Grow, Learn, Repeat: The Journey of a Lifelong Learner
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I love to learn and grow. This ultimately led to me pursuing a career in education so that I could help instill this love in the students that I would encounter on my teaching journey. Due to this love of learning, I take pride in calling myself a lifelong learner. This love of learning has helped me to seek out opportunities in which I can grow and evolve in my practice as a teacher where I have found myself branching out into new and exciting roles.
My most recent roles as a Computer Science teacher and the middle school’s Digital Literacy Specialist led me to Michigan State University’s (MSU) Master in Educational Technology (MAET) program. I wanted to be able to ensure that technology drives student engagement and learning in meaningful ways, not used just for the sake of saying that it is used. I also wanted to find ways to incorporate technology into any class. After completing the MAET program, I can say that my thinking on how to utilize technology has grown and evolved and I am taking away numerous ideas and strategies to incorporate into many different settings. Through this program, I have also found that I have a voice that can stand up and advocate for meaningful changes in the world of education during a time when so many educators are currently struggling and wiped out. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in this program and am sad that it is over, but am grateful for the experiences and growth it has provided.
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One of the classes that helped me to grow and evolve in my thinking was CEP 810 (Teaching for Understanding with Technology). This was my first encounter with the concept of the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge framework (TPACK). This is one of the driving forces behind technology integration and ensuring that content and pedagogy are the driving forces in lesson development and only after considering these should a technology tool be chosen to aid in student learning and understanding. There are times that teachers start building lessons with the technology tool they wish to incorporate instead of what they are trying to get their students to understand. When this happens, oftentimes this makes it difficult for students to complete tasks. I witnessed this first hand in my first MAET quickfire assignment where I was tasked with having someone pick out a plate, a bowl, and a cooking utensil with no guidance from me, and then randomly
pick a number assigned to the task that I would need to complete using these everyday household items that were chosen. My husband picked out a spatula for my cooking utensil and the random number generator determined that I would use my tools to slice cheese for a cheese plate. This helped me to see that educational tools are not always created with educational purposes in mind. Instead, teachers have to go through a process of creative play to repurpose the tools to actually fit the unique goals of the students, their classes, and what they are trying to teach. This made me further realize that utilizing technology within lessons should help students gain a deeper understanding and connection to the material, not make it more difficult for them to complete the assigned tasks. In order for this to happen, we must consider the content and the pedagogy that will be used before determining the technology tool that will be used to ensure and showcase student understanding.
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This class also offered me the opportunity to explore how the educational system has shifted from the traditional rote, teacher-centered model of learning to a problem-based, learner-centered learning model. It also drove home the ideas of how these shifts have helped students develop a deeper understanding of concepts and address conceptual changes, which allows for a greater transfer of learning happening. This further led to an examination of how 21st learning can support these ideals and further drive student learning and understanding.
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Finally, I had the opportunity to explore how students learn new things in today’s digital world in the completion of my Networked Learning Project. For this project, I chose to learn how to bake and decorate cakes using information found on YouTube, Social Media Platforms, and different help forums to help transform my skill set. This helped me not only gain an understanding of how my students find and use information to learn but also helped me to gain a better understanding of the value of open, networked, digital learning options.
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The second class that had an impact on me was CEP 811 (Adapting Innovative Technologies in Education). This class began by talking about failure and giving us the opportunity to reflect on a time when we failed at something. During my entire educational career, from student to teacher, failure was not an option for me. I have always had a strong drive to be successful and this has been a driving motivation for me to do well in everything that I do, the first time around. I realized that when learning, failure is not the be-all-end-all, but can be turned into a learning experience that students can reflect on and grow from, which in turn can help increase their overall learning and understanding. Because of this, it is important to give students
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the opportunity and time to iterate after receiving feedback from teachers and peers. Oftentimes, we leave this part out in education today due to time constraints and the ability to cover all of the information in the curriculum.
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This class also took the time to examine the ideas of constructionism and constructivism. Being so far removed from my preservice teacher days, I forgot how strongly I felt that constructionism be the focus of classrooms. It is important for teachers to take on a facilitator role in active learning environments where students have the opportunity to engage with ideas hands-on through Project or Problem Based Learning (PBL), which includes time for self-assessment and reflection on what worked for them and what areas they can improve in next time. Examining these two ideals also made me realize the importance of uncovering the preexisting ideas that students bring to the classroom, and the importance of building upon these ideas in order to create new knowledge. The class then shifted to look at the concepts of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework and intersectionality. Again, the idea behind these two concepts was how to optimize learning for all students. Because all learners are unique, classrooms need to shift away from this one-size-fits-all approach to education. Instead, it is important to begin with our learning goals in mind and design lessons that are student-centered, present information in various manners, and allow students voice-in-choice in how they are going to showcase their learning. Once again, these ideas drove home the importance of teachers providing feedback to students and allowing them the time to learn from their mistakes and iterate again to create stronger ties to the concepts and build a better understanding.
