Not Just a "Cool App"

While talking with a colleague lately, we were reflecting on the staff-led professional development sessions last August. During this time, I had the privilege of presenting on the most recent Google Classroom updates, and I also threw in a sprinkle of other technology apps that I found to be helpful at any age level. It was during this time that the colleague told me, “After you presented, many people at the middle school were buzzing about your ‘techie’ knowledge and wanted to pick your brain about how to use certain apps.” While this conversation filled me with pride that I had achieved my goal, I also felt a twinge of sadness. While completing my master’s degree in education technology at Michigan State University, I have learned that having technological knowledge is only one component of creating a fulfilling and high-achieving classroom.

When I first began my time in the Master of Arts in Education Technology (MAET) program, I knew my comprehensive goal was to one day become a technology coach. I wanted to be able to have the knowledge behind the most effective applications to use and how to apply them in contexts that would both aid the teacher and provide supplemental learning for the students. While that goal has been achieved, I have learned that education technology is so much more than simple apps on a computer. Education technology is about preparing the future generation for a world of careers that do not exist, to solve problems that have not been created, with tools that have not been invented. Without incorporating the mindset change of critical thinking and productive failure, we as educators will be failing our students without incorporating the research-based modern tools that have been invented for this generation. Throughout my time in the MAET program, my mindset has shifted away from “what cool app can I incorporate into this lesson?” to “how can I use this tool to better serve my population of individualized student needs, while also balancing the pedagogical and content knowledge I possess to ensure that students achieve mastery on this skill?” Do not get me wrong, I still get psyched over an intriguing new app released, but after completing the MAET program, I can now look at my role as a technology leader through a critical lens and properly vet programs through research-based best practices and user experience.

Over the span of my time in the MAET program, three courses have impacted my journey to technological leadership the most. Those courses are CEP 816: Technology, Teaching, and Learning Across the Curriculum, CEP 810, 811, and 812: Mindsets for Innovation Hybrid Strand, and CEP 810, 811, and 812: Mindsets for Innovation Hybrid Strand. For the remainder of this essay, I will delve into how these courses have changed my approach to education technology for the better.

Course Development

In CEP 816: Technology, Teaching, and Learning Across the Curriculum, I had the opportunity to refurbish an outdated curriculum and implement elements of new media texts and tools. I chose this course to be my first within the MAET program because I thought that this would be a great exposure to all of the neat applications available to educators on the internet. However, this course was not based on the foundations of apps. Instead, I had to use critical thinking skills to plan how I wanted this course to be laid out based on the foundations of TPACK (technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge) and cognitive load in order for students to fully understand and retain the knowledge presented in this course in a meaningful way. By basing my lessons on these two foundations, I was able to combine the crucial elements of teaching into a beautiful harmony that is rigorous, but not overwhelming. I was able to do this by assessing my students’ prior knowledge and their context of learning. Through viewing my planning practices through these lenses, I was able to not just incorporate “cool apps”, I was able to use technology to differentiate my practices to meet the needs of all students in an engaging manner.

Not only did I have to create a student learning experience, but I also was tasked to create an educator timeline with instructions on how to implement my student learning experience with their students. This involved developing a scope and sequence for how long the unit was to be implemented, as well as lesson plans for each individual day of learning. Another aspect of this task was to create a rationale for the tools that I did choose to implement in the lessons. This was done in order to eliminate any confusion about how the tools are meant to be used, as well as share some of the resources that I have accumulated while developing the course.

This course greatly impacted the way that I view curriculum development and the way that I present material. Not only were the foundations of TPACK and cognitive load essential for presenting technology tools, but it is also essential for the way that educators present any type of material or content to students. This course also shifted my mindset about how to present information to colleagues about technology. Not only is coaching educators about showing them how to use the tool, but it is also about justifying the affordances and constraints in order to allow the educator to make the decision that will be right for their classroom and their students.

Problem-Solving

In CEP 810, 811, 812: Mindsets for Innovation Hybrid Strand, I learned about asking the right questions in order to solve the right problems. Due to the fact that this course was a condensed form of three other courses, only the big picture items were covered in this small amount of time. Even with the short time frame, I learned many things that have impacted who I am as a technology educator.

