Jóhanna Birna Bjartmarsdóttir
Career Goals
My name is Jóhanna Birna Bjartmarsdóttir. I'm an Icelandic student who is majoring in Education Science, minoring in Health Promotion, and dual specializing in Educational Psychology and Research, and Educational Technology at the University of Florida to become a curriculum developer and instructional designer.
Moreover, I'm the founder and owner of HARTS, which stands for Health, Access, Research, Technology, and Schools. The company works to promote these factors in Iceland and is currently working towards designing the first world-class online course in the Icelandic higher education system and creating a comprehensive health literacy curriculum for K-12 that enables students to make informed decisions, lead healthy lives, and overcome adversities. I'm also the host of the podcast My Atypical Life.
The health literacy curriculum that I aim to create would be a comprehensive curriculum that teaches students about nutrition, mental and physical health promotion, CPR training, coping strategies, and communication. I’m currently conducting a scoping review of mental health literacy curricula in K-12 education as my university scholars project at UF. In the future I will be conducting similar reviews of the other aspects in the health literacy curriculum, before finally doing a complete review of health literacy curricula in K-12 education.
My high honors project at UF will be creating the first world-class online course at a university in Iceland to promote accessibility to higher education for all students, but especially those who have been underrepresented in the academic community, such as students with learning disabilities.
Furthermore, I plan to be the role model I never had for students with dyslexia, ADHD, or autism and to be a visible representation for students like me by showing that individuals with learning disabilities do belong and can excel in higher academia. Not only do I want to be a role model for these kids, but I want to help implement more inclusive environments and tools for these students into the Icelandic, and hopefully the universal, education system.