Themes & Outcomes Of the met program
The Webster Masters in Educational Technology has several main outcomes for student learning, and here are my reflections.
Model ethical uses and applications of digital media in educational and work settings.
There have been several key periods in human history upon which the world changed, never to return to previous ways of living; we are just beginning to see the promise and problems of the technology age. Uses and applications of digital media in educational and work settings has evolved greatly already, but we are just beginning to see what is possible. As such, as an educator, it is critical that we employ a thoughtful, measured approach to what’s best for students when it comes to technology.
From an ethical perspective, we must make sure the means and the ends are justified. It’s tempting to try new applications because of promised benefits, but how to evaluate? The SAMR model of technology integration (https://sites.google.com/a/msad60.org/technology-is-learning/samr-model) provides a thoughtful framework for evaluating and understanding the role technology can play in the classroom. The S stands for substituting, where the technology replaces what was done without computers and as such is the least effective use of technology. Augmenting means that the technology provides additional functionality at a basic level, and Modifying begins to transform the learning environment with technology. Finally, Redefinition utilizes technology to its greatest benefit, where new tasks, processes, and products are possible that wouldn’t have existed without technology.
As an example from my teaching, I teach tabletop strategy game design. When my students’ board games are finished, I used to have them write business letters to game publishers. We heard back exactly once from a publisher. Now, I have students create game profiles for their games on a board gaming website, and players, designers, and publishers from all over the world comment and ask questions on their games. It’s real world, authentic, and gives my students the opportunity to be taken seriously for their work. Without technology, there is nothing that would come close to this experience for students, so one can see how the best uses of technology transform education. Of course, as a teacher, I must be mindful of my students’ safety online, which is why all posts are made from my account and they post only their initials. If I were unable to do that, then as wonderful as an opportunity as the technology present itself, my students’ safety must come first.
Technology and digital citizenship must coincide to protect students and to teach them how to navigate a digital world. The school where students turn off all devices when they walk into school is an outdated school, but allowing students free use of their devices isn’t practical or ethical. Students must be taught in age-appropriate ways how to use technology both in school and socially. At school, students must be taught to evaluate websites for veracity and reliability and to use school technology resources appropriately. Socially, students must learn how to behave in a digital environment successfully with empathy and consideration, even in anonymous environments. As educators, it is our responsibility to teach students how to navigate and succeed in an ever-complex world.
Demonstrate effective uses of technology and multimedia (audio, video, text, images, interactive media, etc) for student learning and teacher reflection, professional growth and productivity.
Digital citizenship, ethics are all well and good, but the toys are one of the best parts of the MET! I’ve worked really hard over the course of my career to incorporate technology in a way that fits the needs of my classes and my students appropriately, and I’ve learned so much in the program to push myself farther.
Creating opportunities for student creativity and development of their communication skills align neatly with coursework for the MET. Photoshop and InDesign are game industry standard tools, so giving students the opportunity to work with this software will help them create projects that are more advanced and real world. Learning how to code in HTML and CSS can help students express themselves as well as to teach fundamentals of coding that they can build upon with other programming classes, like I did with Scratch, Alice, and Java. Digital movies are an engaging, high level way to have students share what they know, and I’ve had my 8th grade students make humorous videos for my comedy unit that not only showcase their comedy skills, but also require a thoughtful approach to creating comedy by employing thoughtful timing and cinematography skills. Already I’ve had students working with these programs because of my experiences with the MET.
Teacher productivity is enhanced when technology is utilized in smart ways. Google Apps for education have transformed my teaching, as I use my school district Google Site website to embed Google Documents, Forms, Spreadsheets, and Presentations seamlessly within, allowing students, parents, and other teachers around the world access for collaboration. No more lost papers or flash drives, and I can collaborate with students on their documents in real time, as can their peers. Programs like Kahoot allow students to share what they know with me and their classmates in a fun, engaging way, and I plan to use it this summer when I teach a university course. Having access to so much data so quickly can allow me to shape my instruction to fit the needs of my students, and allows my students to maximize their learning opportunities because the classwork will be timely and reflective of their needs.
Choosing the right tool can be a challenge based on what’s available, the cost, and the time to learn and implement, but when the right tools are found there is so much to benefit educators. It’s time for teachers who are dragging their feet about technology to either move on to other fields or upgrade their skill set; it’s no longer viable not just from an educational standpoint, but from a societal and generational standpoint. Our students expect their teachers to lead the way, so when outdated or irrelevant methods are used, it’s almost embarrassing at this point. More importantly, opportunities are lost for students to connect, engage, and learn. We aren’t talking about the future when we’re talking about technology in the classroom, we are talking about now, and embracing technology can have wonderful and positive impacts on one’s teaching.
