Beyond the 21st Century
By: Samuel Lopez-Romero
I wrote my goal statement in the Spring of 2012. Although, it's only been a little over a year and a half, I feel that I have experienced a complete transformation while in the Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) Program at Michigan State University. I can truly say that I have grown as a person, student, and educator. This growth goes beyond simply learning new technology. It has made a tremendous impact on the way I teach, plan new curriculum, and use technology to provide a more effective and affective influence in a student's learning process and experience. As I reflect on my goal statement, I think that I was a little naive and did not truly realized how much technology had advanced in education. For years I used to think I was technology savvy and that for example Microsoft PowerPoint was the answer to our prayers, but little did I know that I was trapped under a pitch black cave. The decision to enroll in the MAET program literally brought that light that I needed in order to be part of the world of Web 2.0 and a true wake up came after learning about the myriad of tools and application available freely online.
There are many immediate goals that were accomplished throughout my experience in the MAET Program. Did I learn about new technology, tools, and applications that can be used in education? Yes I did. In all honesty before the program I did not know what to expect, I had not heard of Weebly, Prezi, or even Google Docs, and the many other online applications. I was at a stand still for a long time and finally I was able to move forward once in the program. Did I develop my technology skills? Yes indeed, more than I had ever expected. Simply things like learning how to hyperlink a webpage was completely new to me. So my goals have a purpose now and that is to use what I have learned this last two years and use this new acquired knowledge to empower my students into and beyond the 21st Century. New goals are in the horizon and I gladly welcome the challenge.