Sometimes They Find You:

How I Found My Passion in Educational Technology

Introduction

I graduated from high school with a goal to become an educator and coach who could make a positive impact on my students. My ambition was not to pursue other options or look for advancement within education. I simply thought that I would be one of the teachers who remains in the profession for 35+ years. I earned my bachelor’s degree in Secondary Mathematics Education from Millersville University in 2012. At that point, I felt that I knew exactly what I wanted to do: It was my time to shine as a teacher. I spent time as a long-term substitute teacher over the course of three different school years and had great experiences with the students. However, I could not seem to find the right timing to find a permanent position that was a good fit for me.

While in my final teaching position at Cocalico High School, I learned that the Cornwall-Lebanon School District (my former employer at that time) created an Instructional Technology Specialist position. After looking at the job description and talking with my brother (who worked in the same technology department) and some other professionals within the district, I decided that it might be an interesting opportunity. At the time, I did not know if this was something that would be a long-term option or if it would just be an opportunity to be there in case of another teaching opening.

I accepted the job as an Instructional Technology Specialist in December of 2014. My first few months on the job were very interesting. I spent a lot of time learning various programs, tricks, and fixes for common issues that were being seen among the teachers. I also spent a lot of time meeting with teachers individually to find out their goals as the district expanded its 1:1 program, which is a program that essentially provides each student with a laptop to use for classes. Although I had experience using various forms of technology throughout my time as a teacher, I knew that I needed to pursue more education to better support the faculty and staff.

My search for graduate programs eventually led me to the Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) Program through Michigan State University. I chose the MAET program because it offered the flexibility of choosing the majority of the courses I wanted to take, the flexibility to learn at my own pace through asynchronous courses, and appeared to be very reputable in the field. Although I knew this program would be a good fit, I did not know that this program was going to make as large of an impact on me as it did.

My Takeaways

Prior to joining the MAET program, I felt that my strengths were that I was personable, responsible, and capable of quickly learning and applying new skills. However, I felt that I was too reactive to issues that were arising. Several factors led to the reactive approaches.

They include the following:

I was hired into a position that was recently created. There were no set guidelines and best practices for what my work day should look like.
My district had multiple administrative position changes due to retirements. This contributed to what I felt was a blurred vision.
I simply needed to learn more about technology integration. I knew that I did not have enough experience and knowledge at that time to be able to plan to my full capabilities.

The MAET program changed the way I view technology, education, and the role that I play in bringing those two fields together. Although it is very easy to be caught up with trying to stay on top of the newest technology and trends, I learned that in order to remain successful and relevant, I must keep learning as the main priority. Technology will always continue to change. It is my job to empower students and teachers to learn and apply skills to new situations. In order to make this transfer of knowledge possible, I need to focus on methods that effectively promote deeper learning. This understanding, along with key components of technology integration, have enabled me to be more proactive in my job.

All of the courses I took as a part of this program helped me to learn strategic methods for using technology in educational settings. However, three courses stood out the most to me and changed my perspective about educational technology.

One course that challenged my thinking and practice is CEP 811 – Adapting Innovative Technology to Education. This course promoted the idea of tinkering and making as a means of learning. I learned about the idea of constructivism and connected it to the idea of creating and building. Through this course I got to experiment with a Raspberry Pi, which essentially is an open source computer that can be used to learn and create through programming languages such as scratch and python. I initially chose the Raspberry Pi to use for projects because I wanted the challenge of learning something challenging and felt that Raspberry Pi provided me with the most options for building projects. I had very limited experience with programming prior to working with the Raspberry Pi.

I designed various projects throughout my time in the course. One project I created was a kiosk that would be used as a part of our help desk system at our high school. Essentially, the Pi was connected to a monitor, mouse, and keyboard and was programmed to load directly to a locked browser that displayed the help page website. After 2 minutes of inactivity, the browser window would refresh and go back to the home webpage. I also worked with SketchUp to design a room layout that is currently being used for the newly developed help desk. In addition, I created lesson plans that explored the potential of making and project-based learning in the classroom.

This course transformed my perspective of learning because it made me realize how important it is for students to have time to tinker and explore with tools. I used my knowledge gained in this course to help promote Makerspaces in my district. My district now has six functioning Makerspaces (one at each building) where kids can explore with various tools. In addition, I developed practical ways to support efforts to build “making” into various courses and grade levels in my district.

