Kristen Ghandour is a graduate student and research assistant in the School of Communication. She’s studying in the Integrated Marketing Communication program, starting her second semester of classes.

Last semester, Ghandour started work on a media production project with Dr. Jonathan Adams called Bridging the Language Outcomes in the Classroom (BLOOM). The grant works to provide computer-based vocabulary learning in interactive e-books. This is accomplished by using interactive multimedia to enhance vocabulary learning for the target learner, which is kindergarten and first grade students. Currently, the team is building interactive prototypes of their books that will get tested in local Tallahassee schools.

Ghandour is the grant’s graphic designer, a skill she majored in at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale. For BLOOM, she scans and edits the books so they can be used in the e-books. She is also responsible for the design of quiz screens and items that are used to test learner retention after using the e-books.

This past October, Ghandour traveled to the land of beignets and Mardi Gras – New Orleans. Ghandour wasn’t there for the food, however. From October 27-30, she attended the World Conference on E-Learning, where other members of the BLOOM grant presented on research. While she didn’t present, Ghandour was able to attend lectures from researchers across the country on topics like: Web 2.0 and 3.0 tools, video gaming and development of e-learning systems.

“The conference was a fantastic networking event,” said Ghandour. “We had the opportunity to discuss different research with people from as far as Australia and England, as well as explore the New Orleans culture.”

In the future, Ghandour would like to work as a creative director at a design firm and cites Disney, Amazon or Refinery29 as some of her dream companies.

Find out more about Kristen’s graduate program, Integrated Marketing Communication, here.