Dr. Jillian Powers, Dr. David Kumar, and Dr. Victoria Brown Win Awards from the United States Distance Learning Association
Tuesday, Jul 01, 2025
Dr. Jillian Powers, Dr. David Kumar, and Dr. Victoria Brown have been awarded the Excellence in Distance Learning Teaching/Training Award at the Gold level (the highest honor in that category!) by the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA). This prestigious award recognizes their pioneering work in developing a HyFlex event integration within a distance learning course, designed to build preservice teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching robotics, computational skills, and coding. These are all critical, emerging areas now embedded in K–12 curricula across Florida and increasingly adopted nationwide. Their recognition at the recent USDLA conference highlights the forward-thinking pedagogy and curricular leadership we are proud to have in our department and college. A picture of their award is attached and a video highlighting their work can be viewed here. We applaud Dr. Powers, Dr. Kumar, and Dr. Brown for this exceptional achievement and the national recognition of their contributions to distance learning and teacher preparation.
