning and Esports are also offered. And for undergraduate students, WCE offers a minor in Online Teaching & Learning and an Esports certificate program. For more information, please visit the Instructional Technology Website.
This article has the following tags: Watson College of Education Research & Innovation Accomplishments