A Journey in MAET
How It Started
The 2019 Coronavirus Pandemic completely changed the world of education. I can recall watching CNN 10 with my students in January 2020 when reports of a virus spreading across China were forcing students to stay home and not attend school. Students in my class responded to this with wishful cries for time off from school. Jump forward to March 13, 2020. My husband woke me up prior to my alarm going off after receiving a notification from daycare that they would be closed for two weeks. All public schools were also closed for two weeks, and my district was backing this up to spring break. I wouldn’t see my 5th graders for three weeks. I opened my eyes to a flood of messages from colleagues wondering if we would even return to the classroom at all this year.
Friday the 13th. A day I spent all day preparing students for a two-week, or perhaps longer, hiatus from school. Students excitedly ripped out pages from workbooks, packed backpacks up with textbooks to the point of breaking, and chatted about what they would do during the time off. As my students lined up to head home, I told my class I would see them in April but worriedly wondered if they would really return to school again. My 5th graders walked out of my classroom and never returned to their elementary school.
After the two weeks of packet learning and lessons pushed out from my district, the governor of Michigan announced that all students would be learning virtually for the remainder of the year. My children's daycare and preschool would also be closed for the foreseeable future. That meant that I would need to teach a class virtually while wrangling a one-year-old and a four-year-old. There were many obstacles that we needed to overcome and hoops to jump through. I was supposed to teach a group of students while staying home with a one year old and four year old. Many of my students only had one computer at home and some didn’t even have one. Students would log on to Google Meets using their parents’ cellphones while driving in a car or sitting at a McDonald’s to ensure they had service. I used technology in the classroom, where all students had a Chromebook and reliable internet. When they were learning virtually, I could record videos of myself teaching and set up Google Meets for students to attend class but I couldn’t teach multiplying and dividing fractions to a group of students who needed immediate feedback using these methods or students who weren’t even able to attend. During this period of teaching virtually, I realized that this could be the way we would be teaching next year as well. I knew I needed more strategies to teach virtually for my students to be successful and thus decided I would do something I never wanted to do; I would go back to school and pursue a degree in Educational Technology.
After spending the summer of 2020 trying to determine where I would attend school and what exactly I wanted to study, I decided to apply to Michigan State University’s Masters of Arts in Educational Technology. I was accepted for the fall semester of 2020. I met with a guidance counselor and determined I would start with two courses in the fall of 2020. I was immediately overwhelmed when I started my first class. Between the start of a new school year where I was teaching a split classroom consisting of both fourth and fifth-grade students while being virtual and the beginning of my masters I wasn’t sure I would be able to keep up with the demands of teaching and attending school but I dove right in and tried to put my best foot forward.
For my CEP 810 ‘Teaching for Understanding with Technology’ course, students were asked to create a website and a Twitter account in the first week of class. I had zero experience with website design or Twitter. After overcoming this first hurdle, I was faced with really getting into the meat of the class. In CEP 810, I was able to ask questions when I needed assistance and utilized all the extra support Michigan State University had to offer. This course laid the groundwork for future writing with a strong emphasis on APA citation. It had been many years since I was required to write a formal essay. The initial assignment for the class was a 500 word blog post. I sat in front of my computer unsure where to even start until a colleague walked in and after I complained about my workload, they said, “Just get it done! Write about why you started your masters and what is happening in school right now.” I began typing and bit by bit I created my first blog post. It was a disaster of a post that needed to be edited and I didn’t want to burden colleagues or my husband with having to constantly check my work. I was grateful when my professors suggested using The Writing Center at MSU. With the help of students who understand APA citation and are able to give suggestions on writing assignments, I was able to navigate my way through any writing prompt that was thrown my way.
