The End of a Journey.
A reflection of my experiences throughout the MAET program.
Written by: Brittany Schroeder
Recently, I have spent a significant amount of time reflecting on how my journey to obtain a Masters of Educational Technology (MAET) from Michigan State University has shaped both my philosophy of education and my day-to-day teaching practices. “Journey” is an appropriate word to describe the past two years because not only have I moved across the country, changed jobs, purchased a house and have prepared to have another baby in April, but also because my time in the program has served as a journey in itself. Over the past two years, my experiences have moved me from my limited definition of educational technology to a newfound confidence in both my newly obtained knowledge and skills, evolving the way in which I teach in my classroom, and my leadership within my own community of practice.
While every class in the MAET program was a significant stop along my journey, there are a few that have significantly impacted me as an educator and leader. First of all was Teaching Understanding with Technology, the inaugural class for the entire MAET program. It was here that I was initially introduced to what it means to teach with technology and how it could be modeled in the classroom setting. Secondly, Applying Educational Technology to Practice not only helped me explore wicked problems in education, but also helped me become more equipped to develop solutions to these problems. And finally, Technology, Teaching & Learning Across the Curriculum provided a teaching model that not only pushed me as a learner, but also helped me develop skills and teaching methodologies that immediately impacted my use of technology within my own classroom.
Wide-eyed and Excited to Learn
I entered the Masters of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) program at Michigan State University wide-eyed and excited to learn. The first class, CEP 810 Teaching Understanding with Technology, has been one of my favorite and most memorable learning experiences throughout the entire program, largely due to the fact that it was my introduction to the world of educational technology. I entered the program with a different (really a “lack of” is probably more accurate) understanding of how to use technology in my classroom. At the onset of the class, I thought that I was tech savvy simply by incorporating laptops into my lessons, but after a short eight weeks of class, I left with a more encompassing definition of what it means to teach with technology. My ideas of teaching, learning and technology had evolved greatly.
This was in part due to my discovery of what it means to be a 21st century learner. Our students have grown up in an environment that is completely unique in comparison to the world in which past generations have been raised. The instantaneous feed of information and technologies at their fingertips has made it necessary for educators to be aware of the unique needs of our evolving student population. Teaching methods that have been seen as best practices for years are now being tested as our students require a different skillset in order to keep pace with society and, eventually, to enter the workforce.
The idea that pedagogy must change in the classroom to meet the needs of our student population was further stressed as I was first introduced to the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework, which identifies the knowledge teachers need in order to effectively use technology in their classrooms. Let me take a short time out to say, “WOW!” I feel honored and proud to be in a Master’s program that is at the forefront of technology education and that has educators within the program that have developed this framework. The TPACK framework has served as the cornerstone for much of my graduate coursework. Using these principles, I am better equipped to develop technology integration practices for both my own classroom as well as within my broader community of practice.
One of the most meaningful activities that I had experienced was the Networked Learning Project. This assignment was meant to push my understanding of the value of networked, online, digital learning options so that I might consider this same model for use with my own students, no matter their experiences or level of expertise on the subject matter. The project required me to learn something new using only the “network” as a resource. My experiences throughout the project have stayed with me as it has helped me empathize with the way in which my students utilize various technologies and process online information, informing me on their overall experiences with technology resources in order to learn.
Overall, this class has left me hungry for more as completion opened the door to many questions wondering at how I could further implement technology within my classroom, which, at that time, had severely limited resources. I finished the class with a strong foundation of what Educational Technology means and of what it looks like to appropriately use technology in the classroom. I was able to use this content as a strong scaffold throughout the rest of the MAET program.