Demonstrate effective uses of technology and multimedia (audio, video, text, images, interactive media, etc) for collaborative learning and the development of professional learning communities.
When I began planning this MET program, I was planning on attending regular classes in standard brick-and-mortar classrooms. I soon realized upon registering that my classes would be solely online, and I was taken aback as I always valued face to face instruction and the collaboration of my peers in person. However, looking back now, I think that my adjustment from the regular classroom to the online environment perfectly encapsulates my transition to a more technologically advanced learner and teacher.
Online learning requires a completely different mindset towards one’s learning, and the development of that mindset is critical towards becoming an effective collaborator using technology. Classrooms forge a captive audience; the online classroom ebbs and flows as students participate. Rather than focusing on a class once a week, checking in with colleagues and communicating effectively happens all week long at all hours of the day. Learning is more fluid and one can share the process of learning far more easily than in standard classrooms, and one can get a lot more feedback from peers because there isn’t the competition of time or teacher attendance. Learning becomes part of one’s daily life in the online environment, rather than a discrete block of time, unconnected to everything else.
There are drawbacks, of course, but these also model the challenges one faces in a digital environment outside of this program. Apathy, vagueness, sporadic or limited conversation, even the potential to offend or misunderstand others in one’s classes can put a damper on the experience. However, experiencing these negative moments helps one to strive for better communication between colleagues to ensure understanding, learning, and growth occur. And, when all else fails and one has a really negative experience with someone, you have the opportunity to maintain professionalism and respect online, even when it’s not shared with you.
Technology fosters communication and collaboration between peers to a far greater level than has ever been possible. Digital Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) are one of the great opportunities educators can create via social media and collaborative services. Twitter and Facebook have become important venues to communicate and share ideas with educators I know as well as don’t know, and that reach allows my PLN to grow as I meet other educators with shared interests. I’ve created a website to share my game design materials with other teachers, and teachers in different countries have used those materials to teach game design to students. By incorporating Google Apps into my classroom, I’ve been able to collaborate with peers in my school district and again, around the world, I’ve been able to improve upon my curriculum and instructional materials in a way that wouldn’t have been possible. Now, my PLN has become such an essential, integral part of my teaching that I know I will only continue to develop and grow as an educator.
Design, develop, implement, and evaluate technology-embedded learning experiences for students that enhance content mastery, creative thinking, critical thinking, and global citizenship.
I feel fortunate that in my classes, I am empowered and able to create the curriculum and subsequent instruction for my students as I best see fit. Many educators today, even those with vast amounts of experience and expertise, are being asked to follow script-like curriculum to ensure that student goals are met. I treasure the professional creativity and control that I have been given, and I do not want to take it for granted. As such, I am compelled to create learning opportunities for my students that are reflective of their needs and desires.
Gifted education presents exciting challenges, in the best and most trying sense of the word, for educators, but it can be done. There are no standards for gifted education as far as what should be learned at each grade level because these are the students who break barriers and fall dramatically short of goals, sometimes at the same time. As such, I don’t teach classes, I teach students, and developing the most appropriate, engaging, and meaningful curriculum for them is the best, and hardest, part of what I do. I want my students to be productive creators, not just consumers, of ideas and products. I’m bored by research and reports unless it fulfills a greater good, not just a means to itself. My preferred role is to make needed information accessible to my students both through direct instruction as well as in supported learning opportunities, and to empower my students to develop their own ideas in meaningful and fulfilling ways. Technology plays a great role here.
Technology can transform the development of curriculum and instruction for students, both in terms of the work created for students but also for the teacher as it is created. The ASSURE model of curriculum and instructional design is a useful tool to plan instruction based on student needs and incorporates technology as part of the design process. As someone who often creates lessons and even units on the fly, spending time to deliberately and carefully plan each step of instruction made me really consider my choices and the effectiveness of methods chosen. I found myself using Common Sense Media’s graphite.org site to learn about different technological tools and seeing how others used various tools in their classroom was incredibly helpful. Collaboration with my peers in my MET classes really helped as well, as feedback that I was given, especially the feedback given that challenged my ideas and methods, made me think and rethink my approach. I’m used to working alone and on the fly, as stated, so I really appreciated the opportunity that technology played in fostering my learning as I worked on my students’ learning.