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In addition to writing assignments, the course analyzed 21st Century Learning. A lot has changed since I attended undergrad at Michigan State University and was happy to learn about 21st Century Learning. I also examined the theory of TPACK (Technology Pedagogy and Content Knowledge): using technology in a classroom only when it ties into the curriculum. I had initially thought that I was appropriately using technology in the classroom, however, the introduction of TPACK made me reconsider and analyze when it is truly appropriate to use technology and how to use it with my students. In addition to presenting new content, the class challenged me to learn something new with only the help of online tutorials, blogs, Twitter, or videos. Using this technique allowed me to realize how difficult learning virtually could be for some of my students. I had nine more courses to complete prior to finishing my master’s but CEP 810 was the perfect launching course to begin my Masters of Arts in Educational Technology.
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My favorite course during the progression of obtaining my Masters of Arts in Educational Technology was CEP 833 Creativity in K-12 Computing Education. This course explored ways to integrate Computer Science standards into classrooms. We explored Sonic-Pi, scratch, Microbit, Circuit Playground, and Open Processing. During the course, we started with an exploration of the technology. Then we imaged how we could use the technology in the classroom. Finally, we created and reflected upon our creative learning spiral. I think the students in my fourth and fifth grade classroom also enjoyed this class as much as I did; I used them as guinea pigs after I created a lesson plan for the course. All through the course, I created lesson plans with TPACK theory to use in my classroom. They tied together one of the four main content areas: social studies, science, math, and English language arts, with computer science standards. The lesson plan that stands out as one that I plan to use year after year incorporates English Language Arts and Computer Science standards to create a book report. In this lesson, students read the book Wonder which my school uses as a part of a Battle of the Books competition. After reading the book, students created a book report using any technology of choice. Students picked to use Google Docs, Google Slides, Scratch, or Toontastic. One of the main themes throughout Wonder is the incorporation of precepts. After students created book reports, they created a Scratch pass-it-on project as a class. Students worked individually to share a precept they felt reflected something about them and then coded it on Scratch. The student's creation was shared with parents and used as a summative assessment for CEP 833.
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The final course I had to take in the process of procuring my Masters of Arts in Educational Technology was CEP 807 Capstone in Educational Technology. This course pulled all nine of the courses I completed during my masters program and allowed me time to process all the learning that had happened over the past year and a half while creating an online portfolio of learning. Throughout the course, I constructed a website where I shared all projects I created. Some of the items shared on the website include a transcript of learning for all courses taken during my masters, an online resume, a goal essay to show past, present, and short term future goals, another goal essay to share long term goals, an about me page, an exhibition of courses, and a blog. Throughout the course, I would share my assignments through the use of Flip Grid. I shared what I created, and then I would ask for specific feedback on various aspects that I wasn’t sure about. I would also give feedback to peers after reviewing their assignment videos posted and give them feedback based on the areas they requested feedback on all through Flip Grid After watching the Flip Grid video feedback provided from my peers, I would reflect on the suggestions given and then make changes on my assignments. Throughout this process, my professors would also review my assignments and specifically provide feedback based on the rubric created for CEP 807. Using the create, review, revise process used in CEP 807, I believe I was able to create a portfolio that is a summative package of all the learning that occurred during my Masters of Arts in Educational Technology.
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How It's Going
Looking back at my journey, in the procurement process of my Masters of Arts in Educational Technology from Michigan State University I realize all the learning that took place both while completing the coursework and in my classroom while applying learning from courses. I have more knowledge related to technology in the classroom but I also am able to implement best practices while creating lesson plans for my fifth grade classroom. I have made changes in my educational philosophy and have changed how I think about student learning. One of the biggest takeaways from the MAET program at MSU is applying TPACK; Technology, Pedagogy and Content Knowledge. I no longer think that one-to-one technology is all that is needed to state that a school utilized technology in a classroom. I now know that I should only have students use technology when it connects to the content. Using technology for the sole purpose of being able to say I am using technology in the classroom isn’t an effective strategy for instruction. I believe that not only do I have another degree to add to my resume but I am a better teacher because of the learning that happened in my courses. I am grateful for the knowledge I possess and being able to apply it to my current and future positions in the field of education.
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