Looking Back to Move Forward

As a Social Studies teacher, I see great value in learning about the past.  History often shows us ways to move forward.  When I applied to the Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) program at Michigan State University I had three main goals.  As I near the end of my program, it’s time to assess where I’m at with my goals, so that I may continue to move forward in my educational career.

Goal 1: Become a better, more technologically savvy educator.

• Reflection: Originally this goal was geared specifically towards learning new educational technology and it was a driving factor for me to participate in the MAET program.  Throughout the program, I have learned about new technologies through course work, collaboration with peers and professors from around the world, and even a field trip to the Detroit Zoo.  I have been able to use this knowledge in my classroom and share it with my colleagues.  However, this goal has broadened into more than just learning about technologies.  I’ve also studied the connection and reasoning behind how technology fits into education through the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Theory (TPACK.)  Part of this thinking is that technology should not be used to simply replace an original resource, but it should be used appropriately to enhance learning beyond where the original resource could go.  This way of thinking has helped me grow in this goal more than I had originally expected to.

Goal 2: Complete the Educational Technology (NP) endorsement.

• Reflection:  I have completed the appropriate courses and applications to accomplish this goal.  I now have the NP endorsement on my teaching certificate.  I originally wanted this certificate to demonstrate my abilities to teach technology-related courses and perhaps one day move into a technology instructional coach position.

Goal 3: Participate in decisions involving school district-wide technology.

• Reflection: As a member of my school district’s technology committee, the thinking behind this goal was to better prepare me to help make decisions relating to technology at the district level.  I can say that I am more confident in my knowledge and understanding of educational technology and I’m continuing to move in the right direction for this goal.  Recent events surrounding COVID-19 have completely changed the way we educate our students.  Our district technology committee has stepped up and I have been a part of district-wide decisions and training to prepare staff for online distance learning.  My district is not 1:1 and did not have a district-wide learning management system (LMS) in place prior to COVID-19.  Since then, we have established an LMS and rolled out multiple trainings to staff.  I continue to be a resource for my district and colleagues as we navigate these new times.

All in all, it’s been great to take a moment and reflect on my initial goals with the MAET program.  I’m happy that I have accomplished one of them and continue to move in positive directions with the other two.