Model ethical uses and applications of digital media in educational and work settings.
There have been several key periods in human history upon which the world changed, never to return to previous ways of living; we are just beginning to see the promise and problems of the technology age. Uses and applications of digital media in educational and work settings has evolved greatly already, but we are just beginning to see what is possible. As such, as an educator, it is critical that we employ a thoughtful, measured approach to what’s best for students when it comes to technology.
From an ethical perspective, we must make sure the means and the ends are justified. It’s tempting to try new applications because of promised benefits, but how to evaluate? The SAMR model of technology integration (https://sites.google.com/a/msad60.org/technology-is-learning/samr-model) provides a thoughtful framework for evaluating and understanding the role technology can play in the classroom. The S stands for substituting, where the technology replaces what was done without computers and as such is the least effective use of technology. Augmenting means that the technology provides additional functionality at a basic level, and Modifying begins to transform the learning environment with technology. Finally, Redefinition utilizes technology to its greatest benefit, where new tasks, processes, and products are possible that wouldn’t have existed without technology.
As an example from my teaching, I teach tabletop strategy game design. When my students’ board games are finished, I used to have them write business letters to game publishers. We heard back exactly once from a publisher. Now, I have students create game profiles for their games on a board gaming website, and players, designers, and publishers from all over the world comment and ask questions on their games. It’s real world, authentic, and gives my students the opportunity to be taken seriously for their work. Without technology, there is nothing that would come close to this experience for students, so one can see how the best uses of technology transform education. Of course, as a teacher, I must be mindful of my students’ safety online, which is why all posts are made from my account and they post only their initials. If I were unable to do that, then as wonderful as an opportunity as the technology present itself, my students’ safety must come first.
Technology and digital citizenship must coincide to protect students and to teach them how to navigate a digital world. The school where students turn off all devices when they walk into school is an outdated school, but allowing students free use of their devices isn’t practical or ethical. Students must be taught in age-appropriate ways how to use technology both in school and socially. At school, students must be taught to evaluate websites for veracity and reliability and to use school technology resources appropriately. Socially, students must learn how to behave in a digital environment successfully with empathy and consideration, even in anonymous environments. As educators, it is our responsibility to teach students how to navigate and succeed in an ever-complex world.
Demonstrate effective uses of technology and multimedia (audio, video, text, images, interactive media, etc) for student learning and teacher reflection, professional growth and productivity.
Digital citizenship, ethics are all well and good, but the toys are one of the best parts of the MET! I’ve worked really hard over the course of my career to incorporate technology in a way that fits the needs of my classes and my students appropriately, and I’ve learned so much in the program to push myself farther.
Creating opportunities for student creativity and development of their communication skills align neatly with coursework for the MET. Photoshop and InDesign are game industry standard tools, so giving students the opportunity to work with this software will help them create projects that are more advanced and real world. Learning how to code in HTML and CSS can help students express themselves as well as to teach fundamentals of coding that they can build upon with other programming classes, like I did with Scratch, Alice, and Java. Digital movies are an engaging, high level way to have students share what they know, and I’ve had my 8th grade students make humorous videos for my comedy unit that not only showcase their comedy skills, but also require a thoughtful approach to creating comedy by employing thoughtful timing and cinematography skills. Already I’ve had students working with these programs because of my experiences with the MET.
Teacher productivity is enhanced when technology is utilized in smart ways. Google Apps for education have transformed my teaching, as I use my school district Google Site website to embed Google Documents, Forms, Spreadsheets, and Presentations seamlessly within, allowing students, parents, and other teachers around the world access for collaboration. No more lost papers or flash drives, and I can collaborate with students on their documents in real time, as can their peers. Programs like Kahoot allow students to share what they know with me and their classmates in a fun, engaging way, and I plan to use it this summer when I teach a university course. Having access to so much data so quickly can allow me to shape my instruction to fit the needs of my students, and allows my students to maximize their learning opportunities because the classwork will be timely and reflective of their needs.
Choosing the right tool can be a challenge based on what’s available, the cost, and the time to learn and implement, but when the right tools are found there is so much to benefit educators. It’s time for teachers who are dragging their feet about technology to either move on to other fields or upgrade their skill set; it’s no longer viable not just from an educational standpoint, but from a societal and generational standpoint. Our students expect their teachers to lead the way, so when outdated or irrelevant methods are used, it’s almost embarrassing at this point. More importantly, opportunities are lost for students to connect, engage, and learn. We aren’t talking about the future when we’re talking about technology in the classroom, we are talking about now, and embracing technology can have wonderful and positive impacts on one’s teaching.
