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Dear Educational Technology Faculty,

My name is Christopher M. Birch, I am a teacher for United Independent School District in


Laredo, TX. I have a composite science certification and have taught a variety of different
secondary science classes. I have taught Anatomy and Physiology, Biology, Chemistry, and
Forensic Science. Before I became an educator, I used to work as a retail sales manager for
companies like Game Stop, Verizon Wireless, and Best Buy. I have always had a passion for
technology and sales came easily. The transition from retail to education was not difficult, I am
still servicing a customer's need. The only difference is that the customers are students and my
product is information. I am always looking for ways to engage my students and technology is
something that they want to use. I have tried to use technology to enhance my students' learning
and am always sharing ideas with my colleagues. I have trained fellow teachers informally and
formally during campus or district professional development sessions. I love to show people new
ways to use technology tools.
My experience during my studies in the Masters of Education in Educational Technology
program has been positive. I took EDTC 6320 my first semester which was during Spring 2013.
This class was interesting because it helped to explain what an instructional designer did. I
worked and collaborated with a team on a proposed solution to an educational problem. We did
not have to create an actual solution but develop a possible solution that would address the
identified educational problem. We chose to develop an online tutoring solution to help middle
school students. This project required constant communication and collaboration from the team
members, which is needed in any profession. When I was working towards my bachelor's degree,
I had to collaborate with other students but never to this degree. We were constantly emailing
each other, hosting meetings in collaborate on blackboard or texting each other. It was a great
experience because we all had different backgrounds and strengths. We worked together to
produce a short pitch for our proposed educational solution.
EDTC 6325 was one of my favorite courses because I learned the basics of creating an e-learning
module. E-learning has become a major shift in education, more and more courses are now being
offered that can be completed without ever stepping foot in a traditional classroom. E-learning
can be a great tool in the public education system. There are many different ways E-learning can
be modified depending on the need or the audience. One area in which E-learning can be utilized
is in staff professional development. Learners can log onto an E-learning lesson instead of
attending a traditional training session. In EDTC 6325, I developed an E-learning module to train
the Forensic Science teachers of United ISD in the use of Google drive. This allowed the
teachers to take the course at their own pace and allowed them to practice using Google drive to
share information efficiently and collaborate more effectively as a department.
Another course in which I learned a great deal was EDTC 6323, Multimedia/Hypermedia. I
enjoyed this class because I had to bring my proposed educational solution from EDTC 6321 to
life. In EDTC 6321, I developed the groundwork for a lesson on Fingerprint Analysis for
Forensic Science students. EDTC 6323 allowed me to work on making the proposed lesson
interactive. This lesson would not replace the face to face lesson delivered in a classroom setting
but would instead serve as a remedial or review lesson. Making the lesson interactive helps to
engage students more. There are still details of the interactive lesson that I would like to modify

later. I would like to remake the mock crime scene as an interactive game to help the learner stay
engaged. Educational games are being used to help students learn all sorts of skills.
My last course EDTC 6332, Practicum in Educational Technology, was a tremendous learning
experience. This course as pure application of skills learned from all of my previous EDTC
courses. I had to identify a potential human performance problem and design, develop,
implement, and evaluate an instructional solution. The performance problem I identified was in
using an interactive polling application that our school district adopted. The interactive polling
application was Plickers. Plickers allows teachers to poll students using their district provided
iPads. What makes Plickers standout amongst other interactive polling applications is that
students do not need expensive equipment. Plickers uses paper student cards that the teacher
scans with their iPad. I chose to develop a face-to-face training for my Biology department since
we are under extreme pressure and limited time to cover biology topics before the STAAR
Biology EOC exam. This app will allow teachers to check student understanding before moving
on to a different topic or reporting category. Face-to-face instruction was chosen due to United
Independent School District requirements that all professional development by face-to-face. This
type of training allows the trainer to read the audience and give feedback immediately. My
proposal was approved and I began the design and development stage. During this stage I
developed the design document and instructional solution. The design document is a guide that
would allow anyone to deliver instruction to a group of learners. It included many different areas
such as goals analysis, learners and context analysis, and task analysis. These steps were needed
to develop a foundation for the instructional solution. Performance objectives were created for
the learners based on the task analysis. Assessment of learners was done using a checklist style
evaluation. Learners had to show mastery of skills by properly completing them during the
training. The instructional materials consisted of a trainer guide and learners guide. Both
included screen shots and easy to follow directions needed to complete learning objectives. A
learners checklist was included so that learners could track their progression throughout the
training. Before implementation, a summative evaluation was carried out to verify that learning
objectives were clearly stated and that the instructional materials were aligned as well. The
summative evaluation consisted of a one-on-one evaluation and a small group session. Both
summative evaluations were positive and very few modifications were needed. Full
implementation was carried out with the full biology department. Feedback from participants
was positive and the only major area of concern was the time needed to complete the training. I
will look into revising the amount of time needed or split the training in to two sessions. I would
like to convert this training to an fully online asynchronous solution for other teachers in my
district.
The M. E. in Educational Technology program has helped me to better understand how to
develop learning modules for different learners. I was so used to the lesson plan format that our
district makes us use that I would design lessons with out taking certain information into
consideration. One area I really would not focus on was a detailed learners analysis. When I
would create lessons plans, I knew that the learners were high school students and not much
thought was given about other characteristics they bring to the classroom. Unfortunately, I would
do the same when developing professional development training for peers. I now know that a
detailed learners analysis assists in designing effective instructional solutions.

I have also come to see how important time management is in developing simple lessons or full
instructional packages. Working as a teacher full time, juggling family responsibilities, and
completing course work has been challenging. We all have the same amount of time in a day but
some use that time more effectively and efficiently. Time management became increasingly
more important as I went through the M.E. program. As an instructional designer, I will be
responsible for ensuring that my projects are completed on time and within budget. Some tools I
found useful were apps that kept track of how much time was being spent on specific tasks and
gave a combined time for the overall project.
My goals for the future include acquiring a position in my school district's Instructional
Technology department as an Instructional Technology Specialist. The courses that I have taken
here at UTRGV have given me the necessary skills and tools to help develop training modules
for students and teachers. I am also researching other opportunities such as creating learning
applications for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. I have started informally
learning how to program using Swift. I have noticed a lack of quality education apps in the area
of biology and would like to concentrate on creating fun, exciting and educational applications.
The skills learned while pursuing my Masters in Educational Technology will be used to develop
these learning applications.
I would like to thank all of my instructors and classmates that have taught me and helped me to
achieve my goal. I look forward to meeting them at graduation and am excited about the new
profession I am about to be a part of.
Respectfully,
Christopher M. Birch

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