For the first part of the course, I focused on the potential of the world wide web and how to use it to my advantage. This was done through a networked learning project, where I had to learn a new skill solely from online resources. I used primarily YouTube videos to learn how to do the splits. This allowed me to carefully vet my sources to ensure my success in my endeavors. For the second part of the course, the focus was on creating a maker space environment within a classroom. This involved many online and physical tools, but a lack of instruction on how to use them. This forced me out of my comfort zone and I went through the productive failure process many times while playing with the technology tools. This lead up to creating an assignment for my students involving a maker space environment, in which I focused on the tool Tinkercad, a three-dimensional design and printing tool. For the last part of the course, I had to research a problem close to my heart, I chose the teaching shortage, and develop a solution to this problem, and find a way to present the problem and solution in an effective way.

This course greatly impacted me because I got to see what technology can be like to some of my students and colleagues: a challenge that seems impossible to solve. Not only did I have to productively fail in order to succeed, but I also had to rely on the sources of others’ instruction (aka video tutorials) in order to have a better grasp on how to properly use the tools given to me. This is the reality for many of the people that I will work with in my future role. Not only can I empathize with them in this struggle, but I can also now guide them through the struggle to lead them to success. Not only was I introduced to the wonderful world of maker space tools, but I can effectively teach how to use them.

Design

In CEP 817: Learning Technology by Design, I learned how to approach a problem within my environment by using the Design Thinking Bootleg process developed by Stanford d.School. This process involves the steps of empathizing with the end users, defining the dilemma presented in the environment, ideating a solution to the dilemma, designing a prototype, and testing this prototype. After I selected a problem that I noticed was occurring in my school, I created a plan in order to rectify the situation.

The problem that I tackled during this project design is the expansion of my school’s peer-to-peer program to service a greater number of special education students that are lacking in social skills, but cannot be involved in the program due to personal limitations. To start this design, I empathized with the special education students and created multiple narratives of what their daily lives may be like. Then, I interviewed special education teachers and the school social worker to determine the need for this program and how it is running within the school. Next, I used the information I gained from the interviews to determine a problem and brainstorm a variety of possible solutions through the use of multiple different protocols to engage me in the creative thinking process. Then, I designed a prototype of possible social skills “playbook” using the technology application Google Slides. Through this prototype, general education teachers can target a problem behavior that is causing the special education students to not be able to gain friendships and model the desired behaviors. Finally, I tested this on my students and collaborated with my school’s social worker to develop a plan of implementation to roll out for the upcoming school year.

This course greatly impacted me because it truly prepared me for my future role as a technology coach. During this future role, part of my daily routine will be defining problems within the school environments, ideating solutions, designing a solution, and testing applications with educators and students. The training of this process prepared me for what I will endure in my daily work environment once I transition to my new role.

My graduate experience has pushed me to think beyond the “cool apps” phase of technology. I can now say because of my time in the MAET program, I am capable of vetting programs, assessing the affordances and constraints of their usage, and implementing them in a way to balance cognitive load with content and pedagogical knowledge in a way to make technology useful. While it is fun to think about technology as a toy to make education more engaging, I can safely say that incorporating technology into the everyday classroom environment can lead to student and educator success. For the sake of my colleagues, I will wear the “cool apps person” badge with pride. However, once I am in my role as a coach, I plan to do so much more than just provide recommendations for websites to use in the classroom. Technology can be used in so many ways to benefit all, and I cannot wait to keep learning about all the ways to usefully use technology in the classroom.

Image Credits:

Koehler, M. (2011, May 11). Using the TPACK image. http://www.tpack.org/

Platner, H. (2018). Design thinking bootleg.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57c6b79629687fde090a0fdd/t/5b19b2f2aa4a99e99b26b6bb/
1528410876119/dschool_bootleg_deck_2018_final_sm+%282%29.pdf

Zahradnik, B. (2019, August, 12). Makerspace: A 3 step DIY guide to creating one in your classroom.

Leader in Me Blog. https://www.leaderinme.org/blog/makerspace/

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