Skip to main content

Westminster College Education Department Stepping Outside of the Classroom

Share on:

Posted on Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Learning about the world of education outside the realm of classroom lectures, future teachers in Westminster College’s education department posed in front of famous words by Fred Rogers: “Discovering the truth about ourselves is a lifetime’s work, but it’s worth the effort.” 

In an effort to pave the path of personal discovery and passion for learning and teaching for students, Diana Reed, lecturer of education, provided two opportunities for experiential learning this month. 

Reed and Deborah Roud, head teacher of Westminster’s Preschool Lab, made contacts with the outside world, co-presenting with Sydney Barger, junior early childhood education and special education major, and Kayla Warmbein, sophomore early childhood education and special education major, at the 2015 Early Childhood Institute at Grove City College. 

In their workshop entitled “iCommunicate with Families” they explored important elements of education that reach into the world of technology. The workshop offered participants with several leading-edge tools to help deliver effective and appropriate communication between school and home. 

“Digital tools are playing an increasingly important role in classroom learning,” said Reed. “In our undergraduate courses we are discussing how to develop appropriate learning experiences for students.  As pre-service and veteran educators, by presenting and attending conferences like these, we are better able to integrate technologies effectively. Our undergraduate students represented Westminster College very well.”

Last week, Reed and several sophomore early childhood education students were on the road, again, attending the Early Literacy Conference at the Fred Rogers Center at St. Vincent College. The students, including Alyssa Knapp, Samantha Maslyk, Karen Raines, and Brady Rosile, learned from Gail Lovely, author of “Suddenly It Clicks! – Using and iPad with Your Preschooler” and Megan McDonald, author of the Judy Moody series. 

For more information about early childhood education at Westminster College, contact Reed at (724) 946-7181 or reedd@westminster.edu.