Evelyn Pusal

I tried everything else--accounting, tourism/hospitality management, economics. Those are the areas I thought I was interested in. My mom, who’s a teacher, always told me I’d make a good teacher and I was fighting it all these years. One day, I decided to try it.
 
I found that teaching came so naturally for me. I had a knack for bringing concepts across and getting people to understand things. Most of all I enjoy the contact with students--watching them change, helping them learn and understand things. It brings me a lot of satisfaction. This is my calling, and I love it.

My desire to go to grad school stems from a need that exists in my home country. I have always been very interested and curious about Technology and its application is the Educational setting. Technology is no doubt playing a large role in education today, but using technology to enhance student learning has never been part of pre-service training back at home.
 
So as I see it there is a need for qualified human resource to facilitate this learning and training for our countries future teachers. And so I came to Grad School because I wanted to study about web-based instruction and online learning technologies as I see this will soon be the trend there. I also wanted to learn about the different software tools that teachers can use to assist their teaching and that students can use to assist them to learn so that I can go home and be able to share this knowledge.

There is a funny story behind this but to cut a long story short, thanks to Google and the power of the Internet, I was able to find out about the area of Education Technology, the UH COE’s site. I took a look at the program, the courses and I realized this is precisely what I wanted to study. It was also a strategic choice because Hawai‘i is better versed on what is happening in the greater Pacific.
 
The second part to the story was that I also found my scholarship sponsors through a search on Google. I was able to secure a scholarship, and the organization that facilitates the scholarship just happen to be based here in Hawai‘i. What a perfect marriage that was and here I am!

Papua New Guinea has many challenges but Education is a critical challenge. The need to effectively educate and provide our citizens with a solid education that is relevant to our people is a priceless investment. I personally believe that technology can have a great impact, transcending many obstacles we face.
 
I would like to go home and be able to convince authorities to build technological infrastructure so that distance learning programs and technology integration is facilitated in all levels of schooling. I would like to design and develop specific distance learning programs so that more Papua New Guineans are reached. Establish web based or other technologies to deliver tailored instruction in regard to language and culture. And assist with integrating technology into the schools curriculum.

From the get-go, people in the COE have been very helpful and friendly. I didn’t know how to sign up for courses, structure what I needed to take for my degree requirements but the Educational Technology (ETEC) staff and faculty have been very helpful in advising me accordingly, especially Ari Eichelberger and Dr. Catherine Fulford who have constantly assisted me when I needed it and have helped me settle in right away. In the Special Education (SPED) department, Dr. Jim Skouge has also been a constant support and academic advisor.

The transition has been extremely smooth. The climate and vegetation is like home. People here are truly friendly. I think it would have been a much harder adjustment if I went to the mainland. The Aloha Spirit is what we have at home.

From what I experienced so far, the resources are great, there is a great group of people instructors here who are experts in their fields and are very helpful. The programs are well rounded. You take a lot of relevant things, but there’s also room for specialization. Back at home, it is much more rigid which is a big difference here. You can specialize here, which is really good.

Evelyn is a member of ETEC’s Fall 2008 Master’s cohort. A graduate of the University of Goroka and a secondary education teacher in Papua New Guinea, Evelyn received a scholarship from the US State Department, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, which aims to train professionals to develop areas of the South Pacific. She also works at UH’s KOKUA program, which provides assistance to students with disabilities and is part of the Pacific Voices Group here in Hawaii that provides training for teachers in Micronesia and produces multimedia projects.