Dr. Rebecca J. Blankenship is an Associate Professor and Director of TESOL programs in the Elementary Education Department at Florida A&M University’s College of Education. Dr. Blankenship has over 16 years of public school teaching experience in both the states of Tennessee and Florida. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of South Florida in Second Language Acquisition and Instructional Technology (SLA/IT). Dr. Blankenship’s research interests include the development of virtual training environments for pre-service teachers, the digital agency and literacy development of pre-service teachers and university faculty, and the effects of politics and social media on the teaching profession. She has committed herself through her university teaching, supervision of interns, and faculty service to provide the most salient experiences for pre-service teacher educators, particularly those representing marginalized populations, to ensure they are well prepared to enter the teaching profession. Her research, publications, and service are focused on the ongoing evolution of the TPACK construct to explain teacher digital agency and instructional effectiveness. Her list of accomplishments and publications in addition to her university, state, national, and international service demonstrate her ongoing commitment to the preparation of this country’s future minority teaching corps.

Dear SITE TPACK SIG:

I am a doctoral candidate in Seattle Pacific University’s (SPU) Digital Education Leadership program. ​My research interests include technology infusion at all levels of education and especially how teacher education programs are preparing preservice teachers to successfully evaluate and use technology in their future classrooms.

Recently, my involvement in the Society for Technology in Teacher Education (SITE) TPACK Special Interest Group (SIG) led to a collaboration on a multi-part research study with colleagues from three other institutions. This collaborative research opportunity has allowed me to be a TPACK ambassador and to play an advanced role in furthering the scope and scale of TPACK within the education research community.

In addition to this research experience, my role as an instructor of the Teaching with Technology course in the SPU School of Education Masters in Teaching program has allowed me to be a TPACK ambassador with my students and my colleagues.
Throughout my career, my avid professional networking has provided me with multiple experiences to collaborate with colleagues to host presentations and workshops on a variety of digital education topics at professional conferences, including TPACK.

I believe that my experience and skills make me an ideal candidate for SITE TPACK SIG co-chair.