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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.