My Future is Now
By: Samuel Lopez-Romero
Reflecting on the past… A few years ago in an attempt to fulfill professional development requirements, I took a course that focused on learning new technology to be implemented in our classrooms. There were two major goals for new teachers to master. One was how to use Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel; and the other one was for us to be able to help students navigate the Internet with ease. At that time it was the wave of the future. It was pretty amazing; I was so proud and felt I was up-to-date with the technological world. So, I made a point to use these new acquired skills and have students create newsletters, give presentations, make brochures, complete web-quests, and use the Internet to do research. A little over a year and a half ago, I realized that my knowledge of technology was pretty ancient. Web 2.0, Cloud Computing, Google Docs! Wow! Yes, these were new terms to me. I was pulled out of my comfort zone and recognized that I have been too complacent with what I knew about technology. It was almost magical to see how these new Web 2.0 tools would help empower my own technological skills and make me a better educator and as a result I would be able to set goals and provide students with better learning experiences…moving onward to future.
It is hard to imagine what life would be without having to experience the Master of Arts in Educational Technology Program (MAET) at Michigan State University (MSU). It is a strong statement, but I feel the impact has been more than I would have ever expected. I have gone through a transformation as a person, student, and more importantly as an educator. Before enrolling in the program I felt I was in a stand still situation. There was minimal progress as to how I envisioned my future. I kept hearing from different people about new Internet tools that I could be using in my classroom to improve learning and comprehension of the subject matter, so I started to investigate the possibilities of pursuing a masters program and I found a perfect fit at MSU. Personally, the MAET program has given me the opportunity to reflect on my views about my life, career, and future. It has helped me become more conscientious about the needs of another person in an always-changing society without being so judgmental. This was the drive that pushed in becoming a teacher, but I felt that I was drifting away from my purpose. As a student, MSU provide me with tools that helped me improve my time management, writing, communication, and social skills. I had some reservations at first in becoming a student again but the support that MSU instructors provided made it possible for a smooth transition. The program made an even major impact on my profession as an educator. At one point I realized that I was just going through the motions in my classroom. Things had become monotonous and I could feel that I was not improving the learning experiences of many of my students. In the last year and a half I have been able to review and improve my teaching style with one goal in mind, to introduce students to technology that can help them become even better students. I revamped my pedagogy and have acquired new skills to keep my students motivated and engaged in the classroom. Through it all, the late nights working in creating a website, writing a literature review, working on our Big Kahuna project, or completing our StAIR , I know that I can sincerely say that enrolling in the MAET program was one of the best decisions I have made in my life.
It is hard to imagine what life would be without having to experience the Master of Arts in Educational Technology Program (MAET) at Michigan State University (MSU). It is a strong statement, but I feel the impact has been more than I would have ever expected. I have gone through a transformation as a person, student, and more importantly as an educator. Before enrolling in the program I felt I was in a stand still situation. There was minimal progress as to how I envisioned my future. I kept hearing from different people about new Internet tools that I could be using in my classroom to improve learning and comprehension of the subject matter, so I started to investigate the possibilities of pursuing a masters program and I found a perfect fit at MSU. Personally, the MAET program has given me the opportunity to reflect on my views about my life, career, and future. It has helped me become more conscientious about the needs of another person in an always-changing society without being so judgmental. This was the drive that pushed in becoming a teacher, but I felt that I was drifting away from my purpose. As a student, MSU provide me with tools that helped me improve my time management, writing, communication, and social skills. I had some reservations at first in becoming a student again but the support that MSU instructors provided made it possible for a smooth transition. The program made an even major impact on my profession as an educator. At one point I realized that I was just going through the motions in my classroom. Things had become monotonous and I could feel that I was not improving the learning experiences of many of my students. In the last year and a half I have been able to review and improve my teaching style with one goal in mind, to introduce students to technology that can help them become even better students. I revamped my pedagogy and have acquired new skills to keep my students motivated and engaged in the classroom. Through it all, the late nights working in creating a website, writing a literature review, working on our Big Kahuna project, or completing our StAIR , I know that I can sincerely say that enrolling in the MAET program was one of the best decisions I have made in my life.