Wicked Problems
The last class of the Educational Technology certificate program, CEP 812 Applying Educational Technology to Practice, brought to my attention the many ways in which we can solve problems within our education world. The concept of complex or “wicked” problems in education was a focus of the course. With this in mind, we explored James Paul Gee’s book, The Anti-Education Era, in which he examines various issues in education and addresses how technology use may help to alleviate these concerns. We also explored Gee’s ideas about gaming in education and how revolutionary ways of thinking could impact education. In The Anti-Education Era Gee posits that established institutions create an atmosphere that impedes progress by limiting people’s ability to solve big, complex problems. Gee further claims that institutions are “frozen in thought,” (Gee, 2013) and do not facilitate the ever-evolving needs of modern society. Gee describes an institution as being a set of rules, procedures, conventions and structure which provide an environment that discourages active and creative thinking. This made me realize that in order to get change, within our education system, enough people will have to voice the same concerns in order for the administrators at the helm to begin thinking about modifying the system.
In order to make this a reality, Gee is a proponent of educators pushing to utilize technology in the classroom. After exploring Gee’s work, it became apparent to me that technology could potentially be used to solve countless problem within our education system. Using Gee’s ideas as a foundation, I worked with several other classmates to solve a wicked problem in education. We focused on the idea that a more hands-on approach to learning is required due to the evolving demands of the world that necessitate increased student engagement with the world around them. We developed a proposed solution to this common issue in education by suggesting that a project based learning environment is uniquely suited to engaging students as they apply content related material to real world issues. Therefore, project based learning ought to be a standard by which educators are evaluated. A Blendspace that outlines the entire project can be found here.
This project was significant to me in many ways. First of all, I completed this project with individuals from all over the U.S. and the world-one group member brought his insight from Japan. I was able to see firsthand how technology can be used to unite people from various perspectives in order to accomplish any goal. I was also introduced to various collaborative technologies, in addition to Google Hangouts (with which I had already had some familiarity) as I regularly met with my group members to compile resources for the project itself. While we worked to develop a solution to our problem, it was incredibly helpful to see where each group member excelled and to utilize one another's strengths throughout the problem solving process. With all of this in mind, the project helped me not only to explore the potential for technology to solve a problem within education, but also to show me how educational technology can be used to connect educators in order to make a difference within our education world.
Additionally, I was pushed to expand and further develop my professional learning community in various ways. Through this practice I realized the importance of having a diverse and nutritional “information diet” so that I will better be able to stay informed on any new or innovative ideas, specifically in the world of science education, that will continually challenge my current educational practices and keep me up to date on various educational viewpoints and policies. I was able to accomplish this by beginning to follow various educational and scientific blogs and twitter accounts. In addition, I was pushed to seek out opportunities, such as attending the Texas Computer Educator Association (TCEA) conference, and to see firsthand many teachers that implement a variety of educational technologies into their teaching methodology. As a result of these experiences, I have not only developed a wide variety of resources that I can continually use as a way to learn new ideas, but I have also maintained a community that I can reach out to with questions about educational practices or technology use within my classroom.
New Digital Media Tools
Considering the practical application of educational technology to my specific content area, one of the most impactful classes to me was the course, CEP 816 Technology, Teaching & Learning Across the Curriculum. Perhaps most significant here, was the amount of time the instructor, Paul Morsink, put into developing curriculum resources for the class and providing student feedback. His efforts greatly impacted my experiences throughout the entire class and provided an ideal model for how I may structure my own classroom when it comes to integrating technology.
The primary focus of this course was exploring methods for utilizing new digital media tools to create original ways of teaching with technology, and incorporating the use of this media to influence traditional classroom instruction. I had the opportunity to explore firsthand how to use new digital media tools such as screencasting, Google applications, podcasts, avatars, and learning management systems for classroom instruction. In addition, various forms of literacies were analyzed as we discussed, created, and designed (or redesigned as appropriate) resources that minimized distractors and offered increased levels of accessibility for every student.
