Lauren Stark

My Adventures through

Educational Technology

by Lauren Stark

 

      Beginning in January 2013 I enrolled in courses at Michigan State University to pursue a master’s degree in Educational Technology.  My experience began with the Certificate Program and before I knew it I had developed a passion for what I was learning and couldn’t wait to learn more.  I was eager to continue my enrollment at MSU into the Master’s of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) program.  By the summer of 2013 I had been accepted into the MAET program.  I was enrolled in challenging courses that not only peaked my interest in Educational Technology but provided me with the opportunity to learn by doing. 

 

     The ability to learn by application was very helpful to me as a visual learner.  It allowed me to put into practice everything that I had been taught.  Discovering practical solutions for educational problems of practice as well as innovating upon the training I had already been given allowed me to grow both personally and professionally.  I started to think about teaching in a different way.  I began with the goal of integrating technology into my classroom.  I am graduating with the ability to not only integrate technology; I can develop an actual instructional plan to utilize the technology that I have access to within my school environment.  

 

     Throughout my education there were several times that I shared experiences with my students and challenged them to attempt to use the same skills that I was using.  It was a funny moment to watch my students’ faces as I challenged them to, “Make something, using something and be creative!” Many of them looked confused, while others began to brainstorm what they could do.  In the end, it became a valuable experience for them.  I had discovered that too often students focus exclusively on what the teacher wants and don’t reach their potential or put their personality into their work.  It is my hope that as I reflect on my experience that who I am will shine though my work.  The goal should never be just to complete the assignment but to make learning personal and memorable. 

 

     I have learned several things about myself as I pursued my Master’s of Arts in Educational Technology degree including my ability to: interpret information, solve real problems, and turn technology into a purposeful instructional tool.  I have also learned that I get frustrated by challenges that I don’t understand and that I need to remember to actively work on larger assignments by completing them in stages.  Reflecting on my learning has been helpful because I realized that there were some things that I could have done better.  With all things we have to consider that life will add in its own challenges as we pursue things.  Within the first 10 weeks of the program by husband’s grandmother passed away.  Trying to be his support while still working and taking classes proved to be a little more difficult as I had started a second class.  The ultimate life challenge has been being pregnant.  Taking classes, working on projects, and getting assignments complete while battling morning sickness and fatigue has definitely been a challenge.  I learned that I can’t do everything and that admitting my faults is not a sign of weakness.  I also learned that there is no harm in communicating my needs or feelings with my instructors. 

 

     While working on my degree in the MAET program, I have learned more about online learning than I thought I would.  I knew that I would be learning about Educational Technology. However it did not occur to me that through the process of learning online I would learn more about online learning.  Online learning has become more than just taking a class online, completing modules, and submitting assignments.  Online learning has expanded to accommodate the learner as well as establish a learning network.  One of our first assignments in the Certificate Program was to identify our Personal Learning Network. In doing so the idea that I was expanding my network, if not creating a whole new network, opened up a world of potential learning opportunities.  The learning networks that I experienced consisted as much of the teachers as they did the students.  We learned from each other and shared experiences.  I was no longer restricted to people who were going through the same teaching experiences.  I was interacting with teachers and administrators who had amazing opportunities to utilize and inspire/influence others to use technology.  

 

     While working in the online only MAET program, I learned more about what it means to be a student in the online learning community.  Being an online student involves lots of sharing and collaboration. It takes the whole group to make a successful learning environment.  In order to make a class successful it takes all students to be active and involved.   Being an online learner you must be self-motivated and able to work at your own pace in conjunction with the pace set forth by the instructor.  Personally this meant a lot of time management even when my personal and professional lives were hectic. 

As I prepare to finish the MAET program I believe it is important to reflect upon the important ideas that will influence my future teaching and learning.  As a teacher I hope to show my students that learning is constant and fun.  Through my education I have seen that we, as learners and teachers, can learn as much from our failures as we can from our success.  Too often we beat ourselves up when we fail but we don’t examine why we failed.  We also don’t take the time to examine why we succeed.  Our constant learning isn’t just from the curriculum but from our experiences.  Over the past year I have shared my learning experiences with my students.  Showing my students how I have been challenged or explain why I ask them to do something unusual to them like “summarize what you learned this unit in 140 characters” exposes them to new opportunities to think about how they learn.  By sharing my experience I hope to inspire my students to be creative and do more.  I set high standards for my students as a means of challenging them to do more than the minimum requirement.  I want them to be creative with projects and assignments.  I need to keep in mind the design of my lessons and the goals that I have.  Learning should be fun, even when it is also intended to be a challenge. 

 

     The most important idea I learned in the MAET program is the idea

that technology should always have a purpose. 

The TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) model

has influence the way I incorporate technology into my teaching. 

I no longer focus on just the integration of technology.  I think

about how I am going to use it and why I need to use it.  How will

the use of iPads increase my students’ understanding of

Psychology or Government? TPACK helps me consider these

concerns. 

 

I can attribute the important insights and ideas that will influence my

teaching and learning to various courses I have taken:

• Learning should be dynamic, fun, and constant.  We need to

learn as much from failure as we do from success (CEP 812)

• Technology should always serve a purpose (Reference TPACK)

• Encourage creativity and design (CEP 817 & 818)

• Be a helpful leader to others who want to work with technology. 

