Michael D.

Carter
LT 7360 Reflection Essay

Each one of us has our own evolution of life, and each one of us goes through different tests which are unique and
challenging. But certain things are common. And we do learn things from each others experience. On a spiritual journey, we
all have the same destination.

A.R. Rahman

In 1996 I graduated from high school. This was a tenuous time for me. Completing college was expected of me although I am the
only one in my immediate family with a degree. This was a time of internal and external shifts that were occurring at
increasingly rapid rates. AOL was the primary gateway to connect with the internet and mobile communication networks still
charged extra for services like long distance calls, night time minutes and roaming, something that once I graduate from college
seemed unfathomable.

Technology is one of the most dominant and omnipresent forces in society. One does not have to work in a technical field nor
perform technically specified functions to feel its presence. For that reason integration of technology is something Ive focused
more of my personal study and time to over the last two to three years. Ive been fortunate to grow up in a household with a
computer systems analyst, my father. He would often talk to my brother and I about programming and elements of
technological advancements and their implications for society. Years later I would be standing in front of classrooms as an
assistant teacher of elementary aged children.

At my first school technology was not openly utilized by teachers and students. The school was a title one institution with a
majority Hispanic Latino and African American population. My experience their felt like the experiences I remembered in
primary school. Traditional platforms were used for instruction such as whiteboards, overhead projectors and desktop
computers were limited throughout the school. Flash forward one year later working within a Montessori program in DeKalb
County not much in the technology integration landscape changed.

It wasnt until I left Atlanta in 2007 and started working within charter and private schools in New York that I began to
experience the advantages of having access to a diverse and new cadre of technologies. One school in particular was located in
the Village with a tuition of just under $19K a year for K-6th grade. Smartboards, laptops and apple desktop computers were
readily available. Within science labs equipment was state of the art and even the art studio integrated computer software for the
upper level art courses. The environment at that school encouraged a Socratic approach to learning through investigation.
Technology was used to enhance this investigation for students and teachers alike.

This theme continued when I taught at prestigious private schools for middle and high school students. Another such school,
The Dalton school, was like being in another reality compared to what I experienced in the schools Id worked at in Gwinnett
and DeKalb counties. However while working a long term assignment at a school located within my community in Queens the
rapid disparity and lack of technological resources correlated with an apathy and decrease in open learning such as that
promoted within the village school.

Witnessing both the disparity and conceiving of possibilities caused me to reflect on how I could integrate technology more into
my interactions with students. Another thing I pondered was how this integration truly created dynamic and unique
experiences. Simply using a desktop computer or tablet to do the same kind of things typically done with a card catalog or other
device did not make the experience any more unique and it certainly does not leverage the best elements of the technology.
For the remainder of the paper I will share some of my primary goals for technology integration as well as critical assumptions
made and subsequently shifted during my semester in this course.

Prior to registering for this course I already had some negative notions about online education. Id had a pretty tough experience
in a previous program at another university that fostered this feeling within. One of the biggest criticisms I garnered against
online learning is a feeling of disconnectedness compared to a traditional setting.

Since starting my course this semester my thoughts on this have diminished. In this course and LT 7150 Ive enjoyed using
platforms such as blackboard collaborate and Slack to stay connected with classmates. Ive also started to use the webex platform
more frequently given the flexibility of this mode of communication when unable to leave the office or travel to meetings. Ive
learned to reevaluate what it means to be connected and how technology can also be a vital resource in both community and
relationship building. I see technology as a means to enhance our connections by diminishing the physical distances between
people and also information that has existed throughout history.

Another assumption Ive carried about technology is that its distractive potential often outweighs it benefits particularly with
younger generations. I use the texting example for this specific point. Ive worked with high school students for the last 13 years
and observed massive increases in mobile access for students. With this increased access Ive often focused more attention to
things Id considered obstacles to instruction such as texting and its subsequent vernacular. What I learned from the unit my
team and I created was that texting language is a unique linguistic phenomenon that actually supports both primary and more
advanced utilitarian functions of communication. The articles and videos I consumed has helped shift my view and now when I
work with my students this summer I intend on finding ways to leverage the mobile platform and linguistic variety of text
language to build stronger relationships with my students.

My final reflection is on the use of memes, data visualization and AutoCAD like software. A friend of mine recently said
something in passing that I found extremely profound. We live in a meme culture. When I think about this the implications
are immense. Meme culture is a continuation of communication via symbol systems the likes of which are not wholly unlike the
hieroglyphs located in Egypt or caves of Lascaux. As humans we are under increased pressure because the perception is that
things are moving faster and faster. Social media, memes, data visualization and AutoCAD like vector based software empower
students and teachers to extend the depth of communication of complex information with emphasis on visual systems. Science
has shown visual systems can impact memory more deeply than textual forms of communication.

As a mentor and instructor Im now driven to be fluent in all of these languages to increase the potential for reaching a broader
range of audience. The simplicity and sometimes crude meme depictions also hold within them highly complex and rich layers
of meaning. Conscious competence of the digital and linguistic platforms are essential to effective usage. Visual models such as
tableaux and tinkercad can open up areas of processing for students typically restricted to fields like data analytics, engineering
and drafting. I imagine how I can develop a unit implementing both the traditional textual equations found in geometry and
then subsequently using tinkercad to construct geometric objects in three dimensions to experience form in the round.

In closing I find the integration of technology within both my personal and professional life to be exhilarating. As A.R. Rahman
points out in his quote, the breath of my knowledge has certainly expanded due to integration newer platforms of learning and
experience in the digital ecosystem.