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From Teacher to Technologist
From Teacher to Technologist
Introduction
Introduction
Technology has always been an important part of my life. Growing up, I was lucky enough to receive my own personal laptop as a middle school student. Through this device I connected with friends, played games, and completed homework assignments. It was always such a treat in school when my class went to the computer lab; on these days, my two favorite things (learning and technology) collided. Computer usage in the classroom was limited at this time to practicing typing skills, researching, and creating essays. As I progressed through college and became a teacher myself, I watched the evolution of educational technology in the classroom. Many school districts, including my own during my first year of teaching, went 1:1 (meaning that every student was provided a computer in class).
It is amazing to see how much educational technology has changed in the short amount of time since I was a student. Instead of simply using a computer to type an essay, technology can be used to engage students (such as through the use of a formative assessment tool like Kahoot) and enhance learning (such as through teacher-produced screencasts that can answer students’ commonly confused questions). It was awe-inspiring, and a bit intimidating, to have access to so many educational technology resources as a first year teacher. I felt such freedom to create my own unique lesson plans and activities that intertwined traditional classroom practices with digital resources. After spending hours researching and tinkering with new educational technology tools, I quickly became a leader of technology innovation in my building. There was only so much I could discover on my own, however. I knew that if I wanted to continue to learn and grow, I needed to pursue my own education further.
Thus, I applied and was accepted into Michigan State University’s Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) program. My overall goal at the start of the program was to simply increase my knowledge of technology so I could be a more effective classroom teacher. I assumed that when I completed the program, the only change that would occur would be an increase in knowledge and experience. I had no idea how much the MAET program would change my views on my classroom, my students, and even myself.
Changes in my Classroom
Changes in my Classroom
Before I started the MAET program, I will admit that I thought there was an indirect correlation between the volume level of my students and the success of the day’s lesson. In other words, if my students were completely silent, they must have been paying attention, and therefore must have learned greatly from my fabulous lesson. The inverse was also true: if students were talking so much that I received a stern look from the teacher across the hall, I was not successful that hour. I encouraged students to discuss in small groups frequently during the class period, but only when given explicit permission from me to do so.
My thinking about my classroom changed drastically when I took CEP 811: Adapting Innovative Technologies in Education. This course centered around the concepts of “makers” and “maker culture.” Maker culture involves people learning through experimentation, collaboration, and creativity. For example, at Lake Michigan College (a local community college in my area) they have instilled a Fab Lab on their campus, which I toured after completing CEP 811. In the Fab Lab there are 3D printers, embroidery equipment, a woodshop, and more. In a K-12 classroom, a maker space could hold a lego station, sewing spots, and electronics to tinker with (such as Makey Makey kits, LittleBits, and Raspberry Pi.)
Watching videos of different K-12 makerspaces, and eventually exploring one for myself, inspired me to think about my classroom practices and classroom layout. During an assignment in CEP 811, my classmates and I were asked to redesign our classrooms. After seeing the power of collaboration and choice, I used SketchUp to create my ideal classroom using flexible seating. I knew this type of set-up would allow students to collaborate much easier than they could with rigid desks, which was essential since I wanted to create a more collaborative classroom environment. Shortly after taking CEP 811, before the next school year began, I bought several game chairs for my classroom to begin creating a flexible seating environment. While I still have a long ways to go, this brought me one step closer to a more collaborative, student-centered classroom.
In addition, I also began changing some of my teaching practices to fit the constructivist learning theory I learned throughout the MAET program.. More of my lessons allowed students to learn through doing, such as through BreakoutEDU. When collaborating in BreakoutEDU activities, my students were engaged, solved challenging problems, and worked together like I had never seen them do before. After my success with this teaching model, I began to share these techniques with other teachers in my building. This led to the implementation of BreakoutEDU activities by many different teachers across several subject areas (including English, Math, Science, and Social Studies).
Changes in my Students
Changes in my Students
Once my view of my classroom changed, it should be no surprise that my view of my students changed as well. One course in the MAET program that brought about a great change in my perception about student learning was CEP 812: Applying Educational Technology Issues to Issues of Practice. In this course I learned about “wicked” problems, which are defined as problems that are impossible to solve because of the contrary nature of the question itself or multiple requirements from many stakeholders that are impossible to fully satisfy. There are many wicked problems in education such as the achievement gap, role of educators, and online learning. However, the problem that my group decided to focus on was failure as a learning mode.
