Goal Statement and Reflection

When I first applied to the Master of Arts in Educational Technology program at Michigan State University, I knew what my goals were and I knew what I wanted to know by the time of my graduation. In my application to the program, I explained that I wanted to learn more about ways I can be a better math teacher through the use of the internet and other innovative technologies. I also included a short disclaimer explaining that, “by no means do I think that technology will be taking over the jobs of teachers, but I do think that I can contribute to classrooms in a more meaningful way than by leading my own”. My other goal for the MAET program was to gain the tools to design good meaningful games for math classrooms.

During my undergraduate studies, I was set on the idea that becoming a math teacher was my final goal. I was sure that once I reached that point, I could exist happily and teach mathematics indefinitely. However, this dream was shortly lived. I had no difficulties becoming a math teacher, but I quickly realized that I could be doing more. I knew that videos on YouTube which explain math concepts get over 5000 times more “views” than a teacher will in their entire career in front of a classroom! That’s ultimately why I decided to apply to the MAET program; I knew that I could be a more effective educator by learning about innovative technologies and learning more about serious game design for classrooms.

Nearly one year later, my goals have stayed relatively the same, minus one small piece. Interestingly, I never knew this one piece existed until I stumbled upon a branch of computer science known as "Machine Learning".

Machine Learning is a way to get computers to predict things. Or in some cases, Machine Learning can find patterns in data, or decide what action to take next. For instance, given some data on houses and their prices, we can “train” a computer to predict prices for new houses. Or Google can “train” a car to drive. So how does this relate to my previous goals of innovative technologies and game design? When thinking about video games, or even YouTube videos explaining math concepts, we generally think of something that has been designed by someone to be experienced by someone else. But what if the designed experience could make a prediction of who the student is and what they know, in order to provide a more meaningful learning experience?

Videos lack on several important things: They’re not interactive, and they don’t differentiate instruction for the student. Adaptive games achieve both of those tasks, which is why my primary goals have been to learn and implement whatever I can regarding adaptive math games for the classroom.

My general goals have stayed the same: I am still interested in learning more ways to be a better math teacher through innovative technology. However, through my studies, I have realized exactly what I need to focus on in order to achieve this goal. In some sense, my goal has become more defined during my time at Michigan State University. Ultimately, I am interested in developing tools for teachers to better help and assist more students through the use of technology in classrooms.