2013 Summer Cohort Final Reflection

Final Reflection Paper Dale Wegienka Summer Cohort 2013 Michigan State University

2013 Summer Cohort Final Reflection

While working closely with educators throughout the MAET program I have a better appreciation of how technology continues to become more involved within educational settings. I walk away from the 2013 summer cohort with a wealth of knowledge that I will begin to introduce into both my professional and personal life. A couple of topics that have stuck with me the most are useful approaches to motivating others and understanding the differences between knowledge and understanding. I also feel that what I have learned through collaborating with others throughout the last six weeks is beyond any set value. This reflection will discuss what I have learned this summer and how I plan on applying what I have learned over the next five years.

Looking Back

When reflecting on the six weeks of learning I just completed there were too many highlights to list them all, but there was one theme that will stick with me forever. Learning can be fun! This was illustrated the first day with the Just Shoot Me assignment and ended on the last day of class when we watching the living Words presentation. The Just Shoot Me

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assignment was a great ice breaker. It was a creative way to get introduced to fellow students that I would work closely with on a number of assignments both graded and ungraded over the course of the cohort. The introductory assignment consisted of showing something unique and interesting about ourselves with one picture of anything within a 30 minutes walking radius of the classroom. The living words assignment was another creative task that was unique in itself. Just when I thought we were done with assigned tasks I received an email to create a visual representation of the word problem without using a computer or other software. During the last class meeting we all found out the assignments purpose. Each students unique word was creatively presented to display a quote by Steve Jobs. Looking back I wondered why we were getting yet another ungraded assignment and was a little frustrated. However, after seeing the end result of the project I now think it was well worth the effort.

One by one each day slipped away while leaving a lasting impression with the knowledge gained. Punya, Danah, and William were all great role models for how to lead by example. Along with the underlying theme that learning can be fun, I was shown by example how to engage and motivate others to learn. An example was how the Understanding Understanding assignment was laid out to us. Punya was willing to poke a little fun at himself and his interviewing skills by showing the class his interview with his son. I got a kick out of the

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number of times he stopped the recording and said dont do this. This graded assignment was both challenging and fun at the same time. The Understanding Understanding project focused on misconceptions and how they affect learning. The end result of the group project was great, but the road to get there was rocky at times. During the frustrating times of the project Danah and William were always willing to prop the group up with encouragement and tactful stimulation while keeping our focus on where we need to be as a group to have a successful ending to a project with many moving parts.

Misconceptions and how they affect knowledge and learning was also an important part of Shulmans three pathologies of mislearning: amnesia, fantasia , and inertia. Shulmans definitions of amnesia, fantasia, and inertia are what we forget, what we think we know, and what we have misunderstood respectively. In many I see fantasia exhibited where I work in regards to understanding technology. However, I feel that not knowing what we think we know is far better than knowing something wrong which is the case with inertia. An inertia or misconception analogy that is often used in the computer industry is the saying that bad information in equals bad information out.

Continuing with the understanding theme, John Deweys How We Think analyzed the major differences between knowledge and understanding. Dewey makes it clear that

2013 Summer Cohort Final Reflection

understanding is far superior to unconnected knowledge. I personally would go as far to say that knowledge without appropriate associations is as good as not having any knowledge at all. To further this thought, and based on what I read in Deweys How We Think, it is understanding that drives the learning process while knowledge supports learning.

We also learned that there are different levels of understanding. Analyzing, evaluating, and creating are what make up Blooms Taxonomy of higher levels understanding. For each of the assignments throughout the class we were challenged not only to understand concepts but also to use what we have learned to analyze, evaluate, and create. A good example of this is the Dream IT project. I chose to do an online collaborative tool for distant learning. For this project it was critical to analyze how the technology would be integrated, evaluate the technologys effectiveness and to create a plan to see the project to its end.

Equally important to the Dream IT assignments success was the ability to understand and apply the TPACK framework that was elegantly defined by the master of TPACK himself, Punya Mishra. In this framework technology is interwoven with the pedagogical and content domains and confined by the context in which it takes place. While technology continues to manifest itself within education in an infinite amount of ways, the TPACK framework is becoming increasingly cemented in how curriculums are administered.

