Contact: Paige Watson

STARKVILLE, Miss.—A faculty member twice named Mississippi’s Outstanding University Business Educator of the Year also has landed a prestigious grant.

Pamela Scott Bracey, Department of Instructional Systems and Workforce Development assistant professor at MSU, has received $4,000 through Mississippi Educational Computing Association and Schillig grants for instructional projects for courses taught within the College of Education.

Bracey said her purpose for applying for the grants was to solicit funds for enhancement of a technology-rich distance education laboratory for undergraduate students enrolled in the Technology Teacher Education program at MSU.

The program in the College of Education’s ISWD department prepares undergraduate students to become secondary business and/or technology teachers in Mississippi. As the presence of distance education continues to grow in K-12 education, pre-service teachers must be adequately trained in ways to effectively reach online audiences.

Items purchased with the funding are now available for checkout for students enrolled in the online program who do not have their own personal equipment to use to complete the required web-based assignments.

“The overall goals and objectives of this project are to prepare TTE majors to efficiently utilize collaborative and creative technology tools to engage secondary students and meet the instructional needs of the new Mississippi Business Technology curriculum framework,” Bracey said.

Notable items purchased include headphones with microphones, webcams, digital cameras, memory cards, table tripods, floor tripods, a MacBook Air, a Microsoft Surface Pro, a Google Chromebook, an Apple IPad Mini, iTunes gift cards, and several other equipment accessories.

Bracey recently won the Outstanding University Business Educator of the Year Award for the second straight year. Nominated for the honor by recent MSU graduate Nashandra James, who holds a Master of Science in instructional technology, Bracey was selected through a voting process the Mississippi Business Education Association facilitated.

To learn more about the TTE program at MSU, visit iswd.msstate.edu. 

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.