At this point in the program, I had been introduced to a variety of technology tools, and I had begun to use many of these tools in my classroom. However, I often struggled with creating diverse and challenging learning opportunities with these resources. Each of the assignments that I was required to complete could easily be modified into an activity that I could use in my current classroom setting. I was not only able to see firsthand how these activities impacted my learning from a student perspective, but also able to recognize how I might implement similar teaching strategies in my own lessons. In fact, as I reviewed material from this class for this very essay, I found a great deal of inspiration for designing lessons over the past few weeks, and I was able to implement several strategies into my classroom instruction.
The blog posts below illustrate my progression throughout the activity:
In addition to being introduced to various resources, I also learned how to better adapt my technology resources and materials to more effectively meet the needs of a diverse student population. Modelling this required me to develop a culminating project where I redesigned a unit using a learning management system in order to make both the unit activities more accessible and the website more consumer-friendly to all students. Another focus of the redesign was to apply additional strategies that would include a variety of new digital media tools. I had previously been using a learning management system in my class, but, as a result of this project, I have been able to better recognize how my design choices impact student learning for better or for worse. I am now more aware of these choices as I create lessons using technology, and my students have been the primary beneficiaries of this practice. I will be able to use the information, resources, and methodology acquired as a result of this class while I continue to build additional educational technology resources for use in my classroom as well as in my community of practice.
Final Thoughts
I could easily write as much about every class I have had the pleasure of taking while in the MAET program. Each course has uniquely shaped me as both an educator and an individual over the past few years. I will now exit the program with many key take aways.
Of primary significance to me, as it affects my daily teaching practices, was the realization that just using technology in the classroom is simply not enough. It is in how I choose to implement technology in the classroom that makes all the difference. I must be deliberate in my design choices in order to create relevant and engaging lessons that will make the largest impact on my 21st century students. Technology use in the classroom needs to be much more than replacing paper and pencil activities. Today’s technologies provide countless opportunities for students to display creativity, push their critical thinking skills, and collaborate on any project. As a classroom teacher, I feel that I am now more capable of not only recognizing the need for students to participate in these types of activities, but also providing learning opportunities that will make this a reality.
With that being said, many technologies are not created with education in mind. A theme common to many classes was that, as a teacher, I need to be able to creatively repurpose technologies for use in education. As a student in the program, many teachers utilized technologies such as Google Docs, Popplet, podcasting software, video programing, and blogging websites, as educational tools. Through this, I was able to see firsthand how I might be able to model similar strategies within my own classroom. The repeated use of this teaching model has greatly impacted me a learner and has helped me transform my own teaching practices.
Gee explains his views on how "gamification" could change the way we teach our students
The screenshot above links to the LMS that I created as part of the culminating project. Please feel free to view my work.
I am also exiting the program with a heightened sense of how important it is not to just be an educator, but also to make a contribution within my community of practice as a leader. Several classes helped me to expand my professional learning network in order to continue to grow and learn as an educator even after graduation from the MAET program. I have begun using Twitter not for social reasons, but as a simple way to stay connected to new ideas in the education world, to grow my content knowledge by following scientific resources, and to expand the world in which I teach in. I also have become more aware of other how other resources such as blogs and even Pinterest can serve as a link to the changing world around me so that I stay current.
By expanding my “information diet”, I will be better equipped to make a significant difference within my own community of practice. I have left the MAET program prepared to share my experiences with other teachers in both my building and my district. My most immediate goal is not only to lead by example in how I utilize technologies within my classroom, but also to be able to provide a service to other teachers in my school. I want to make it a point to share what I have learned and to continue learning about educational technology in order to help my colleagues further implement it into their own teaching practices. I personally love to share and collaborate with other professionals in my community, and I feel that this program has inspired me to become a technology integration specialist. I feel that as a classroom teacher, I have a more limited capacity to share and help other teachers, while in this specific role I would be able to dedicate a greater deal of time towards being a resource for teachers.
While my journey through the the MAET program may be coming to a close, I have a lot of road left untraveled in my career. I am now more equipped than ever to continue both using educational technology as a key methodology in my classroom and making a difference in the lives of my students. Additionally, I am capable of leading and making an impact on other teachers within my immediate community of practice.