I always knew I would eventually get my master’s degree, but I never thought it would be in instructional technology. During my undergrad at the University of Northern Colorado, I took an educational technology class which covered the basics. We created PowerPoints and played around with Garageband. However, I never learned how to teach using technology.
Through my first six years of teaching, I slowly developed a knack for integrating technology into my classroom. Other teachers would come to me for ideas and I would share what I could. I would invest hours creating PowerPoints and Prezis to engage my students in learning from direct instruction. I began to realize that I was doing all the work and my students weren’t investing in their learning. There was a disconnect between my passion for creating using technology and the activities I knew were best for my students. I began to develop activities where I could empower students to create using technology. I soon realized that my skills and knowledge about educational technology was not able to keep up with the fast-paced ever-changing world of technology.
It was at this point that I searching for a masters program. I began looking for a program which could help me develop into a teacher on the cutting edge of education. I stumbled upon the UC Denver eLearning program and was instantly intrigued. I was excited by the project based learning model and the prospect of creating an online portfolio. Many people asked why I was going into eLearning. Besides my interest in technology, I saw an online integrated classroom as the future of education. I was ensuring that I was prepared with the skills to teach in the future.
Now that I am graduating, I see that my time in the ILT eLearning program has caused me to move to a new level in my career as a teacher. I have developed new skills to meet the ever changing demands of education. When I first applied for the program, Colorado was still using paper standardized tests. Now students complete their tests online using a variety of devices. Education is catching up to the culture of technology dependency and I am confident that I have gained the skills to utilize it through designing effective opportunities for students to learn. This could be my most important lesson that I learned during my time in the program. Technology is a tool to be used to enhance and empower good instruction. The instruction must be designed first, then using the proper tools and knowledge I have the opportunity to really inspire and make an impact on students.
I am excited to be finishing my master’s degree and moving into a new stage in my career. I recently joined a team from my school that applied to be part of the Summit Basecamp program. The program uses project based learning on a personal learning platform to teach skills students will need to be successful in the future. Three years ago I would have ventured into the same program with excitement but very little knowledge about instructional design and technology. I am now confident that I can help lead my team and school on this new adventure with a new base camp.
Ryan Schultz
May 2016