( CEP 815 – Educational Leadership)

 

     In “Applying Educational Technology to Issues of Practice”

(CEP 812) I worked with other students to examine the concept of

“Failure as a Learning Mode.”  Our group felt that failure was an

area of education that is often left out of instruction.  At the

moment, we don’t teach our students how to bounce back from

failure or how to move past failure. After discussing with students

how students how they feel when they fail, we decided that their

needed to be a change in the mindset of failures.  We need to show

students how failure can be a positive thing.  Failure does not mean

that you as a person are stupid but rather your learned how not to do something or you identified an area that you might need some assistance in.  Some of the best quotes about failure come from Thomas Edison. “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

 

     While looking at my future I know that my course in “Educational Leadership” (CEP 815) will be of constant use.  Throughout the course I was able to find real world applications for the information, from our school goal to increase the use of technology to my department looking to me as their technology leader.

 

     “Creativity in Teaching and Learning” (CEP 818) and “Learning Technology by Design” (CEP 817) were two of my favorite courses.  I loved learning from Punya and Jon! Being creative was something that I often left out of my lessons so this class really let me tap into my artistic/creative side.  I initially embraced the idea of taking something familiar and viewing it in a new way.  This is a concept that I would like to apply to teaching.  Some of the most powerful concepts taught in “Creativity in Teaching and Learning” that have already made their way into my classroom are the concepts of patterning and perceiving.  Patterning plays into my History curriculum and I enjoyed finding new patterns to share with my students.  Along with teaching History I also teach Psychology.  The experience of asking students how they perceive the world as well as their learning environment turned out to be an interesting experience. 

 

     In “Learning Technology by Design” the main focus was designing a web resource that can be used by other teachers and students.  The class also looked at good and bad design.  This constant thinking about design encouraged me to not only think like an educator but also like a technology designer.  I had to consider how different elements of my site would function and how my peers as well as my students would use them. 

 

     My education had a consistent theme and that was the TPACK philosophy.  When I was initially introduced to the philosophy of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) I was very confused.  I was not sure how any teacher could arrive at this magical sweet spot of learning with technology.  I understood the notion that all technology in education should have a purpose; although it countered every experience I’d had with educational technology to that point. Discovering how to give technology a purpose was something I gained over time.  The more classes I took that involved this philosophy to more I understood it.  During my course in Educational Leadership, we explored the TPACK philosophy and actually put it into practice.  We had to identify a learning problem and I selected “student engagement in core classes” as my problem due to it being an actual issue within my classroom and on my school campus.  I could empathize with my students wanting to know why they had to learn about something they had no interest it, as I had made the same argument in my English 101 class as a college freshman.  The following is an excerpt from the assignment on how TPACK is used to solve this issue:

 

TPK - Technological and Pedagogical Knowledge:

Knowledge about how to teach with specific technologies.

Knowledge to determine the appropriate technology tool for the teaching strategies being employed in the classroom.  If looking for student response devices it might be more beneficial to use an iPod Touch versus and iPad if no other tools are needed.  iPads can be used for quick research or Google Docs while Laptops might be best for more intensive research projects.

 

When implementing tools for rotation stations, laptops might be needed for initial student learning, while iPads might be good for supplemental activities.  iPod touches make great tools for student response systems that can also use scaled down versions of the apps on iPads.

 

TCK - Technological and Content Knowledge:

Knowledge about how technology aligns to various curricular content or concepts. 

Knowledge of the technology that will enhance the curriculum or make concepts better understood for both teachers and students.  iPads can be used for daily instruction if the goal is to have a paperless classroom.  The apps present on both iPads and iPods can help students interact with content easier.  If the task it to read a particular book, many of the classics are free and can be downloaded to the device replacing the need for heavy books and bulky storage.

 

PCK - Pedagogical and Content Knowledge:

Knowledge about how to teach specific curricular content or concepts.

Knowledge of differentiated instruction and how core content can be taught.  Differentiated classroom based on ability or mastery of specific content/skills related to prior knowledge.

 

 

TPACK: 

Synthesized knowledge about how to use technology and instructional strategies to teach specific concepts as well as about how the use of technology changes our understanding of the content and of how to teach the content. 

Knowledge of differentiated instruction along with the rotational blended learning model will allow the instructor to formulate lessons that will engage learners based on their interest and ability level. The technology will help facilitate instruction for student groups that are not working with the teacher.  The technology will also help reinforce concepts that are missed when students are absent or fail to achieve the prior knowledge or skills needed for the current unit as well as the next unit of study.

 

As a result of the TPACK philosophy I have also established my goal for utilizing iPads in my classroom starting this school year.  The following quote guides my goal,

 “Knowledge of differentiated instruction along with the rotational blended learning model will allow the instructor to formulate lessons that will engage learners based on their interest and ability level. The technology will help facilitate instruction for student groups that are not working with the teacher.  The technology will also help reinforce concepts that are missed when students are absent or fail to achieve the prior knowledge or skills needed for the current unit as well as the next unit of study.”

 

TPACK has helped me blend the training I have receive from the school district in which I am employed and combine that with the education I received at Michigan State University. 

          

        As my formal learning comes to an end, I could not be happier with my choice to study Educational Technology though the online mater’s program through the College of Education at Michigan State University.  While it would have been more cost effective to attend classed at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; I don’t feel like I would have learned as much.  The ability to apply the skills I was learning as I was learning them was very influential and made a major difference in my education.  I may not know everything that my future as an educator has to hold but I know that all those involved in the MAET program have majorly influenced it.