Catharyn C. Shelton, PhD
Associate Professor of Educational Technology | Former Prek-12 Teacher
Research
Catharyn Shelton, PhD
Teacherpreneurs, Education Infulencers, and Curriculum in the Digital Age
Teachers commonly turn to online sources for classroom support, ranging from teachers' blogs and social media, to curriculum marketplaces. With her colleague Dr. Leanna Archambault, Dr. Shelton coined the term online teacherpreneurs, to describe current and former P -12 teachers who share resources in the teacher-to-teacher online marketplace of ideas, a space that encompasses TeachersPayTeachers.com, Instagram, Pinterest, and other online curricula providers, often for financial gain (Shelton & Archambault, 2018). This practice may empower teachers as leaders in their profession, rather than corporate curriculum distributors. On the other hand, Dr. Shelton's research finds it also presents challenges around the quality of teacher-created content, who gets to have a voice in the creation of curricula, the intensification of teaching, and the platformization of teachers' work.
In response, Catharyn and colleagues have called for supporting teachers' development of critical digital literacies centered on justice-oriented approaches, while also advocating for the accountability of for-profit platforms operating in the education sphere.
Feminist and Freirean Approaches to Online Learning
How can online teacher education courses be (re)designed with a humanized and democratic approach? Catharyn explores this question in her teaching and has several related publications. First is a piece examining dehumainzed assessments within online teacher education (Shelton, Aguilera, Gleason, & Mehta, 2020). A second piece is showcased on Feminist Pedagogies Online's Annotated Assignments, Dissecting Current Events Through Collaborative Virtual Mind Mapping with Google Draw. Most recently, Catharyn wrote about Engaging Freire’s humanizing pedagogy with student-createdtexts (Shelton, 2024).
Teaching
Catharyn Shelton, PhD
University Teaching & Course Design
Northern Arizona University
2020-present
- ETC 447: Technology in the Classroom (in-person, online synchronous, and online asynchronous sections)
- ETC 547: Instructional Theory and Strategies in Technology Integration (online)
- ETC 585: Technology Integration in the P-16 Classroom (online)
- ETC 625: Designing Instruction (online)
California State University Stanislaus
2018-20
- EDMA 5210: Advanced Technology Integration Strategies (hybrid)
- EDMA 5220: Multimedia in Education (hybrid)
- EDMA 5230: The Tech Coordinator (online)
- EDGS 5510: Introduction to Educational Research (in-person; hybrid)
- EDGS 5620: Action Research and Mixed-Methods (in-person)
- LIBS 4170: Technology for Teachers (hybrid)
- EDIT 4170: Educational Technology Foundations (online; hybrid)
K - 12 Teaching
Arizona State Secondary Certification in Spanish, English, and Psychology
Most of Catharyn's Prek-12 classroom teaching was spent in the high school Spanish classroom, working with linguistically and culturally diverse students at a large urban public school in metro Phoenix. During that time, she was named the Arizona Language Association's Early Career Educator of the Year and was awarded a $10,000 Century Link grant for classroom iPads for her project-based learning proposal. She also brings Prek-12 experience as a bilingual elementary teacher (1 year), professional development coordinator (2 years), mentor of student teachers (2 years), and special education paraprofessional (1 year).
Connect
Catharyn Shelton, PhD
Catharyn.Shelton@nau.edu
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Google Scholar
Twitter:
@CatharynShelton
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