Thank You MSU .... for the Good Education!
It was second hour on a typical school day. After greeting my sixth graders at the door as they entered the classroom, I quickly scanned the room for absences and recorded attendance on my computer. The students are used to this beginning of class ritual and waited patiently and quietly while I took care of this routine task. When I looked up to catch their attention and get started on the day’s lesson, I noticed Tyler G. (all three feet of him) stand up next to his chair, grin at me, and flick his long blonde hair back out of his eyes. He said, “Thank you Miss Harris…. for the good education,” bowed to me, and sat back down in his chair. Other students in the class, sat in their chairs, some absentmindedly nodded their heads and some muttered thoughtfully, “yeah…. thanks.” I was, momentarily speechless and needless to say, quite humbled. I guiltily choked out a “you're welcome,” and plunged into the days lesson.
Tyler’s simple statement propelled me to action. You see I did not feel worthy of Tyler’s thanks. Guilt – or more accurately, the avoidance of guilt has always been a strong motivator for me. I knew things were changing and advancing in the world of educational technology. I knew my knowledge in this area had stagnated, and I knew my students deserved better.
After deciding I needed to update my skills in educational technology, my next step was finding the right program. In addition to working full-time, I also coach and am involved in several other school-related leadership roles. I needed a program that offered me some flexibility. Most importantly, I was in search of educational excellence. I found that there are actually numerous graduate programs specializing in technology in education. I narrowed my list down to four, contacted all of them, sought out opinions from colleagues, and settled on MSU. It turns out that I made the perfect choice.
I hoped that completing the Educational Technology Certificate program would be all that I needed to achieve my goals. I was very worried about my outdated technology skills and afraid I would not be able to handle the coursework requirements. For that reason, I enrolled in the hybrid format of the course CEP 810 Teaching for Understanding with Computers offered in Birmingham, Michigan and taught by Michael Partridge. This hybrid course, which combined face-to-face weekend classes with on-line learning on the weeks in-between, worked very well for me. At first, the face-to-face sessions felt a little overwhelming because of the rapid pace and sheer quantity of technology tools to which I was being introduced. I’ve since become accustomed to and actually relish this delivery method, which seemed to be used in many of my graduate courses. Because of coaching obligations, I had to take the second course, CEP 811 Adapting Innovative Technologies to Education totally online. Carolyn McCarthy and Sandra Plair taught the course and the online format was very intimidating to me. Thus, I retreated back to Birmingham, Michael Partridge, and my comfort zone of the hybrid format for CEP 812 Applying Educational Technology to Problems of Practice, the third and final course in the certificate program.
I learned a lot about educational technology in the certificate program and I also learned a lot about myself as a learner. I worked on a group project for a proposed special interest group (SIG). Our special interest was multimedia in education. We gathered lesson plans, online articles, and information about professional organizations on this topic and created a presentation for our classmates designed to convince them to join our SIG. It was the first time I’d used Google Docs, and the first time I’d experienced the power of collaborating in real time using an online tool. A second important tool I learned to utilize in the certificate program was a RSS reader. I had heard of RSS but did not know what it was or how it worked. Now I can easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from sites I’m interested in like Cool Cat Teacher Blog, Digital Directions, and The Innovative Educator. These feeds have become an integral part of my personal learning plan.
Two other projects that significantly impacted my learning in the certificate program were the StAIR Project and the Wicked Problem Project. I chose a familiar topic – similarities and differences between word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation programs, for the StAIR (Stand Alone Instructional Resource) Project. This allowed me to focus my attention on the logistics of creating a 50+ non-linear PowerPoint presentation for middle school students that incorporated positive reinforcement for correct responses, review and practice, and a quiz at the end to assess learning. The challenge presented by the Wicked Problem Project was to address an existing problem I was facing in my teaching practice and use technology to help solve it. The problem I chose to address was teaching academic vocabulary.
I proposed using technology to address this educational issue by utilizing Web tools and interactive games that make learning vocabulary fun and interactive for students and that offers teachers tools for designing and implementing a comprehensive approach to teaching academic vocabulary. Throughout the certificate program, blogging was used for writing about course topics and for reflection. Creation of and writing in a blog was also a first for me.
The most important things I learned in the certificate program came from being introduced to Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles; Technological, Pedagogical, Content Knowledge (TPACK) theory, and my discovery that the challenges posed by taking my first totally online class were very good for me. I’m involved in writing curriculum for my school district and UDL provides an important framework for understanding how to create this in a way that meets the needs of all learners from the start. I have always struggled with trying to explain to colleagues and others what I do and how I do it in my effort to use technology in teaching career exploration and when I was introduced to TPACK I had one of those moments when I realized, “Wow, there is actually a scholarly explanation for this and boy do I have a lot to learn!” Personally, I learned how important it was for me to get out of my comfort zone. When I took CEP 810 in the hybrid format, I was an average student in my class. Most of my classmates took all three of the certificate courses in Birmingham. When I took CEP 811 online, I struggled all the way through the course. I asked a lot of questions, spent a great deal of time trying to figure out how to complete my assignments, and even redid a couple of them. Confidence shaken, I returned to Birmingham for CEP 812 thinking I was going to finish the certificate program and be done with formal schooling. But a funny thing happened through all the blood, sweat, and tears I endured in CEP 811. I had gone from average in CEP 810 to bottom-of-the barrel in CEP 811 to one of the class leaders in CEP 812. Sometimes what doesn’t kill you does indeed make you stronger! The learning curve for being successful in an online class had been very steep for me, but all my hard work paid off and I had gained enough confidence to apply for admission to the master’s program.
