Global Educator & Tech Enthusiast
Change through Questions
Being an educator, it is sometimes easy to forget the feelings that can be associated with being a learner. Over the past two years, I have once again experienced the feelings of being a learner; I have felt doubt, excitement, fear of the unknown, and finally, hope. The Masters in Educational Technology (MAET) at Michigan State University has not only deepened my love of learning and all the emotions that go with it, but it has also changed who I am as an educator, questioner, and leader. Upon beginning the MAET program at MSU, I truly thought I was simply going to gain some new skills of adequately integrating technology into my students’ learning while also making learning engaging and exciting for my students. Additionally, I thought that I would also learn how to find the best technology to use and potentially find ways of acquiring that technology for my school and classroom. I had no idea that in addition to learning how to successfully integrate technology into my teaching, I would also learn how to be a questioner of everything, redefine my definition of successful learning, and completely change how I design and construct learning for my students and peers, and conduct myself as a leader.
Image from Learning & Leading with Technology (2009).
One course in my Master’s program that was crucial in helping me to truly understand how to integrate technology was CEP 810 (Teaching for Understanding with Technology). In this course, I learned that technology is not simply something to add in to your teaching, but that it should be used as a tool that deepens and extends student’s learning alongside your teaching. I was first exposed to the concept of TPACK through this course, placing content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and technological knowledge as equals in constructing learning experiences for students. Where all three of these areas meet is the ‘sweet spot’ and what educators need to strive for in their teaching. Not only was my thinking changed on how to best integrate and construct learning with technology, but it also was redefined as to what can be technology and what success for students can look like. Personally, I used to think of technology and I thought of something digital often with computers, iPads, or another device, but this course opened my eyes to a world of possibilities of what technology can be and how it can be defined in much broader terms. No longer do I define technology in these limited terms, but instead I analyze something as simple as a piece of yarn and ask how I can have my students repurpose this seemingly basic piece of string into something that can enhance their learning experience? I learned that great technology integration does not first identify the technology tool and then design a lesson, but rather, great teaching sticks to the learning objective, and determines how technology can be used to help student’s achieve that goal. This course not only taught me how to successfully integrate technology into my teaching, but it also taught me to think and teach differently while not defining success for students in such limited terms. I have learned that when success is not defined in such simple terms, student’s will push the boundaries of what is even imaginable and will meet or exceed any expectation.
Another course that challenged my thinking and forced me to think outside of the box was CEP 812 (Applying Educational Technology to Issues of Practice). In this course, I had the opportunity to look at and analyze issues that exist today in education. In analyzing these issues, it seemed that they were nearly impossible to solve. But, in collaboration with a partner, I was tasked with offering up a solution to the wicked problem of rethinking the roles of teachers. In an attempt to fully understand this issue, my partner and I decided to look at this problem through the lens of a teacher and how the roles are changing due to 21st century skills and practices and the technological revolution and how that has impacted education. Once my partner and I fully understood our problem, the two of us were able to identify five crucial components in order to rebrand exactly what a teacher is and redefine what the role of a teacher is. Through our research, we found that through collaboration, professional development, constructive feedback, goal setting, and policy reform our wicked problem could have several potential solutions, but all five components had to be present. Not only do teachers need to view themselves differently, but also society needs to.
In digging into this wicked problem and offering up a possible solution, I was also confronted with how I view myself as an educator as well as how society views and values or doesn’t value me as a professional. This was a pivotal moment for me because I realized I did not want to be defined in these limited terms, but in many ways I was an active participant in societies views of me as an educator and not doing enough to push back on these. In my own school setting, I realized that I must combat these by actively seeking and learning more. I also need to be actively incorporating the five key components that we identified as crucial for change into my school culture and my own personal practice. This course opened my eyes and changed my thinking and attitude towards several issues in education, and while they all may appear wicked and unsolvable, it truly just takes people thinking outside of the box and challenging the status quo to offer up potential solutions to move forward and tackle these problems head on.
