Goal Reflection Essay
From Knowledge to Process
Throughout my first three years as an English teacher, I discovered and integrated many different tech tools into my daily lessons. I joined the technology committee at my school and began running monthly “Tech Tuesdays” where I shared ways to integrate technology with my fellow teachers. Even though I was completing my own research about Educational Technology, I wanted to pursue a master’s degree in this field to increase my knowledge even more. Specifically, I applied to Michigan State University’s Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) program; this program interested me because it was fully online and had award-winning degree courses. Looking back at my original goals when applying for grad school, I noticed that my main goal was to increase my knowledge of technology so I could be a more effective classroom teacher. I envisioned myself having a paperless classroom and using technology daily upon the conclusion of my MAET coursework.
Upon my near completion of the MAET program, I now realize that technology has its time and place in the classroom, but simply increasing its usage in the classroom will not ensure that I am an effective teacher or that my students are learning. Even if I learn every single tech tool imaginable (which, of course, is an impossible feat), if I do not know the appropriate way to use the tool to help my students reach a specific learning goal, I will not be using technology effectively. In other words, I have learned that it’s not the knowledge of technology that I need to increase, it is the process of using technology. One such framework that I’ve learned through MSU’s MAET program is called the TPACK model (Mishra & Koehler, 2006). TPACK (which stands for Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge) shows that the integration of all three contexts is necessary for technology to be used effectively.
Based on this new knowledge, my new goal is to to learn to use technology effectively to increase student learning. This places an emphasis on student learning rather than technology. Technology, after all, is just one of many tools that effective teachers use in the classroom to meet standards and learning objectives.
As I compare my first goal (increasing my knowledge of technology so I could be a more effective classroom teacher) to my new goal (learning to use technology effectively to increase student learning) I see how much I have grown as a teacher as well as a technologist. While I have learned many new tech tools throughout the MAET program, I have also learned how to use the tools most effectively. I have learned the value of technology as well as the necessity of paper and pencil tasks. I have learned the hard way that just because a lesson uses technology does not automatically make the lesson better than if no technology were involved: it’s all about matching the right tools with the desired learner outcome.
Reference
Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017-1054. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9620.2006.00684.x.