When I learned I was accepted into the MAET program and also accepted into the East Lansing Summer Cohort taught by Punya Mishra and Kristen Kereluik, I was exhilarated. The cohort combined three courses, CEP 800 Learning in School and Other Settings, CEP 815 Technology and Leadership, and CEP 822 Approaches to Educational Leadership into a six-week integrated, accelerated, hybrid program. The format combined two weeks of intense, fast-paced, on-campus learning followed by four weeks online and culminated with a final, face-to-face day when we shared and celebrated all we had accomplished.
This experience helped me focus on the needs of my students to have meaningful learning experiences where they can explore careers, themselves, and technology. I realized the only way I can accomplish the goals I have for my teaching and my students learning in the short amount of time I have with them is to always be mindful of TPACK. I am the designer of the total PACKage and the walls between technology, pedagogy, and content no longer exist in my mind. The Dream IT Proposal assignment from the integrated summer program was very meaningful to me and gave me practice not only in examining the dynamic relationship between content, pedagogy, and technology but also in designing a solution to an existing curriculum problem that I had using a NEW – novel, effective, and whole approach. The process of creating learning experiences of this type was not nearly as fluid and seamless as I would have liked. In fact, the process of creating my Dream IT proposal felt like a struggle every step of the way, but was so worth it!
The summer cohort experience was incredible and one I will not forget. Our class was diverse with students coming from as far away as China, The Netherlands, and Alaska. I think the fast pace and the intellectual challenges we faced made us a cohesive, and inspired group of educators.
Another class that made a big impact on me was TE 831 Teaching School Subject Matter with Technology taught by Akesha Horton. My 8th grade students just finished the Repurposing Technology Lesson Plan I developed from this class. Four interactive white boards were used with my classes to enable students to work in groups constructing knowledge about Michigan’s Career Pathways and classifying occupations within each. The Digital Storytelling lesson I developed in this class will be happening shortly in my classroom. In addition to leaving the class with some terrific, customized classroom resources, I also have to say that Akesha Horton’s use of a Wiki as a Course Management System was the best I had ever seen.
Finally, I have to mention this class, CEP 807, ProSeminar in Educational Technology. I am so thankful that the culminating course in this Master’s program is project based. Out of the ten classes I've taken in this program, I think this one by far has had the most comfortable pacing. Then I wonder if it's actually the pacing of the class, or if I've finally become comfortable in this role of being a "Master" of Educational Technology. I’m proud of the work I’ve done on this online portfolio, and even prouder of all the incremental accomplishments it represents.
After deciding I needed to update my skills in educational technology, my next step was finding the right program. In addition to working full-time, I also coach and am involved in several other school-related leadership roles. I needed a program that offered me some flexibility. Most importantly, I was in search of educational excellence. I found that there are actually numerous graduate programs specializing in technology in education. I narrowed my list down to four, contacted all of them, sought out opinions from colleagues, and settled on MSU. It turns out that I made the perfect choice.
I hoped that completing the Educational Technology Certificate program would be all that I needed to achieve my goals. I was very worried about my outdated technology skills and afraid I would not be able to handle the coursework requirements. For that reason, I enrolled in the hybrid format of the course CEP 810 Teaching for Understanding with Computers offered in Birmingham, Michigan and taught by Michael Partridge. This hybrid course, which combined face-to-face weekend classes with on-line learning on the weeks in-between, worked very well for me. At first, the face-to-face sessions felt a little overwhelming because of the rapid pace and sheer quantity of technology tools to which I was being introduced. I’ve since become accustomed to and actually relish this delivery method, which seemed to be used in many of my graduate courses. Because of coaching obligations, I had to take the second course, CEP 811 Adapting Innovative Technologies to Education totally online. Carolyn McCarthy and Sandra Plair taught the course and the online format was very intimidating to me. Thus, I retreated back to Birmingham, Michael Partridge, and my comfort zone of the hybrid format for CEP 812 Applying Educational Technology to Problems of Practice, the third and final course in the certificate program.
I learned a lot about educational technology in the certificate program and I also learned a lot about myself as a learner. I worked on a group project for a proposed special interest group (SIG). Our special interest was multimedia in education. We gathered lesson plans, online articles, and information about professional organizations on this topic and created a presentation for our classmates designed to convince them to join our SIG. It was the first time I’d used Google Docs, and the first time I’d experienced the power of collaborating in real time using an online tool. A second important tool I learned to utilize in the certificate program was a RSS reader. I had heard of RSS but did not know what it was or how it worked. Now I can easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from sites I’m interested in like Cool Cat Teacher Blog, Digital Directions, and The Innovative Educator. These feeds have become an integral part of my personal learning plan.
