Bringing Things into Focus

 

 

 

 

In 2010, when I chose to enroll in the Educational Technology (ET) certificate program as part of a satellite offering from Michigan State University (MSU) in my school district, I was someone who enjoyed technology and whom people went to with questions about technology, but I didn’t know, what I didn’t know.  I did know that I wanted to learn more.  I wanted to become a better educator, to better meet the needs of my students.  

 

Though it was only 7 years ago, access to technology was still somewhat limited in the classroom.  I was a special educator, working as a teacher consultant and always looking for a way to help students better succeed in the classroom, and thus worked to support the teachers in doing so as well.  How technology and a certificate in ET would help me, I was unsure, but it was time to renew my teaching certificate, so this program presented with a win-win situation.

 

While I wasn’t sure how the program would benefit me (other than being able to renew my teaching certificate), I was excited about the journey I was about to embark on.  Though it was brief, I greatly enjoyed the things I was able to learn and the projects I was able to create.  I had absolutely no idea of the concept of Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK), not to mention that I didn’t even know what Gmail was and I surely hadn’t even used Google Docs.  

 

As a matter of fact, my introduction to Google Docs came via the CEP 810- Teaching for Understanding with Computers and 811- Adapting Innovative Technology with Education, which I took during the Winter semester of 2010.  While it was somewhat more primitive at that time, the idea of the collaborative ability it brought to mind, in supporting my students, was exciting to me!  We created many projects and explored many websites (most of which have become obsolete).

 

Having completed the certificate program, I had decided to hold off on future courses for several reasons, always holding in the back of my mind a curiosity about what more the program had to offer if I were to proceed to the Master of Arts in Educational Technology program (MAET).  What skills would I acquire?  How would I be able to better support and instruct my students?  Bigger yet, how would technology impact my profession and possibly my future, should I decide to become more involved in the field?

 

In the summer of 2015, I had the opportunity to re-enlist in the MAET program and up my level of knowledge in the area of Educational Technology.  While I wasn’t sure in which direction I was wanting to take my future, I was excited to be back taking classes in a subject I had interested and especially excited to experience some of the progress which had taken place in the space of my absence.

 

I would take 9 credits during the summer semester, completing the courses CEP 800- Psychology of Learning in School and Other Settings, CEP 822- Approaches to Educational Research, and CEP 815- Technology and Leadership.  I was in for a busy semester!  In CEP 822, I would be given the opportunity (as a special educator, with a background in emotional impairments), to revisit some of the basics of psychological theory and practice, and then go beyond, learning about more current and educationally relevant studies and practices and the impact those studies would have on education.  I would also, in CEP 822, be tasked with researching a topic and creating a literature review on the topic of school start times.  (I have shared some of these assignments in my “Showcase.”)

 

Of these three courses, CEP 815, gave me an energy of sorts, which I hadn’t expected and, to be honest, don’t recall encountering in any of my previous experiences as a student.  Having been in the profession of education for 18 years at that point, I had had both good and bad leadership experiences.  CEP 815, helped me to get in touch with the “other” side of education, putting into perspective the challenges that come with taking on a leadership role.  As I say this, I should also note, it helped me to understand the qualities I had encountered in working with both good and bad leaders.  Not only was the instructional experience beneficial, as I had exceptional support and guidance from my instructors, but the assignments were the most meaningful I had felt I’d encountered in my time in the program, to that point.  

 

While creating our Manifesto’s really helped me to delve into my experiences and knowledge as a special education teacher.  The assignment really allowed me to reflect deeply on the role I had played over time and encouraged me to express what it meant to do the job I was doing.  It almost made me feel as though I were expressing myself as an expert in my field.  

 

In addition, we read many articles on leadership.  An article in particular, which struck me, was an assigned reading in the Harvard Business Review titled Seven Transformations of Leadership (Rooke and Torbert, 2005).  In this article, the authors highlighted that most developmental psychologists were in agreement that it was “internal “action logic,” —how they interpret their surroundings and react when their power or safety is challenged,” over management styles, personalities, or philosophies of leadership that differentiated leaders from one another.  Rooke and Torbert went on to proclaim that few leaders ever even reflected enough to understand their action logic, nor had they explored the idea of changing their behaviors.

 

Having just left a very toxic work environment, in which I felt the majority of our district leadership was poor, I discovered that I’d been surrounded by “Diplomats,” and “Experts,”  and that no matter how hard I had tried to improve my skills, if the leaders around me were not willing to do the same, I would never have the experience I hoped to or expected to have in that workplace.

