LSBE's Assistant Professor Abram Anders, who teaches business communication, won the 2014 Pearson Award for Innovation in Teaching with Technology from the Association for Business Communication (ABC). The award recognizes innovative uses of technology to enhance learning and engagement in business communication classrooms. He was presented the honor at the Presidential Luncheon during the annual ABC international conference in Philadelphia.
In his teaching, Anders emphasizes the importance of collaboration, networking, and technology-use for the advancement of professional and organizational goals: "As a teacher of business and professional communication, my teaching philosophy is based on the premise that networked learning and the creation of connections between people, information, and tools can be a rich context of situated learning."
He continues, "My primary goal is to rigorously teach specific skills and relevant domain knowledge while also situating these experiences in the context of building technological and social networks that support students' lifelong learning and professional development. Student progress is supported through a custom-designed course site and community blog."
You can learn more about his teaching methods and listen to student perspectives on his course from this documentary video: http://youtu.be/KbdDpMSKzTc. You can also read about his Teaching Philosophy or view his community-blog and course site BCOM Commons.
Dahui Li, Finance and Management Information Sciences Department Chair, notes: "Dr. Anders has distinguished himself as a teacher through superlative student evaluations and has demonstrated commitment to technological innovation ... End of semester student evaluations praise his organization, use of technology, and overall effectiveness. Students regularly describe themselves as being motivated, excited, and engaged by his teaching style and use of technology."
As part of the award, which included a monetary prize among other items, Anders will present his innovative ideas at ABC's 2015 plenary session of the annual convention held in October in Seattle, Washington.
ABC is an international, interdisciplinary organization committed to advancing business communication research, education, and practice. Pearson is the world's leading education company, providing educational materials, technologies, assessments, and related services to more than 100 million people worldwide.