After graduating with my bachelor’s degree, I always knew I wanted to go back to school to get my master’s once I got my feet wet in teaching for a few years. Before I knew it, I was in my fourth year of teaching, and it was time to decide what graduate program I wanted to be apart of. I researched an abundance of programs, including ones outside the realm of education as I did not have a clear view of where I wanted to go. This was both an exciting and frightening time; I loved the idea of being able to choose anything that my heart desired, but I was also worried because I wasn’t sure what exactly that was.

 

As soon as I felt confident in one program, I was questioning if that was certainly the route I wanted to go. I was at a loss of what I truly wanted out of my career. Finally, I decided to take a step back and envision where I see myself in the forthcoming years. As I reflected on what I was most passionate about, there were two recurring themes: helping others and technology. At that moment, I was fully confident in my decision to apply to the Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) program at Michigan State University (MSU). I knew that this was a choice that was going help my professional aspirations come true.

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Learning with Technology

As I began my first course, Teaching for Understanding with Technology, I knew I had made the right choice. My favorite assignment of the entire MAET program was from this course; we had to learn something new using only free online resources. I made cake pops. I liked this assignment for a couple of reasons, the first being that I was interested in what I was learning because I was given the choice of what I wanted to learn. I took this idea back to my own classroom, and I now give my students a lot more choice in what they do. For example, during reading time, I allowed students to choose a book of their choice, read it at their own pace, choose if they wanted to read it alone or with others and when they were finished, they were able to choose how they wanted to present what they had read to their classmates, whether it be a Google slide presentation, a poem, a diorama, etc.. I was amazed by the difference in their engagement when they were able to have a say in what and how they learn.

 

This assignment also opened up my eyes to how connected we are to resources through technology. It is nothing new that answers to almost any question are right at our fingertips now. When learning to make cake pops, it was so easy to just search for recipes, blogs and YouTube videos to guide me. If I encountered a problem, I did not have to go searching for people in my family and community that know how to make cake pops; all I had to do is post a question to a forum specific to my topic, and I would receive an answer back from a knowledgeable person in no time. When thinking about my own classroom, I thought, why then are we teaching our students facts that are so easily accessible with the click of a button?

 

Growing up, many of us didn’t have access to information at our fingertips whenever there was a want or need for it; therefore, learning was centered around memorizing the who and what of information. With access to unlimited knowledge in the 21st century, there is no longer a demand to do this. 21st-century learning focuses on teaching the why and how rather than the who and what. Critical thinking skills around information have never been more important. I need to assure that my students understand and can skillfully conceptualize the vast amount of information that they have access to rather than focusing on memorizing specific knowledge about a topic. When students have a question about things, we Google it; we discuss how to find relevant and reliable information. For science, instead of memorizing the functions of the parts of a plant, we ask questions, make hypotheses, design and conduct experiments and form answers based off of evidence about the plants. Anyone can Google the functions of the parts of a plant but not everyone has the skills to critically think about how to build and nurture a garden for a community in need.

As a result, the course, Teaching for Understanding with Technology, has really changed how and what I teach in my classroom. We learn how to critically think, communicate, create and collaborate.

 

We Are All Makers

Another course that really resonated with me throughout this journey is Adapting Innovative Technology to Education. Maker education transformed my idea of teaching. I learned that being a maker does not mean that you need fancy tools and technology; all you need is a problem, creativity, people to collaborate with and a growth mindset. When beginning the course, I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it because I did not consider myself a maker and was nervous that I would struggle to be creative.  I don’t invent new gadgets; I don’t create music or movies. The more I learned about that concept of being a maker, the more my answer started to shift. A maker does not have to be somebody who creates something totally brand new; a maker can be anyone who takes ideas, inventions and tools and transforms or combines them into something else.

 

As an educator, I’m making things all the time. I combine parts of lessons to create new ones. I find household tools and objects to use in a science experiment. I AM a maker. This realization has inspired me to become aware that my students are makers as well. In the classroom, my students are always creating projects out of classroom materials that I would have never thought of or making up dances at recess by combining popular moves that they already know. With this mindset, the possibilities are endless. We are all makers.

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Being a maker is a concept that I now instill in my students so that they have the confidence to learn, explore, create and share their ideas with others. My favorite assignment from this class was creating an educational activity using a maker kit. I chose to make a telling time math game using squishy circuits (playdough and LEDs). I brought this game into my classroom for the students to play, which inspired them to want to make their own squishy circuits. They loved making their own squishy circuits so much that I now incorporate a maker activity into my class every week, including squishy circuits, coding, and making their own bubble wands. Since the beginning of the year, I have seen students grow into makers and most importantly, believe and have the confidence that they ARE makers.

 

The Power of Questioning

The course, Applying Educational Technology to Issues of Practice, has opened my eyes to the powerful world of questioning. Society has taught us to limit our questions and go with the flow. As young children, we question everything but as we get older, our questions become less frequent and eventually rare; it can even be seen as disrespectful to question authority. Like most adults, I have fallen victim to this lack of questioning until this course. I have learned that the most innovative ideas are created through passion, curiosity and questioning. This idea has lead me to my own beautiful question: How can I inspire passion, curiosity and questioning in my own classroom, and how can technology play a role in this?

 

We can no longer just rely on our wealth of information that we hold within to advance in a society that already has an abundance of knowledge at our fingertips, but rather, we need to take initiative to innovate and create. As an educator, it is up to me to facilitate this passion and curiosity with my students. Helping others question can stir the ideas and potential answers that they already have in their heads.

 

As I think about my beautiful question, I reflect on my everyday decisions as an educator. I can admit that there are times when I am just trying to get from point A to point B, but I also have realized that I am striving to answer my beautiful question. I am constantly asking how to introduce content in a way that will spark students’ interests and curiosity, how to incorporate their own passion’s into learning, how to help them explore, create and share their ideas, and of course, how technology can enhance their journey of learning and innovation. However, I am not the only one asking questions. My students are constantly being challenged to ask their own to engage, explore, create and share what they are curious and passionate about.

 

The best example of this is something that I do in my classroom every week called Power Hour. This is an hour where students have the opportunity to explore any question that they have. First, they come up with a question. They then explore that question in a multitude of ways, including reaching out to classmates, adults, family members, the internet and even community members with the help of technology. They work to solve their question and create an innovative way to share their findings with the class and community. Along the way, it goes without saying that they run into obstacles but part of the learning is to not give up and work through them using critical thinking skills and resources. My students and I look forward to power hour every week; it’s a time when everyone is engaged and they are proud to showcase their work. I hope that this empowers my students to never stop asking questions.

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I Believe

The MAET program has given me the tools, strategies and knowledge to help my visions come alive. I now have the confidence to take risks in the classroom when it comes to educational technology. I was unsure what 21st-century learning looked like before this program, but I now have a clear vision of what it is and how to implement it. MAET has taught me that it is ok to fail but not to give up. When something doesn’t go as planned in the classroom, I view it as a step closer to success rather than shutting down with no plans to ever attempt it again. I now believe that I can lead others in this new age of teaching and learning. And for this, I am proud to say that I am a member of the Master of Arts in Educational Technology community.