TECHNOLOGY: ALWAYS ONE MORE CLICK AWAY
From the time I sent my first instant message and “asked Jeeves” my first question, I fell in love with technology. I became more and more attracted to the endless possibilities, experiences, and learning that came with using technology in the classroom during my undergraduate study in education. When I first entered the Master of Arts in Educational Technology program (MAET) at Michigan State in the summer of 2016, I did not really know what I was getting myself into.
Of course, I had personal and professional goals of diving into this passion of mine and gathering new ideas. I wanted to learn how to incorporate technology in purposeful ways to promote my students’ learning, but I was very limited in my knowledge of this. When I applied for the program, I wanted to challenge myself to become a better educator. I dreamt of being the educator who engages students and fosters experiences that will help my students in the future as adults. In addition, I wanted to gain more confidence in integrating technology so I could teach others new ways to use it in their classrooms, especially within math settings and with students with special needs.
As I near the end of completing this advanced degree, I realize that I have “achieved” many of these goals. I quote achieved because I am not sure I will ever stop working towards them. Yes, I have expanded my knowledge base of incorporating new tools and programs within my classroom. Yes, I have challenged myself, gained confidence to integrate technology, and everything else I set out to do, but can I really just call it quits? No way!
Of course, I had personal and professional goals of diving into this passion of mine and gathering new ideas. I wanted to learn how to incorporate technology in purposeful ways to promote my students’ learning, but I was very limited in my knowledge of this. When I applied for the program, I wanted to challenge myself to become a better educator. I dreamt of being the educator who engages students and fosters experiences that will help my students in the future as adults. In addition, I wanted to gain more confidence in integrating technology so I could teach others new ways to use it in their classrooms, especially within math settings and with students with special needs.
As I near the end of completing this advanced degree, I realize that I have “achieved” many of these goals. I quote achieved because I am not sure I will ever stop working towards them. Yes, I have expanded my knowledge base of incorporating new tools and programs within my classroom. Yes, I have challenged myself, gained confidence to integrate technology, and everything else I set out to do, but can I really just call it quits? No way!
The most important emphasis is that learning with technology is a process. Working with technology requires patience, curiosity, creativity, and skill. I am constantly sharing my work online, researching other colleagues’ ideas, testing them in my classroom, and tweaking them through my experiences. This flexibility and lifelong learning is something I would like to pass down to my students. Overall my goals seemed specific to certain topics, but the general theme is to keep learning. The more I deepen my understanding of new technologies, the more I become equipped to lead other educators.
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Even though I have achieved the goal of expanding my professional network, I plan to continue to push myself towards becoming a stronger leader. I cannot call it quits. As an educator, I know that my work is constantly evolving through reflection and this degree is just another taste of that. I may have a master’s degree when it is all said and done, but I know as technology continues to evolve, I will continue to learn.