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After trying out a new technology tool, Little Bits, I had the opportunity to create an Innovative Learning Plan. When drafting this plan, I was able to rely on my new knowledge of TPACK, my new technology tool, Little Bits, and the ideas of constructionism, constructivism, UDL, and intersectionality to create a plan that would help to enhance and allow students to gain a better understanding of the main concept I was focusing on teaching. I ended up focusing on creating a plan to help my students develop their skills when it comes to creating character analyses. I have noticed that my students struggle with this concept and I felt that by adding a creative component with the Little Bits I would be able to help drive student engagement and willingness to work towards achieving an understanding of the concept. Ultimately, in my plan, students would work collaboratively to create a character analysis on an assigned character from a class novel. They would then identify four traits and provide evidence and reasoning for this character having these traits. Then they would create a mask of the character displaying one of these traits and incorporate the LittleBits to help bring their characters to life. However, I found my biggest
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takeaway came upon completion of my plan. I had to provide feedback to two other peers and I received feedback from two other peers, each looking at my plan through a different lens, one looking specifically for UDL concepts and the other for Intersectionality concepts. Once I received my feedback, I had time to go back to my plan and iterate to make it even stronger and to see where my thinking may have been off on UDL or intersectionality concepts. Ultimately, this assignment made me see truly how important it is to offer students the time to iterate and grow in their learning after receiving feedback on their initial learning. It also made me realize that it is easier and a common practice to provide these peer feedback opportunities in English classes, but it often seems overlooked in other subjects. Making this connection helps me to look for ways to ensure that this feedback and iteration is happening on a consistent basis across the board in all classes.
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The final course that had a substantial impact on me was CEP 817 (Learning Technologies By Design). Before this course, I had the opportunity to complete a one-day professional development session on Design Thinking. This included a brief overview and then a very abbreviated chance to cycle through all of the steps of the process. I was very intrigued by it and left trying to figure out how I could incorporate Design Thinking into my own classroom. Then I had a shift in my role in my building and I put this on the back burner. This course began by having us identify a problem of practice in our profession. I chose to focus on students' lack
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of reading for enjoyment as my problem. Throughout the remainder of the course, I had the chance to work through all of the steps of the Design Thinking Process and refine my skills when it came to some components.
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After identifying my problem, I then created an empathy report where I put myself in the shoes of my users by conducting observations, interviews, and immersing myself by seeing things from the perspective of my users. I was able to draw observations from my own children and then drafted an anonymous survey to see how the students in my building felt about reading. After this, I was able to go back and refine my problem of practice by creating a 5 Why’s Root Cause Analysis that helped me to identify the root cause of my problem and a Why-How Ladder to help identify ways to address my problem. I then participated in a brainstorming session with another peer in my profession and I created an incubation journal in which I wrote down any ideas or thoughts that would come to me regarding my problem of practice. I then had the opportunity to create a prototype to address my problem of practice. For this, I created a website students would be able to reference for different reading initiatives to help promote reading. I then had the opportunity to allow users to test out the site and provide me with some feedback on how it worked and improvements that could be made.
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At the conclusion of CEP 817, I realized that as a teacher, I am a maker and designer. Every time I create new curriculum and lessons I am making, designing, and learning what works to help others learn and grow! After having the opportunity to explore design, I have come to a stronger realization that designing helps to form stronger connections and understandings to the concepts taught and explored. It is extremely important and beneficial to include these designing and making opportunities into the curriculum in order for students to gain a deeper understanding of the concepts. The class concluded by looking at how
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others follow the Design Thinking process and incorporate their makerspaces on a daily basis. This helped to ignite my continued passion for growing and encouraging the use of my makerspace.
Wrapping up my time within the MAET program, I am very appreciative of the experiences that it has provided me. Not only did I have the opportunity to find myself as a maker, understand the importance of failure and the opportunity to iterate, and gain an understanding of how technology, pedagogy, and content all successfully come together. I also had the opportunity to reflect on my own teaching practices and how to incorporate concepts from my courses into my own classes. I was also able to take examples of how online courses should function and immediately use these ideas as we saw a shift in education to accommodate the Covid pandemic. Ultimately, I was able to make connections to content that intrigues me, opening up new doors for me to continue on my journey as a lifelong learner.
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