Before I began this project for CEP 812, I viewed failure as most educators typically do: as something to avoid. Failure has a negative connotation, after all, because it’s viewed as the opposite of success. Since, as educators, our goal is for students to learn and be successful in our classrooms, we do not want students to fail. However, through researching failure, my group discovered that failure is not always a bad thing. After all, students fail in video games and sports frequently, and this failure pushes them to reflect on their mistakes and try again. Why can’t this same concept apply to education, too?
In CEP 812, my group came up with two “best bad solutions” to the wicked problem of failure as a learning mode which we compiled into this website. For the use of failure to be successful, we noted that students’ mindsets needed to change. Students need to develop growth mindset, which means that they believe they can get better at a task if they work hard, and grit, which means they are able to persevere in difficult situations.
Another possible solution that we came up with to develop failure as a learning mode was changing teaching practices. Based on research, we concluded that if our teaching practices allow students to experience failure in a positive way, students can begin to learn from their failure instead of shutting down or becoming frustrated in the face of failure. We concluded that BreadkoutEDU, Project-Based Learning (PBL), STEM, and makerspaces promote failure as a learning mode.
This concept of failure as a learning mode, while emphasized in CEP 812, was a common thread throughout my MAET experience. Throughout the master’s program, I began to change my own personal mindset about failure. I was given the opportunity in all of the MAET courses to revise assignments based on feedback, which pushed me to view my original attempts not as failures but as the first stage of my learning process. Based on these experiences, I knew I wanted to begin changing my own teaching methods to start changing my students’ mindset about failure, too. I began implementing BreakoutEDU activities and PBL into my classroom.
For example, during summer school I implemented a PBL unit where students completed their own research on two driving questions focused on the first and second amendments. This was a bit nerve wracking to me, because I am used to leading students every step of the way; it was difficult to give up the reins. However, in this PBL unit my students surprised me with their ingenuity. Although they struggled along the way, they did not stay frustrated for long; they continued to push themselves (and their classmates) until they all found success. Based on this experience, which I felt comfortable pursuing because of my experiences throughout the MAET program, I will begin implementing PBL units in my regular curriculum.
Changes in Myself
Changes in Myself
Once my views of both my classroom and my students changed, my views of myself as a learner began to change as well. I began to test the limits of my comfort zone in my coursework by pursuing a certificate in Serious Game Design. The course where I felt the most out of my depth, but also experienced the most growth, was MI 830: Foundations of Serious Games. In this course, I was one of the only MAET students in the course; most of my classmates were already game designers or were majoring in that subject. To say that I felt out of my depth was an understatement. However, I knew that if I was pushing my students to accept failure as a learning mode, it was only fair for me to do the same.
MI 830, like all of the courses in the MAET program showed me the power of innovation. Creating a lesson, just like creating a game, involves backwards design (planning with the end in mind). I’ve learned that the process of brainstorming is not a step to ignore, and creating iterations are imperative. Now, whenever I teach a lesson in the classroom, I am constantly reflecting on what I can do to improve my practice the next time.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The Master of Arts in Educational Technology program has changed my views of my classroom, my students, and even myself. Now, I do not worry if my classroom is too loud, because I equate movement, collaboration, and active engagement with learning. My students have the freedom to fail without fear of losing points, and the grit to continue trying even under difficult circumstances. In fact, I have developed this same attitude in my own professional life as I have pushed myself out of my comfort zone and have tried new things (such as presenting at conferences) that I would not have had the expertise or confidence to do before.
I feel so passionate about all the work that I have done that I want to continue it, which is why I pursued a career as an educational technologist. My goal is to share all of the knowledge I’ve gained in the MAET program with other educators so that they can find the same success that I have had in my own classroom. All in all, the MAET program has surely changed me, and my professional practices, for the better.
In MI 830, I worked hard and learned as much as I could about game design elements and prototyping. I iterated my ideas repeatedly until they seemed workable. I playtested, playtested, and playtested again until my game was engaging and educational. My creation in this course ended up being a game titled PunctuPLAYtion, which has a serious goal of increasing students’ knowledge of punctuation, creativity, and writing style. Although I was not confident in my abilities at the start of the course, my hard work definitely paid off; by the end of the course my professor, Dr. Carrie Heeter, was so impressed with my work that she encouraged me to submit my game to an annual Meaningful Play conference. If she had asked me that at the beginning of the course, I would have laughed and said I was not qualified to do so. However, based upon my own growth and self-efficacy throughout the course, I submitted my proposal with confidence, and ended up being invited to present!
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