Finally, CEP 815 (Technology & Leadership) combined all that I was learning about successfully integrating technology and how to be a leader in helping others integrate technology. I have always viewed myself as a leader and have always been someone who likes to lead, but I can honestly say until this course I did not understand what qualities and attributes it takes to be a great leader. In this course, I had the opportunity to conduct a research project in the pursuit of fully understanding and defining what it takes to be a great leader. Through my course readings and my own research I came to realize that people identify truly great leaders as individuals who make those they are leading feel safe. Feelings of safety stem from trust and honesty, and those are emotions that are not just granted, but are earned. Leaders have to continuously instill a sense of truth and honesty in the individuals they are leading for those people to ever feel safe and want to be led.
Image from freeinforworld.com
Not only did this learning challenge how I view myself as a leader, but it also forced me to realize that if I aim to be a leader in educational technology, I must create an environment that elicits feelings of safety for my colleagues. Inviting someone into your classroom to observe, coach, or mentor you is scary, but if that person makes you feel safe to be vulnerable and take risks, that’s where real learning can happen. During this course, I had the opportunity to collaborate with a high school Spanish teacher who was striving to incorporate technology into a lesson with the objective of having students learn cardinal direction words in Spanish. As we began thinking about her lesson I became nervous, because not only did I teach elementary students and have no experience with high schoolers, I also hadn’t taken a Spanish class in years. I realized very quickly, that not only was she feeling vulnerable by sharing her lesson plan with me, but I was also feeling incredibly vulnerable. Out of fear of saying the wrong thing, or offering up an elementary idea and looking dumb, all I did was ask question after question. I truly wanted to know everything I could about her lesson and understand the rationale for the instructional choices she had made to help her students reach their learning goal. Once I felt that I fully understood the learning objective and choices, I then began to offer up technological tools and strategies that could be used to help enhance and deepen students’ learning. I realized after this event that my nervousness in not knowing her material was the best thing that could have happened for my first coaching experience. Not only was I vulnerable with her because I simply am not an expert in her subject matter, but in asking a million questions I was able to maintain the integrity of her original objective and simply offer suggestions rather than think I knew the best way to teach this Spanish lesson. I learned that day, that by seeking to fully understand her lesson objective and being vulnerable in my own lack of knowledge, I was simply a colleague for her to collaborate with and bounce ideas off, which truly made us both feel safe to collaborate. This experience and this course was pivotal in helping me to realize that while I now have an excellent knowledge base on best practices with technology integration in education and skills to lead, I still have so much room to learn, and the best way to learn and lead is to ask questions and seek to understand everyone that I am working with.
While I have been a learner again and experienced all of the emotions associated with learning, I have realized that I have always been and will always be a lifelong learner. Education will forever continue to evolve and change and the only way to stay current and meet the needs of all students is to continue to grow and evolve through learning. However, I also know that I do not have to do this alone. I have been on this journey through my master’s with people who have pushed me to be my best, question what I think and do, and who have truly propelled me forward in the field of education. I have learned that collaboration is the easiest way to take any idea to the next level and that the old adage remains true, two brains (or three or ten) are still better than one.
Image from englishlive.ef.com
I am extremely grateful that I chose to enroll in the MAET program at Michigan State University two years ago. I have been transformed as an educator, a leader, and an individual. While I went in with the goal that I would learn fantastic ways to incorporate technology into my teaching, I had no idea that I would meet that, while also acquiring new goals. I learned how to be a questioner of everything, even if it feels like a silly question. I understand it is crucial that I continuously re-evaluate how I define success for my students within my lessons. I know to continue to challenge the status quo with educational issues and think outside of the box to offer solutions. Finally, I learned how to be vulnerable in the pursuit of leadership both with my students and colleagues, because vulnerability is power, and this is still truly where the best learning happens. I feel that this program met my goals, gave me new goals, and also opened me up to a world of possibilities that I did not know existed or were attainable for me both inside and outside of education.