Demonstrate effective uses of technology and multimedia (audio, video, text, images, interactive media, etc) for collaborative learning and the development of professional learning communities.
When I began planning this MET program, I was planning on attending regular classes in standard brick-and-mortar classrooms. I soon realized upon registering that my classes would be solely online, and I was taken aback as I always valued face to face instruction and the collaboration of my peers in person. However, looking back now, I think that my adjustment from the regular classroom to the online environment perfectly encapsulates my transition to a more technologically advanced learner and teacher.
Online learning requires a completely different mindset towards one’s learning, and the development of that mindset is critical towards becoming an effective collaborator using technology. Classrooms forge a captive audience; the online classroom ebbs and flows as students participate. Rather than focusing on a class once a week, checking in with colleagues and communicating effectively happens all week long at all hours of the day. Learning is more fluid and one can share the process of learning far more easily than in standard classrooms, and one can get a lot more feedback from peers because there isn’t the competition of time or teacher attendance. Learning becomes part of one’s daily life in the online environment, rather than a discrete block of time, unconnected to everything else.
There are drawbacks, of course, but these also model the challenges one faces in a digital environment outside of this program. Apathy, vagueness, sporadic or limited conversation, even the potential to offend or misunderstand others in one’s classes can put a damper on the experience. However, experiencing these negative moments helps one to strive for better communication between colleagues to ensure understanding, learning, and growth occur. And, when all else fails and one has a really negative experience with someone, you have the opportunity to maintain professionalism and respect online, even when it’s not shared with you.
Technology fosters communication and collaboration between peers to a far greater level than has ever been possible. Digital Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) are one of the great opportunities educators can create via social media and collaborative services. Twitter and Facebook have become important venues to communicate and share ideas with educators I know as well as don’t know, and that reach allows my PLN to grow as I meet other educators with shared interests. I’ve created a website to share my game design materials with other teachers, and teachers in different countries have used those materials to teach game design to students. By incorporating Google Apps into my classroom, I’ve been able to collaborate with peers in my school district and again, around the world, I’ve been able to improve upon my curriculum and instructional materials in a way that wouldn’t have been possible. Now, my PLN has become such an essential, integral part of my teaching that I know I will only continue to develop and grow as an educator.
Design, develop, implement, and evaluate technology-embedded learning experiences for students that enhance content mastery, creative thinking, critical thinking, and global citizenship.
I feel fortunate that in my classes, I am empowered and able to create the curriculum and subsequent instruction for my students as I best see fit. Many educators today, even those with vast amounts of experience and expertise, are being asked to follow script-like curriculum to ensure that student goals are met. I treasure the professional creativity and control that I have been given, and I do not want to take it for granted. As such, I am compelled to create learning opportunities for my students that are reflective of their needs and desires.
Gifted education presents exciting challenges, in the best and most trying sense of the word, for educators, but it can be done. There are no standards for gifted education as far as what should be learned at each grade level because these are the students who break barriers and fall dramatically short of goals, sometimes at the same time. As such, I don’t teach classes, I teach students, and developing the most appropriate, engaging, and meaningful curriculum for them is the best, and hardest, part of what I do. I want my students to be productive creators, not just consumers, of ideas and products. I’m bored by research and reports unless it fulfills a greater good, not just a means to itself. My preferred role is to make needed information accessible to my students both through direct instruction as well as in supported learning opportunities, and to empower my students to develop their own ideas in meaningful and fulfilling ways. Technology plays a great role here.
Technology can transform the development of curriculum and instruction for students, both in terms of the work created for students but also for the teacher as it is created. The ASSURE model of curriculum and instructional design is a useful tool to plan instruction based on student needs and incorporates technology as part of the design process. As someone who often creates lessons and even units on the fly, spending time to deliberately and carefully plan each step of instruction made me really consider my choices and the effectiveness of methods chosen. I found myself using Common Sense Media’s graphite.org site to learn about different technological tools and seeing how others used various tools in their classroom was incredibly helpful. Collaboration with my peers in my MET classes really helped as well, as feedback that I was given, especially the feedback given that challenged my ideas and methods, made me think and rethink my approach. I’m used to working alone and on the fly, as stated, so I really appreciated the opportunity that technology played in fostering my learning as I worked on my students’ learning.