Personal Learning Network (PLN) created for CEP 810
|
It has been an incredible journey throughout the program and I could write pages and pages about each course I took in the MAET program, but there are four of them that I feel had a strong influence in my career as an educator. However, before I write in detail about them, I would first like to point the amazing job that each one of the instructors do in the program. I do not think that I would be the same without their immense understanding, positive and constructive feedback, push to improve the quality of our work, express our individualism, and most importantly to always exercise our creativity. Their goal was to shape us into great 21st century thinking minds and without any doubt they have definitely accomplished their purpose.
|
CEP 810 “Teaching for understanding with technology” instructed by Amy Leigh Pietrowski was the first course I took in the program. The focus was how to use technology to improve the quality of teaching and learning. This was the first time that I was introduced to the concept of Web 2.0 and that what I knew about Web 1.0 was definitely a thing of the past. I never realized the myriad of tools and applications that were readily available online. I was like a kid during Christmas, so many toys to play with and not knowing where to start. It was amazing! We learned and practiced how to integrate technology in our classroom and that if it is used appropriately it can effectively provide students with a better and positive learning experience. For eight weeks we learned first hand strategies that can easily be used at any level of teaching. The outcome was a great revelation for me. I learned that technology improves content comprehension and retention. I noticed that students were more engaged and wanted to participate even more. I believe that technology goes beyond the hands-on experience; it requires the learner to be more creative and to think more critically. It also provides great tools for those who learn better with visuals or those who like to hear content. CEP 810 also showed us that the abundant number of effective teaching strategies helps the teacher meet the demands to prepare students for a more technological future. This class was also important because it proposed us to set up goals for the rest of the program and the future. I like to think that we were challenged to improve in all aspects of teaching and learning.
There is one assignment that really stands out from CEP 810 and is one that I truly feel exemplifies good teaching with technology and that is the SIG Proposal. Our goal was to find, research, and implement a type of technology that would have a great impact on a teacher’s pedagogy, student learning, and subject matter. As a group we decided to focus on iPad/tablet applications. Some of the applications we felt had a strong influence on learning were Show Me, Evernote, Confer, BrainPop, and many others. Aside from learning about these applications, I believe the SIG Proposal had the most traditional elements necessary for successful learning: collaboration, hands-on experiences, creativity, and critical thinking. It also provided a great environment for self-expression and at the same time allowing us to view and understand the opinions of others. The assignment also helped us develop our technological skills in order to complete it successfully. It taught us to use technology to create a collaborative work and to expand our knowledge of applications that could be beneficial in our classroom. Furthermore, the integration of Google Docs and the course’s discussion forum within the assignment provided us with an insight as to how technology can affectively improve learning.
The next course to have a strong impact on my learning was CEP 800: Learning in School and Other Settings. The instructor for this course was Dr. Danah Henriksen. The goal of the course was aimed to understand how much our students are actually learning in the classroom; the results were astonishing. One of the projects in the course required us to interview three to four students on a subject that they were familiar with. The idea was to clear misconceptions and measure to a certain extent how much they actually understood about the subject. During my interview with these students, I wanted to find out how well they understood the concept of Evolution, Survival of the fittest, and adaptation. I also wanted to see if they were victims of the misconception that people believe that Charles Darwin’s theory said that we came from monkeys. I was amazed by the responses during the interview. From the three students I interviewed two had taken Biology the year before but for some reason they still believed that humans came from monkeys. The third student was a senior and had taken Advanced Placement Biology. Although, his responses were better and seemed to have a grasp on the subject of Evolution, there were times that he still struggled in providing clear responses. These results were important to me because I realized that I was naïve in thinking that my students were actually learning everything I was presenting to them. I knew then that I had to find better ways to measure understanding and also restructure my pedagogy to help students understand the subject in more deeply manner and get rid of misconceptions.
There is one assignment that really stands out from CEP 810 and is one that I truly feel exemplifies good teaching with technology and that is the SIG Proposal. Our goal was to find, research, and implement a type of technology that would have a great impact on a teacher’s pedagogy, student learning, and subject matter. As a group we decided to focus on iPad/tablet applications. Some of the applications we felt had a strong influence on learning were Show Me, Evernote, Confer, BrainPop, and many others. Aside from learning about these applications, I believe the SIG Proposal had the most traditional elements necessary for successful learning: collaboration, hands-on experiences, creativity, and critical thinking. It also provided a great environment for self-expression and at the same time allowing us to view and understand the opinions of others. The assignment also helped us develop our technological skills in order to complete it successfully. It taught us to use technology to create a collaborative work and to expand our knowledge of applications that could be beneficial in our classroom. Furthermore, the integration of Google Docs and the course’s discussion forum within the assignment provided us with an insight as to how technology can affectively improve learning.
The next course to have a strong impact on my learning was CEP 800: Learning in School and Other Settings. The instructor for this course was Dr. Danah Henriksen. The goal of the course was aimed to understand how much our students are actually learning in the classroom; the results were astonishing. One of the projects in the course required us to interview three to four students on a subject that they were familiar with. The idea was to clear misconceptions and measure to a certain extent how much they actually understood about the subject. During my interview with these students, I wanted to find out how well they understood the concept of Evolution, Survival of the fittest, and adaptation. I also wanted to see if they were victims of the misconception that people believe that Charles Darwin’s theory said that we came from monkeys. I was amazed by the responses during the interview. From the three students I interviewed two had taken Biology the year before but for some reason they still believed that humans came from monkeys. The third student was a senior and had taken Advanced Placement Biology. Although, his responses were better and seemed to have a grasp on the subject of Evolution, there were times that he still struggled in providing clear responses. These results were important to me because I realized that I was naïve in thinking that my students were actually learning everything I was presenting to them. I knew then that I had to find better ways to measure understanding and also restructure my pedagogy to help students understand the subject in more deeply manner and get rid of misconceptions.
