Walk-Ons and Walk-Ins Welcome
In May of 2011, after successfully completing the certificate program, I applied for admission to MSU’s Master’s in Educational Technology Program. Instead of writing the traditional essay for my admission application, I chose to submit a video podcast (below) discussing my reasons for wanting to enter the program.
In the podcast, I outlined the following four goals that I hoped to achieve for myself by completing this program:
1) Update my technology skills.
2) Learn to make clear and intelligent decisions about incorporating free Web 2.0 tools into our school's curriculum.
3) Help students learn to utilize technology for the purpose of lifelong learning.
4) Increase my leadership role in technology integration at work to help improve district-wide use of technology for teaching and learning.
When I started the Master’s Program, I felt that I was competent as far as teaching my student’s basic technology skills and that I was intuitively incorporating technology into the curriculum in meaningful ways. However, as a teacher, I did not have a deep understanding of the special relationship between technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPaCK). The coursework I’ve completed in this program has caused me to appreciably update my technology skills and to help my students learn to be pro-active in setting up their own personal learning resources. When I started the certificate program, I had heard of the term Web 2.0, but I honestly didn’t even know what it meant! Now, I’ve learned how to make decisions that seamlessly incorporate technology into my curriculum based on Michigan and National Educational Technology Standards for students. The activities and lessons we do help my students analyze, learn, and explore using Web 2.0 tools. Additionally, I now teach my students to use Web 2.0 tools to collaborate with each other for authentic group work experiences. Technology helps me differentiate instruction and the choices I make for delivering curriculum use technology in transformative ways. Pedagogy, content, and technology interactions do not happen by chance, they are the result of a prepared mind, which is cognizant of the special interaction of all three.
1) Update my technology skills.
2) Learn to make clear and intelligent decisions about incorporating free Web 2.0 tools into our school's curriculum.
3) Help students learn to utilize technology for the purpose of lifelong learning.
4) Increase my leadership role in technology integration at work to help improve district-wide use of technology for teaching and learning.
When I started the Master’s Program, I felt that I was competent as far as teaching my student’s basic technology skills and that I was intuitively incorporating technology into the curriculum in meaningful ways. However, as a teacher, I did not have a deep understanding of the special relationship between technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPaCK). The coursework I’ve completed in this program has caused me to appreciably update my technology skills and to help my students learn to be pro-active in setting up their own personal learning resources. When I started the certificate program, I had heard of the term Web 2.0, but I honestly didn’t even know what it meant! Now, I’ve learned how to make decisions that seamlessly incorporate technology into my curriculum based on Michigan and National Educational Technology Standards for students. The activities and lessons we do help my students analyze, learn, and explore using Web 2.0 tools. Additionally, I now teach my students to use Web 2.0 tools to collaborate with each other for authentic group work experiences. Technology helps me differentiate instruction and the choices I make for delivering curriculum use technology in transformative ways. Pedagogy, content, and technology interactions do not happen by chance, they are the result of a prepared mind, which is cognizant of the special interaction of all three.
The goal I had of increasing my leadership role in improving technology integration for teaching and learning district-wide is the one on which I’ve had the slowest progress. I’ve been pushing to get my school district to adopt using Google for Education so our students would have access to this free resource. It hasn’t happened yet, but I do have my principal and our technology curriculum coordinator endorsing the idea. As far as making an impact in my building, I feel like I should put an “Open – Walk ins Welcome” sign outside my door. Teachers, staff members, and even administrators drop in frequently to ask me technology questions. Discoveries are happening daily in my room and I am so excited to share them with anyone who will listen!