 

The next course to pull me in as CEP 815 had was CEP 813- Electronic Assessment for Teaching and Learning.  While we were to be looking to develop a means to better understand and assess the needs of our students as learners, I found myself exploring technology I would not have thought to explore previously, such as Minecraft (which I’d sworn off) to create a math assignment/assessment, and Piktochart, to persuade my students into using Google Classroom and Docs as a means to access the curriculum and share with me their knowledge.  We would examine the differences between things such as paper and Google for example and truly try to delve into and “flesh out’ what it meant to create experiences which would foster student growth and success.

 

I think my greatest challenge in CEP 813 may have been our final project where I was to create an assessment.  While I was struggling, as I did not have curricular materials over the summer, I also found myself “outside of the box,” with my thinking.  Being a special education teacher, working with students who are emotionally impaired, I see many levels of anxiety in my students.  Much of the time, this is displayed when students have to do school work.  It was because of this that I strayed from the traditional assessment, to assess my students socio-emotional views on mathematics.  I wanted to gauge student view of a subject (in this case mathematics) and compare it with student efforts and performance.  

 

While I can honestly reflect back and say that I gained substantial knowledge in each of the courses I took within the MAET program, I found that prior to completing our Capstone course, the final, elective course I took probably surprised me the most.  I’ve never seen myself as an artistic or creative type.  These were not areas that were fostered throughout my educational upbringing, and therefore, I lacked confidence in this area.  However, CEP 817- Learning Technology Through Design brought something forward in me I didn’t realize to be a necessary component of creativity, empathy.  

 

I had been described by a co-worker in the past as “EMPATHETIC.”  It is something, as a special education teacher, I pride myself in.  I connect with my students and therefore develop a better understanding of their challenges, which in turn helps me to gain their confidence, in allowing me to support them.  As we worked through our projects in this course, empathy was a key component.  We were challenged to work through tasks and see the perspectives of the audience we were trying to reach at all times.  

 

One of the projects I got nervous about was in Module 5, in which, while reflecting on the Stanford Model of Design, aka, Bootcamp Bootleg, we were asked to utilize 3-12 household items to reflect the concept of our choice.  As the anxiety went through me, I couldn’t for the life of me decide what household items I even had in my possession which could reflect any of the possible topics!  Then it dawned on me!  I choose to reflect my ideas of both learning and teaching, using items that primarily went with milk.  As the teacher, I was the milk, the students were other various items, all of which, when intermingled presented a different outcome!  While it may seem trivial, this was exciting to me.  I was more able to step outside the box than I realized!

 

Another project of meaning for me was our Problem of Practice project.  Again, I struggled with the “different” angle of being a special educator in identifying something I saw to be a problem of practice.  However, as I “incubated” on my topic, I realized that over the years, many regular education teachers had expressed to me a lack of training and of knowledge as to how they could best support students with special needs.  There inlaid my Problem of Practice!  While I am sure it will undergo revision, I also made an attempt to explain my thinking.

 

All in all, the program has not only helped me to expand my knowledge of technology in general, but it has helped me to expand my knowledge of technology as a teacher and a student.  I feel as though I not only better understand how to bring forth information to students in a way which is meaningful, but also in a way that is useful.  I am constantly asking myself, questioning myself as to why I’m choosing the technology I am choosing.  Does it have a purpose?  Is it the next radio?  Is it another TV on a cart, or a projector in the back room shared with dozens of other teachers, all of whom will be using it to fill time?

 

If this is the case, then I would be trekking backward and creating things which are not best for students and because of that I would lose my love for what I do.  I am at the back end of my teaching career, still having a passion for what I do and questioning what it is I will choose to do when it is time to move on.  There are so many options out there, things I do not even know about.  However, this program has made those possibilities more exciting than scary to me.

 

I feel as though the MAET program not only helped to move through a powerful time of transition, at a time when I needed a transition, but it helped me to evolve beyond being an instructor, in helping me to become a more effective collaborator, critic, colleague, developer, designer, and leader.  It is because of this that while my future is still uncharted and I am uncertain as to which direction I wish to go, that I do so with minimal fear.  I am excited about the next chapter and I feel this program has prepared me in a way that was best for me going forward.  I appreciate both my instructors and the university for having given me the privilege to be a part of the program.