Another course that made a huge impact on my practice was CEP 812 – Applying Educational Technology to Practice. Through this course I explored how technology can be used to solve complex issues that education is facing today. As a part of this course I was introduced to Design Thinking and innovative ideas. One of my largest takeaways was the idea of questioning and inquiry. I read A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger as a part of this class and found it interesting to see the drop off in questions that children have vs teens and adults. I truly believe this is a root issue for the problems we are seeing in student learning. This book led me to start questioning why I do things in my practice and create new ideas that I can use to make myself and my district more effective.

One of the key components of this course was the exploration of a wicked issue in education. A wicked issue is an issue that is very difficult to even define the problem, much less solve. I collaborated with other students to research the wicked problem of keeping education relevant. We ultimately found that there were many factors that contribute this issue. The vast majority of educators that we surveyed as a part of our research identified that they do not believe students are graduating with the skills they need to succeed after graduation. Ultimately, this raises the question of where changes need to be made in schools so that students are getting the education they need to thrive. This course changed my perspective on education because it opened my eyes to the complexity of the issues that are being seen today. These issues need time and dedication to solve. There will not be an easy fix to the always changing landscape of education. I will use this knowledge to play a role in helping my district solve some of these issues at a local level and maintain a great learning environment for all students.

Finally, CEP 817 – Learning Technology Through Design is the course that made the largest impact on my practice. Through this course, I learned the purpose and theory behind each step of the Design Thinking process. The Design Thinking process can take many different names and forms but ultimately uses a methodology for finding solutions to complex problems. Rather than focusing on solutions, Design Thinking is used to better understand the issues and users. There are five steps in the Design Thinking process – Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. Each stage can be visited multiple times to create the best possible solution for whatever the issue is. I got the opportunity to explore Design Thinking through coursework in addition to a course project that I used to redefine instructional technology for my district.

Design Thinking is very powerful because it can empower anyone to solve complex issues. I felt completely energized while taking this course because it allowed me to identify issues in my practice and find potential solutions to those problems. As a result of this course I played a key role in developing two websites for my district. I redesigned the Instructional Technology Services website for my district to improve communication and provide a hub for educators to instructional strategies and guides. I identified a need for this by empathizing with educators and experimenting with ways to make improvements to the technology department. In addition, I also created the plans that will be the foundation for a website created by Jason Murray, who is the Technology Director in my district. This new site will be used to track goal setting and instructional meetings with teachers. It will help the Instructional Technology Team identify areas for growth among educators. Ultimately, it will be a tool that will be used to help us better personalize our professional development with staff.

This course built on my previous knowledge of complex problem solving from CEP 812 and gave me an opportunity to apply Design Thinking directly into my practice. This course made its impact on me because it empowered me to look into issues that I was seeing in my practice and find practical solutions. I am continuously sharing my knowledge of Design Thinking with other professionals in my district to empower them to solve of the issues they are seeing as well.

Closing Thoughts

The MAET program has been a game-changer for me. I truly found a passion for teaching with technology as a result of this program. Every detail of the courses helped me in my practice, including the course layout, articles, media, assignments, collaborative opportunities. I received valuable and timely feedback on all of my assignments, which was extremely helpful to me as I used the feedback to make continuous improvements. This program allowed me to grow and reflect in a very critical point in my career. I was able to directly apply my knowledge and skills into my practice, as can be seen in my Graduate Project Showcase. I will continue to find ways to build my knowledge and skills into my practice.

In addition to applying my coursework to my practice as an Instructional Technology Specialist, I also see myself as more of a leader in my district. I am now prepared to stay at the forefront and develop plans that can be used to support educational decisions. My capacity to collaborate and solve complex problems has grown tremendously over the course of the past two years. I understand key frameworks and models related to technology integration. As a result, I have developed into an emergent leader in my district. I will continue to build on this role to help my district move forward and support student learning in the best possible way.

Finally, the MAET program renewed my love of learning. As I approached the final courses of my bachelor’s degree, I remember feeling burned out and ready to get out into the work force. I knew that I was going to pursue a master’s degree but wasn’t in a rush to do so. Now, I can honestly say that I am excited to continue to learn, even after I complete my master's degree. I have been constantly looking into potential programs and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to study after my graduation. These programs and areas of study can be seen in my Future Learning Goals. It is with this renewed energy and excitement to learn that I can hopefully inspire educators and students to continue to strive to learn and be the best versions of themselves.