Technology leader?
by Scot Acre (2011)
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Much has happened since I started my Masters journey. Initially, fitting a program into my crazy schedule was of great importance. I began looking at online programs and immediately became enamored with the idea of doing something involving technology. At the time, it was incredibly obvious to me that education was in desperate need of some new, free technology. So my searches lead me to the MAET Program at Michigan State University. I am the type of person who always enjoys a new challenge, and I decided that this might be just the challenge to take on… boy was I right!
I was very excited to begin my first class, as I really only used an overhead projector, the Microsoft office suite, and graphing calculators as forms of technologies in my classroom. Needless to say, those first couple classes for me were invigorating because of all the new technology I was learning. Initially, I felt a bit intimidated because I wasn't prepared to learn as much as I did in such a short period of time. The topics of FTP folders, jings, and webquests were discussed in the message boards with such clarity and precision that I felt as if I was the only person who had not had experience with them. I spent a great deal of time “catching up” as I am a digital immigrant.
Having said that, I vowed in those first few classes to really be present and see what I could actually use and “take back” to my classroom. I say this as it became obvious fairly quickly that as long the rubric was followed a good grade would be earned. This first goal was perhaps the most crucial to the transformation that has occurred in my teaching over the past three or so years. I had always believed in being a guide on the side rather than a sage on the stage, but struggled to find ways to get out of my students way so that they could think and learn. This program has really given me great insight as to how it can be done.
Because the MAET program allowed me to personalize my assignments for my students, I was allowed to “play” with technology, which sounds like fun but is incredibly daunting and sometimes highly frustrating. Looking back however, I wouldn’t change a thing. If I didn’t go through the struggles of using Dreamweaver with almost no knowledge of HTML, I really wouldn’t have been able to appreciate how amazing weebly.com really is. If I didn’t use Edublogs, I would have never thought to create Facebook group pages as a source of class blogging.
It is interesting because I recall rating myself as being "technologically okay" in my classroom because I knew how to use Excel, Word, PowerPoint and the Internet. In fact, I was “given” the twenty first century classroom when my principal found out what I was getting my masters in. It was basically a room with a document camera, interactive white board, interactive tablet, and voting mechanisms. While it was a one step forward two
steps back process in terms of integrating the technology into my classroom, I was somehow deemed as a “technology leader” in my high school. I learned in the first month of my master’s experience that I was
anything but... Thankfully, I am a quick study. More importantly I stuck to my goal of being open to new technologies, and how to effectively implement them into my class room.
As I progressed through the courses, I had ups and downs. The ups far outweighed the downs. First, I applied and was hired by a mathematics, science, and technology center as a direct result of the MAET program. In addition, as I began to learn more about web 2.0 technologies, I would bring them back to my new peers. I was shocked to find that they were interested in what I was talking about. We work in a Professional Learning Community (PLC) model, so last year I, along with a fellow staff member, Christine Kincaid Dewey, proposed the idea of implementing web 2.0 technologies into our classrooms. Now everyone on staff can do a prezi, a screencast, and a podcast. In addition, every student and staff member has a Google account. Students are competent in document sharing, creating forms, etc… many staff members are using Google calendars on their websites. I must say that I feel pretty good about the fact that I am able to show others the value in using technology in the classroom.
The most transformative thing that has happened to me occurred as a result of the summer cohort session. This was a nine credit course that met for two weeks on campus. Then a month later, we met again. Punya Mishra is the man that literally “blew my mind open” when it comes to using technology in education. Because of him, I realized that today’s students need time to play with technology... because of him, I realized that education is portable… because of him, I realized that I ought to be showing students how to use the technology that they already use in an academic way. Academically speaking, it was the most intense, inspiring, and rewarding thing that I have ever done!
While there were ups, there were also downs. I struggled to create my own website from “scratch”. In addition, it sometimes took me longer to visualize what I wanted to do with the technology as I really did want to use it as much as possible in my classroom. This lead to fear and waiting. Further, at times, I struggled to be a group member that people could count on. This leads me to the biggest source of frustration; my own lack of time management. I am not sure what happened, but somewhere between undergrad and now, I have realized that something that used to be a strength is now anything but... MUCH work is still needed in this area. It is an uphill battle.
All in all, this journey through my master’s degree has been one of the most fruitful experiences of my life, and I can't remember a time where I learned more. After reflecting upon my early writings, I definitely exceeded the goals that I had set for myself. For the future, my goals are to continue in implementing new Web 2.0 technologies into my classroom and to stay current as a life-long learner. If it is one thing that I have learned through the MAET program, it is the idea that technology, like education, is dynamic and ever changing. Therefore it is essential that I continue along this path of learning. It is my hope that I will contiue to accomplish these goals.