Two other projects that significantly impacted my learning in the certificate program were the StAIR Project and the Wicked Problem Project. I chose a familiar topic – similarities and differences between word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation programs, for the StAIR (Stand Alone Instructional Resource) Project. This allowed me to focus my attention on the logistics of creating a 50+ non-linear PowerPoint presentation for middle school students that incorporated positive reinforcement for correct responses, review and practice, and a quiz at the end to assess learning. The challenge presented by the Wicked Problem Project was to address an existing problem I was facing in my teaching practice and use technology to help solve it. The problem I chose to address was teaching academic vocabulary.
I proposed using technology to address this educational issue by utilizing Web tools and interactive games that make learning vocabulary fun and interactive for students and that offers teachers tools for designing and implementing a comprehensive approach to teaching academic vocabulary. Throughout the certificate program, blogging was used for writing about course topics and for reflection. Creation of and writing in a blog was also a first for me.
The most important things I learned in the certificate program came from being introduced to Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles; Technological, Pedagogical, Content Knowledge (TPACK) theory, and my discovery that the challenges posed by taking my first totally online class were very good for me. I’m involved in writing curriculum for my school district and UDL provides an important framework for understanding how to create this in a way that meets the needs of all learners from the start. I have always struggled with trying to explain to colleagues and others what I do and how I do it in my effort to use technology in teaching career exploration and when I was introduced to TPACK I had one of those moments when I realized, “Wow, there is actually a scholarly explanation for this and boy do I have a lot to learn!” Personally, I learned how important it was for me to get out of my comfort zone. When I took CEP 810 in the hybrid format, I was an average student in my class. Most of my classmates took all three of the certificate courses in Birmingham. When I took CEP 811 online, I struggled all the way through the course. I asked a lot of questions, spent a great deal of time trying to figure out how to complete my assignments, and even redid a couple of them. Confidence shaken, I returned to Birmingham for CEP 812 thinking I was going to finish the certificate program and be done with formal schooling. But a funny thing happened through all the blood, sweat, and tears I endured in CEP 811. I had gone from average in CEP 810 to bottom-of-the barrel in CEP 811 to one of the class leaders in CEP 812. Sometimes what doesn’t kill you does indeed make you stronger! The learning curve for being successful in an online class had been very steep for me, but all my hard work paid off and I had gained enough confidence to apply for admission to the master’s program.
When I learned I was accepted into the MAET program and also accepted into the East Lansing Summer Cohort taught by Punya Mishra and Kristen Kereluik, I was exhilarated. The cohort combined three courses, CEP 800 Learning in School and Other Settings, CEP 815 Technology and Leadership, and CEP 822 Approaches to Educational Leadership into a six-week integrated, accelerated, hybrid program. The format combined two weeks of intense, fast-paced, on-campus learning followed by four weeks online and culminated with a final, face-to-face day when we shared and celebrated all we had accomplished.
This experience helped me focus on the needs of my students to have meaningful learning experiences where they can explore careers, themselves, and technology. I realized the only way I can accomplish the goals I have for my teaching and my students learning in the short amount of time I have with them is to always be mindful of TPACK. I am the designer of the total PACKage and the walls between technology, pedagogy, and content no longer exist in my mind. The Dream IT Proposal assignment from the integrated summer program was very meaningful to me and gave me practice not only in examining the dynamic relationship between content, pedagogy, and technology but also in designing a solution to an existing curriculum problem that I had using a NEW – novel, effective, and whole approach. The process of creating learning experiences of this type was not nearly as fluid and seamless as I would have liked. In fact, the process of creating my Dream IT proposal felt like a struggle every step of the way, but was so worth it!
The summer cohort experience was incredible and one I will not forget. Our class was diverse with students coming from as far away as China, The Netherlands, and Alaska. I think the fast pace and the intellectual challenges we faced made us a cohesive, and inspired group of educators.
Another class that made a big impact on me was TE 831 Teaching School Subject Matter with Technology taught by Akesha Horton. My 8th grade students just finished the Repurposing Technology Lesson Plan I developed from this class. Four interactive white boards were used with my classes to enable students to work in groups constructing knowledge about Michigan’s Career Pathways and classifying occupations within each. The Digital Storytelling lesson I developed in this class will be happening shortly in my classroom. In addition to leaving the class with some terrific, customized classroom resources, I also have to say that Akesha Horton’s use of a Wiki as a Course Management System was the best I had ever seen.
Finally, I have to mention this class, CEP 807, ProSeminar in Educational Technology. I am so thankful that the culminating course in this Master’s program is project based. Out of the ten classes I've taken in this program, I think this one by far has had the most comfortable pacing. Then I wonder if it's actually the pacing of the class, or if I've finally become comfortable in this role of being a "Master" of Educational Technology. I’m proud of the work I’ve done on this online portfolio, and even prouder of all the incremental accomplishments it represents.
So, on this typical day in October, I would like to take this opportunity to say, "Thank you MSU for the good education." I know my classmates reading this are probably either sitting there absentmindedly nodding their heads in agreement or muttering, "Yeah, thanks." I was in search of educational excellence, and I surely found it.