In 2014, I was accepted into Michigan State University’s Master of Educational Technology (MAET) Program. Before taking my first course, I remember thinking how excited I was to learn about all the wonderful technology tools out there that would help me manage my classroom better. This excitement stemmed from my difficulty to keep behaviors under control in my classroom. I noticed that whenever my students were in front of a computer, they were more focused and engaged in the task at hand. I remember wanting to one day be so knowledgeable of every website, online game, etc., that I would always have a technology piece involved for every lesson. Hence, my short-term goal as I entered the master program was to use technological tools to keep my students in their seats and well behaved. I wanted technology to help me manage my classroom.

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           Little did I know, MSU’s MAET program offered much more depth than that. In the program, I learned that technology should not be used merely to entertain students and keep them in their seats. Rather, technology should become more like a teaching partner as it supports the content that we need to teach as well as support how we will teach it. As the content becomes more accessible to students through the use of technology, the students naturally become engaged. I was able to see this in action as I was teaching the writing process. To include peer editing throughout the writing process, I found the best technological tool that would support this.  My chosen tool, Google Documents, allowed my students to not only share, comment and get feedback from myself and their peers in their classroom, but also with other staff members whom they shared their writing pieces with. The technology enhanced the learning experience and supported the learning goals I had for my students. I can now see that students will stay in their seats, become engaged, and their problems will diminish if the content is accessible to them.

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           Upon entering the master's program, my long-term goal was to teach my own basic technology class as my degree would make me highly qualified to do this for grades K-8. Similar to my short term goal, I had intense instrumental thinking as I wanted to just teach technology to students just for technology’s sake. That goal has definitely changed! Today, my goal is to gain years of experience in integrating technology into instruction that supports student learning. Another goal is to then use my knowledge and experience as an instructional technology coach in my building or district to help other educators do the same. As my school building enters into a project based learning status, I look forward to using my new knowledge to help students and staff use technology to help them learn, explore, and create their projects representing many real world topics. This program has helped me change my way of thinking. I hope to do the same for others.

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Credits: 

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[Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.sduhealth.org.uk/delivery/engage/regional-and-local-networks/south-region-sustainability-and-health-network.aspx

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MAED. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2017, from https://education.msu.edu/maed/

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Why Is Project-Based Learning Important? (2007, October 19). Retrieved December 11, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning-guide-importance

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