Meet Jerry!
Name: Jerry Jerabek
Program: Doctorate of Curriculum & Instruction
Where you’re from: Lubbock, TX (Minnesota originally)
What inspired you to pursue your degree with Marshall Online? Strong online doctoral program in C&I with synchronous interaction & low ABD rates (high finisher %)
How do you stay motivated while studying online? I think the key to motivation for online studies is a commitment to your study schedule. It’s really easy to push online studies to the back burner when things happening in your on ground life often seem more urgent. Pre-planning time to work on my online class each week and then sticking to it has been the key for me.
What do you enjoy most about being an online student? The synchronous “live” class meetings are my favorite part of online learning. Living in Texas, it is interesting and informative to get to collaborate and compare notes with educators from Appalachia and the mid-Atlantic region. It’s cool to compare/contrast education in different states and regions.
What’s one thing you hope to achieve by the end of your program? I really want to find best practices in alternative certification to help develop our fledgeling alt cert program at my university into a higher performing program than the many failing alt certs across Texas.
What tools or resources have been most helpful to you as an online student? The MU librarians have been really helpful to me in procuring some difficult-to-access research. Several of my professors have also been exceptionally helpful. Shout outs to Drs. Heaton, McFall, and Childress for being incredibly helpful and supportive.
Share any advice you would give to someone new to online learning. Don’t be slow in asking questions. My most frustrating times as an online student have come when I was struggling in silence to understand a concept or assignment. The MU professors have been consistently communicative and super helpful any time I ask. The key is to ASK!! Also, see my above advice about the importance of scheduling time for online studies each week.
What are you hoping to accomplish as a council member? I hope our Online Student Advisory Council can make online learning and its support more efficient and enjoyable for MU online students. Online learning, in my experience, has never been as enjoyable as learning in person, but in the moments of live connection with other students and professors have been where it comes closest. The flexibility and convenience of online learning is a huge plus, so if the learning experiences can approach the enjoyment levels of in-person learning, Marshall Online can become a true win-win. I also want to help make the UI (user interface) for our MU online tools as user-friendly and intuitive as possible.