Kelly Cassidy, Ed.D.
Adjunct Faculty,
Department of Professional Educational Studies
Dr. Kelly Cassidy serves as Adjunct Faculty in the ACE Department of Professional Educational Studies. Kelly currently serves as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Georgia STEM. She earned her doctorate in Instructional Technology at Kennesaw State University where she currently serves as an Assistant Professor. Kelly and was selected as the Outstanding Academic Scholar for Kennesaw State University for 2020. With 20 years of classroom and teaching experiences with all grade levels from pre-K to college, Kelly strives to provide practical strategies and instruction for immediate implementation into the classroom. Kelly is an avid reader and photographer, enjoys camping and kayaking with her husband and 3 sons. She is on the board of the Georgia Association of Teacher Educators (GATE) and is a contributing author to a variety of educational publications. Kelly presents at conferences all over the southeast specializing in sessions on Digital Habitats, Instructional Technology and STEM. Connect with Dr. Cassidy on Twitter, Voxer & Instagram @jklcassidy
Education
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Doctorate in Instructional Technology
Kennesaw State University -
Degree in Instructional Technology
Kennesaw State University -
Master's in Curriculum and Instruction
Western Governors University -
Bachelor's in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Psychology
University of Georgia
Research Interests
As technology becomes more ubiquitous in society, education cannot ignore the impact it is having on education. Dr. Cassidy seeks to understand how Digital Native educators are using Digital Habitats in their professional practice. By gaining a deeper understanding of how educators use elements, like Twitter and Pinterest, and how they are utilizing tools, like hashtags and pins, we can begin to develop ways to incorporate these skills into our teacher preparation programs to train administrators, technology leaders and coaches to help all educators, Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants, to use these services in the most effective way possible. Overall, Dr. Cassidy's findings thus far demonstrate Digital Natives' inordinate usage of their Digital Habitats personally and professionally. This multifaceted usage by Digital Natives may be abstruse to Digital Immigrants whose erudition was garnered from more traditional sources. The gregarious nature of the Digital Native educators supports their infusion of Digital Habitat elements into their personal and professional landscapes. While it is possible that the relationship between Digital Natives and their Digital Habitats is orthogonal, it is unlikely. More likely, you would have to scour to locate a Digital Native in the modern world who is not captivated by at least a few Digital Habitat elements and are enthusiastically dragging their antecedents, the Digital Immigrants, along with them in their journey. As a Digital Immigrant, it would be imperious to ignore the impact these Digital Habitats are having on Digital Native educators and their professional practices. As Dr. Cassidy presents research at conferences all over the southeast, she is inspired by the current landscape of education as we all continue to learn, assist and lead in the instructional technology world.