Using Prezi for CEP 800. Teaching about photosynthesis using new technology.
Audio Production about misconceptions. (Click on picture)
|
CEP 800 was also important to me because it provided a better explanation and practice of the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework. Learning about this framework and the intertwining of these three major concepts would give us a better understanding in how to become more effective educators. For this course we chose a unit of study and implemented all the requirements of the framework. The unit I chose to integrate the TPACK framework was the Immune System. As far as content, the biggest focus was that students needed to learn the importance of this system in fighting disease and also understand that the Immune System plays a big part in maintaining the stability of your health. Some of the pedagogical strategies that were used in the unit included; lectures using PowerPoint and Prezi, consolidating information in graphic organizers, modeling when teaching them about the new technology, providing feedback, using rubrics and timelines to guide completion of the assignment, group work to enhance collaboration. For the technology part, I introduced an Audience Response system better know as clickers. The clickers were a hit and seemed to get students interested and engaged on the subject. They also seemed to respond to the content in a more meaningful manner. Overall, the introduction of new technology into my pedagogy seemed to have a positive effect in learning the content. It was incredible to see the TPACK framework at work. I understood then how important it is to find a meaningful connection between technology, pedagogy, and content.
|
I took CEP 817: Learning Technology Through Design in the spring of 2013. Punya Mishra, J. Park, and L. Terry, were the instructors for the course. CEP 817 had a deeper impact than any other course in the program and has transformed my idea of “design” and its relationship to teaching and learning. I truly believe this class had offered us the necessary skills to recognize “good design” and how to use this approach to improve our instructional design. I also feel that I have become better at curriculum, unit, and lesson planning. In my opinion, the purpose of the course was never to teach us about new technology tools per say; but rather, it served as a medium to help us reflect on how to present information more efficiently by looking at the way we design our teaching pedagogy. One assignment that comes to mind was called “55 fiction”. I was not sure how an off the topic, simple, but yet trivial assignment would provide the setting for something more amazing to come. That assignment was actually exactly what design is all about. “55 Fiction” was indeed a “micro-design”. The best part was the constrained requirements; the medium, time, and length, forced us to design something more appealing and also pay attention to detail. It emphasized the job and limitations of the designer and best of all it also focused on the beauty of aesthetics in writing. The concept of “design” continued with other assignments such as the “Big Kahuna”, a project where we needed to create a support webpage where our students can go to get a better understanding about a subject. Through the course I felt that I was beginning to be pay closer attention to detail in a way to prepare something more meaningful for my students. During the course, there was one reading that had a profound effect on my way of thinking. David Perkins in “Knowledge as Design” stresses the idea that we need to view “good design” as something that serves a purpose. In my opinion, this idea simply states that if we provide something to our students without a purpose, then that information simply becomes meaningless. Perkins insists that we must help connect the knowledge we present to our students to real life experiences in order to provide with a more effective learning experience, so we must present them with a well-designed instructional path. Ultimately, this course was important because it led me to redesign my lessons and pedagogy and make them more significant in design for my students.
The next course was important because it would give me a better understanding about the concept of teaching online. CEP 820: Teaching Students Online taught by Anne Heintz, Sandra Sawaya, and Laura Wolf, paved the way in preparing us to become effective online teachers. The emphasis of the course included, reviewing different Course Management Systems, choosing one and create lessons and assessments, and use online standards in order to create a well-designed online course. Currently some of the courses taught online at my school only includes a couple of Social Studies classes. This has given me the motivation to create a curriculum for online science courses. I see myself teaching an online Biology course in the near future and I feel that this course has given me many of the necessary tools to accomplish to my goal.
|
Online course using the Haiku for CEP 820. (Click on the picture for the link to my course)
|
So where to go from here? I have accomplished many of the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the program. I have mastered a few applications and online tools and have integrated them into my pedagogy and have seen a transformation in my students learning attitudes. I am not saying I have found the answers, but by using technology effectively in the classroom, I have given my students a chance to express their individualism and exercise their creativity. The MAET Program has given me a clearer picture in understanding about the needs of all students in my classroom and also ways to help all types of learners. I know that I can make a difference in my student’s learning experiences. I am ready to challenge them and prepare them in becoming successful 21st century students. They will make a difference in our future, so it is important to give them the necessary knowledge to transform our world into a better one. This is my future and their future is now.