2013 Summer Cohort Final Reflection

Using technology to create assignments like the 3x3x3 is a tangible example of the importance to incorporate technology into lesson plans. To make our presentation for the 3x3x3 assignment we used iMovie for the technology and Daniel T. Willinghams book, Why Dont Students Like School? for the content. One of the chapters that we were assigned was chapter 7 which describes Howard Gardners theory of Multiple Intelligences and the eight different types of learners. Gardner believes that each person has one way that they learn best and are completely separate from the other seven ways to learn which are secondary. Willingham on the other hand believes that each intelligence is interconnected and can be strengthen through any other intelligence.

Finally, I cannot have a complete reflection of the summer cohort without mentioning two of my favorite parts of the course that were interconnected by group. Each group was assigned two days out of the ten to do tech tips and Storify. My group was assigned days 3 and 8 to present tech tips and to create the Storify for the day. The tech tip requirement was to show the class a tech tool that would be useful within a classroom. The tech tips I chose were Sceencast-O-matic and Edcanvas. Storify is a tool that was presented to the class by William and is an excellent way to archive the days events. Throughout this reflection I have found the Storifys to be invaluable.

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Looking Forward

The learning experience of taking the summer cohort has given me renewed motivation to continue to invest in myself and share what I have learned with others. Over the next five years I would like to complete my masters in educational technology, implement my Dream IT initiative, pursue a job promotion, continue my professional development, and share what I learned with others. Although these are five of my goals over the next five years some of them are a continuation of long standing goals that I foresee extending beyond the next five years.

The most immediate goal is to begin implementing my Dream IT initiative at work. From observing how class has been administered through distant sites the last couple years, I have realized that there is a need, and a way to improve the standard way of implementing the curriculum. My Dream IT project is to integrate a collaborative tool that can be used to make learning through distant sites a more cohesive educational experience. The Dream IT project has motivated me to push forward with my vision for a better student experience where I work. As I prepared for my project I sat down with a couple of professors to get their professional opinion about improving how class is administered through the use of a collaboration tool. I was pleasantly surprised by the acceptance of my ideas. In truth I thought I would get more resistance to what I thought would improve the standard process of teaching that has been in

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place for many years. In fact one of the professors agreed with my observations and offered to assist me in creating a pilot program to integrate my idea of using a collaboration tool in one of his classes. As I talked to this professor he also felt that integrating technology was important and that there are many tools available today that are beneficial.

Learning the available technologies for educational purposes and how they can best be integrated into the classroom is the major focus of my masters degree in educational technology. Another one of my short term goals is to complete my degree in educational technology at Michigan State University. I am currently four courses away from completing all of my requirements to obtain my degree. I have registered for my final four classes that I will be taking over the next two semesters. I have learned a tremendous amount of information throughout the course of taking classes within the masters degree. My vision is to leverage the knowledge I have gained from the Masters of Arts in Educational Technology to pursue a promotion and apply what I have learned at that job.

As I have gained knowledge through my course of study I have also thought about how I am going to apply what I have learned to the bigger picture. I am able to apply much of what I have learned at my current job but would like to pursue a job where I have more authority to implement positive change. I realize that I will need to look for a job such as an IT director or

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manager to fully realize my vision. Once I have completed my Masters degree commencing a job search will be at the top of my priority list.

It is my hope that I will find a position that enables me to share the knowledge I have learned with others that I work with. I have always enjoyed teaching others what I have learned and look forward to being able to help others be successful in integrating technology to enhance the learning environment. I know that what I have learned in this class is not only valuable to me now but will also be valuable to my professional career for years to come.

References Dewey, J. (1933), How We Think, Boston, D. C. Heath & Co. Mishra, P. (2013, July) Days 1-10 Lectures. Lecture conducted from Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI. Shulman, L. (1999). What is learning and what does it look like when it doesnt go well. Change, 31(4), 10-17.