Teaching Portfolio of Dr. Wesley Fryer

Welcome to the teaching portfolio of Dr. Wesley Fryer. Additional employment application / digital footprint links include my resume, vitae, bio, presentation handouts, and social media channels / links. My creative media portfolio is also available.

last updated 5 January 2025

Teaching Philosophy

I love teaching and learning. As a teacher and educator, I seek to empower my students to not only develop their communication, critical analysis, and media literacy skills, but also be inspired to deepen their own senses of curiosity and desire to make the world a better place through service and advocacy. I not only love to teach and learn in multi-disciplinary ways, but also enjoy inviting and encouraging my students to develop their computational thinking skills through projects which involve coding and the application of data analysis.

I am deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. My experiences as a teacher, school administrator, and friend have made me much more aware of my privileged status as a white male in our society. I have a deeper understanding of microaggressions and the importance of both being aware of and sensitive to the different dynamics latent in our racially influenced social interactions with each other. I want to join and contribute to an educational community deeply committed in word and deed to the ideals of DEI and supporting a shared culture of respect and inclusion for diversity in all its forms.

My Pedagogic Creed

Sample Lessons / Lectures / Presentations

Sample Media Literacy Lesson
(6th Grade at Casady School, 25 Oct 2021)
Technology Fear Therapy:
Wes Fryer at TEDxUCO (2021)
Becoming Your Family’s Digital Witness:
Wes Fryer at TEDxOU (2013)
Digital Citizenship in the Surveillance State
TEDxWallerMiddleSchool (2016)
Inside and Outside Sharing
iPadpalooza 2016 MiniKeynote with Shelly Fryer

Sample Syllabi / Course Outlines

  1. Fall 2023: Media Literacy for Middle School for Providence Day School, Charlotte, North Carolina (2 sections)
  2. Fall 2023: Computer Programming for Middle School for Providence Day School, Charlotte, North Carolina (1 section)
  3. Fall 2023: Web Design for Middle School for Providence Day School, Charlotte, North Carolina (1 section)
  4. Syllabi for 2022-23 courses not available (Providence Day School, Charlotte, North Carolina)
  5. Spring 2021: Media Literacy for 6th Grade for Casady School, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (2 sections)
  6. Spring 2021: Media Literacy for 5th Grade for Casady School, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (2 sections)
  7. Spring 2013: Mapping Media to the Common Core for the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana (1 section, 36 students) – Taught as blended weekly synchronous/videoconference and online hybrid format
  8. Spring 2011: IME 3312 (Technology for Teachers) for the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma. (2 sections)
  9. Fall 2010: LTEC 4100 (Computers in the Classroom) for the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. (1 section)
  10. Spring 2010: IME 3312 (Technology for Teachers) for the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma. (2 sections)
  11. Winter 2005-2006: Co-Teaching EDIT 5342 Advanced Integration of Technology into the Curriculum for Wayland Baptist University in Lubbock, Texas.
  12. Fall 2005: EDIT 5310 Microcomputer Applications for Wayland Baptist University in Lubbock, Texas.
  13. Summer 2005: EDIT 5342 Advanced Integration of Technology into the Curriculum for Wayland Baptist University in Lubbock Texas.
  14. Spring 2005: EDIT 5344 Advanced Multimedia and Video Technology for Wayland Baptist University in Lubbock, Texas.

Research Agenda

My research interests focus on media literacy, effective technology integration, and multimedia communication. Specifically, I’m interested in the ways in which transmediation, or the conversion of a media message into a different format, can enhance and support deep learning. I started a media literacy inquiry project called “Conspiracies and Culture Wars” in the summer of 2019 and have continued to develop this project through a variety of instructional units and lessons as well as adult microcredential courses. I want to publish research related to this project, particularly focusing on the ways in which schools can and should develop a curriculum of “new civics” which integrates media literacy and prepares students for respectful and effective civic engagement in our polarized society and political culture.

In addition, my research agenda includes studying the ways technology can be effectively integrated into the curriculum, particularly paying attention to STEM learning including coding and computational thinking. I have been a STEM educator for the majority of my educational career and am particularly interested in the ways coding projects and units of study can lend themselves to not only support computational thinking but also student choice and agency, empowering students to be self-directed and independent learners.

Sample Units / Lessons / Assignments

  1. Froot Loop Conspiracy Theories (SIFT Web Literacy Framework, studying “Apollo Moon Landing Hoax” arguments)
  2. Family Oral History
  3. Minecraft Mars (Using Microsoft MakeCode in Minecraft Education to build a virtual colony / base on Mars)
  4. LaunchPad WikiPedia
  5. Brain Hacking InfoPics
  6. Sketchnoting
  7. Scratch Animation
  8. More Media Literacy and STEM Lessons

Student Evaluations / Presentation Feedback

RateMyProfessor.com student feedback (from UCO in 2011)

  1. Archived (PDF)
  2. Live on the website
https://twitter.com/claganach/status/963500000817897473
https://twitter.com/TParks/status/769572197643845632
https://twitter.com/dlegore/status/606857494682587138
https://twitter.com/JChanter22/status/963547224780296195
https://twitter.com/yaujauku/status/665183463679664128