Pepperdine News and Events

Doctoral Student Uses Monsters for Global Learning Perspective

Terry Smith; a candidate in the doctor of education in learning technologies (DELT) program at the Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology and a visiting professor at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois; was highlighted in Joliet’s Herald News for implementing a creative international “Monster Project” for fourth-graders at the local Cathedral of St. Raymond School.

Children from 38 schools spanning Australia, New Zealand, the Dominican Republic, England, Siberia, Turkey, Uganda, Canada, and the United States constructed life-sized monsters and, with the guidance of teacher education candidates from St. Francis under Smith’s supervision, uploaded photos, video, podcasts, and wikis to communicate and compare their artistry with the other classrooms. The unique learning experience enabled students from St. Francis and St. Raymond to gain a global perspective on education, while having fun in the process. “The Monster Project teaches group decision-making and compromise while integrating a variety of subjects, including language arts, fine arts, social studies, math, and technology,” stated Smith, who has been administering this initiative for 10 years.

Following a career as a technical writer in Unix operating systems, Smith became an elementary school teacher and taught grades three through five for 15 years in Texas, Illinois, and Missouri. He has had a long-standing interest in international approaches to education, and has taken elementary students to Taipei, Taiwan twice for summer camps. Before enrolling in DELT in 2008, Smith taught online educational technology courses and consulted on various Internet projects.