Welcome!
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I am fortunate to work for the University of Alabama in the Center for Instructional Technology as Assistant Director for the Education and Outreach team (as of 11/1/2022). I primarily support instructional tools, including Flipgrid, Zoom, and People.ua.edu, our faculty and graduate student web platform.
I have been an educator and computer nerd all my adult life, rather officially (from undergrad to PhD) or unofficially (as the resident go-to-computer-person). It took a bit of varied job and life experiences before my passion for teaching would eventually land me in higher education and instructional technology. My decision to earn a PhD came as a challenge to myself. You see, while developing an instructional website, I realized that while it instructed, it was boring! But then again, the subject was boring. How could I make it interesting and memorable? Make it a game! Thus started my 5-year doctoral journey. |
Contact Information:
Karen A. Burns, Ph.D. Center for Instructional Technology A202A Gordon Palmer Hall Box 870346 Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 kaburns1@ua.edu 205-348-8016 - Office 205-393-4453 - Cell |
Doctoral Dissertation and Research Interests
My dissertation, grounded in the motivation theories of self-determination theory and cognitive evaluation theory, focused on the application of a digital scavenger hunt in the orientation process as a means of increasing engagement, socialization and content retention of new employees. In education, games can be an effective means of enhancing course content by reinforcing information provided during the class sessions and introducing new information.
Associated research interests:
Associated research interests:
- Digital Badging
- Game-based learning
- Gamification
- Instructional Design
- Theories of motivation and learning
- Video-based learning
