I didn't know what I was missing...
A reflection on my goals as I entered the Educational Technology graduate program at Michigan State University.
As a high school biology teacher in a Title I school district, I was beginning to notice my students’ lack of technology proficiency. I enjoyed using technology resources, but when I attempted to use them in my classroom, I was continuously met with frustrating roadblocks. One of the main issues that contributed to these roadblocks was my students’ lack of technology literacy. When I attempted to create lessons that utilized technology, it was difficult for many of my students to navigate through the various technology tools that we were using at the time. Many of my students were from low socioeconomic backgrounds and did not have much experience using technology. In addition, teachers on my campus either did not have appropriate experiences with creating relevant technology lessons, or they would become easily frustrated with students’ lack of technology literacy, and, as a result, would just not use technology in their lessons.
Jobs today, more than ever, are requiring individuals to be equipped with general technology knowledge and skills upon graduation from high school. Understanding this, I recognized the problem that many of my students would face graduating without these necessary skills. It was due to this fact that when I began thinking about potential options for obtaining a Masters degree in the spring of 2013, Educational Technology was at the heart of my interests. Specifically, I had a desire to learn how to create more relevant lessons for my students and was encouraged at the prospect of learning more ways that I could incorporate technology methods into my instruction, and I believed that Michigan State University’s Masters of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) program would best help me achieve that goal.
In addition to creating relevant lessons within my own classroom, I also saw a need on our campus for teachers to become more educated and proficient in using educational technology. Teachers needed to be given opportunities to learn about appropriate technology and its uses in order for them to remain relevant and to connect with students, which is vital in preparing them for their futures. Implementation of technology within the classroom helps to provide students with the skills needed to be successful in our rapidly evolving world. With this in mind, I have always enjoyed being in community with my colleagues and discussing new lesson ideas to more effectively teach content. Therefore, another goal that I had at the onset of the MAET program was to be a more effective leader on campus as a resource for teachers. I also identified an interest to further this ambition with the possibility of becoming a technology specialist for a school district.
As the MAET program draws to a close, I feel like now I have had numerous opportunities to dive into the educational technology world. My overall goals have not changed, but I have come to the realization that educational technology is much more comprehensive than I had ever imagined. I didn’t know how much I was I was missing out on before I began the program and am now equipped with knowledge of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), James Paul Gee, gamification, flipped learning, and Web 2.0 among so many other skills. This experience has prepared me to develop and implement a plan to meet my goals based on the varying resources available to different districts. None of this would have been possible except for my experiences in the MAET program. If nothing else, I am much more passionate about the need to introduce technologies to students, and I have an understanding of the pedagogy of technology required to make connections with my content and am able to make relevant lessons for my students.
