Rob Branch, a professor and head of the career and information studies department in the College of Education, and Mike Orey, a retired associate professor in the college, were recently awarded the 2017 Special Service Award from the Association for Educational Communications and Technology for their significant contributions to the association.
AECT is a professional organization focused on improving instruction and learning through technology. Members of the organization hold a range of responsibilities in the planning, study, application and production of communications media for instruction.
The Special Service Award is AECT’s second highest award and honors individuals who provide substantial services to the association as a whole or to one of its programs or divisions by revamping various functions of AECT, advocating and creating new initiatives, taking existing programs to a new level or serving a vital leadership role at a major juncture in the association’s history.
Branch and Orey earned the award for co-editing the Educational Media and Technology Yearbook, which has been published annually since 1974. The publication has become a standard reference in many libraries and professional collections and provides a valuable historical record of current ideas and developments in the fields of learning, design and technology.