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Head: REFLECTIONS FROM A MASTER IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY 1

Reflections from a Master in Educational Technology Chris Passafume Azusa Pacific University

REFLECTIONS FROM A MASTER IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

REFLECTIONS FROM A MASTER IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY Reflections from and a Master in Educational Technology Studying at Azusa Pacific University has impacted every aspect of who I am. Personally, I have grown to appreciate the positive value my Christian faith has on my students, colleagues, and academia. In the professional realm, I am able to infuse technology in a student centered way, enhance parent-teacher-student communication using a variety of Web 2.0 tools, and optimize my personal learning network for more

efficient powerful lesson planning. In technical skills, my ability to tailor many of the latest computer and web-based tools to the classroom has drastically improved; plus, being exposed to the latest in technological advances has made me more apt to foresee new trends and how I want to position myself to maximize their effectiveness. To continue my learning and growth, my vision is to attend conferences, become a Flipped Classroom, and using my skills to educate others. The Masters of Educational Technology program has developed me personally, professionally, technically, and as a visionary. Personal Development It was powerful to see how my personal Christian faith has a foothold in the day-to-

day activities interactions with academia, students, colleagues, and career aspirations. Although I consider myself fairly astute when it comes to the nuances of theology, philosophy, and ethics, being exposed afresh to the importance of intellectual honesty in research was enlightening. As a follower of Christ, we are commanded to follow the laws of the land (Romans 13:2, New International Version) and understanding APA formatting provides a way to be free of violating copyright and maintain integrity in the academic sector. In addition, I found the prayer discussion forums to be an invaluable way to invite God into the regular affairs of my teaching day. Questions were posed that caused us to

REFLECTIONS FROM A MASTER IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY reflect on the degree to which we pray for our students. After implementing some of the prayer suggestions by my professors and cadre mates, I noticed an immediate impact

on my attitude, confidence, discernment, and sensitivity to student need. Another personal highlight came when I discovered how my relationship with God affects the commitment I have with colleagues. In an online course it is tempting to lay-low and allow others to accomplish a larger portion of collaborating projects. Traditionally, I am a leader and initiator when working with others, and the spiritual components of these classes only served further this personal trait. Whether through a journal podcast, Voicethread responses, or blog posts, professors continually brought me back to dependence on God; thus, freeing me to work hard and share substantial content. The final personal transformation experienced throughout the program is a continual feeding of my passion for education. By highlighting constructivism pedagogy through Backwards Design lesson templates and seeing all the creative, powerful ways technology was empowering students to reach their full potential fueled by love of education. If Jesus encourages us to walk with wisdom (Colossians 4:5, New International Version) and live in this world (2 Corinthians 5:17, New International Version), then he would want my students to be life-long learners. I can do this by giving them inquisitive minds and a sense that they can have a huge impact on the world around them. Professional Development In the professional realm, I am now more capable of capitalizing on technologies

ability to conform to student needs, use Web 2.0 tools to have a more at-home presence, and increase my personal learning network for speedy, effective lesson planning. A large portion of the class focused on the benefits of constructivist pedagogy, its capacity to be

REFLECTIONS FROM A MASTER IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY student-centered by adapting to individual user preference, and how technology comfortable fits within this paradigm. Mobile applications such as Comic Life, Skype,

Google Docs, Evernote, Inspiration, Animoto, Garageband and Prezi allow kids to evaluate, create, adapt, synthesize, and construct information according to their own perspective. In fact, educators such as Kathy Schrock (2013) have categorized apps according to Blooms Taxonomy. It is a contention of many parents that they would offer more support to their teachers and students if they knew how to help them. This class has taught me how to micro-blog with Twitter, capture the performance of Facebook, create Weebly websites with video and downloadable content, produce online forms, and share calendars; all of which can be used to communicate with parents in the convenience of their own home. In addition to being more student-centric and improving parent involvement, my professional network has also become more robust. Edmodo, Twitter, Blogger, Google+, iEARN, Youtube, Skype Classroom, and Facebook have all contributed to the inter-web of educators, I now have immediate access to. Growing my web of personal connections with like-minded colleagues will help me access and collaborate to develop the activity-rich, inquiry-based lesson plans suggested through the Azusa Pacific program Technical Growth One thing is clear, in a Masters of Educational Technology class, learning new apps, software, and web tools is the most attractive part. My ability to customize many of the most popular computer and web-based tools to the classroom has made huge gains. For instance, I am now able to create aesthetically pleasing, functional, and content rich websites in under two months. With all of the technical tools I have mastered, from embedding videos, widgets, interactive Voicethread and Google Doc forms, to offering

6 REFLECTIONS FROM A MASTER IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY future tech apprentices the basic tips on Excel spreadsheets and digital literacy; I am much more confident in my ability to support any curriculum with computer related gadgets. Before a finely functioning website comes to fruition, it must be thoroughly planned. This program prepared me to make a website from the ground up; including the design of a site structure or map of where each link will take the user. In addition to website building, I was educated on the hottest web 2.0 tools around. Using Twitter hash tags to create threaded discussions or collaborating on a single document on Evernote; having an understanding of resources that enable user-generated content in a virtual community is an extremely valuable asset I now acquire. Additional skills gained are in the area of video- conferencing and video production. I created a Prezi to inform and allow parents to sign- up for a videoconference. Using the mobile Skype application, busy parents will be able to meet with me wherever they want. With the rise of flipped classrooms, video production is finding a firmer place in education. I was able to create an entire math lesson for students to watch at home. This a great feature because they can pause, reply, and view the video any time they need help. All of the above mentioned technical skills should serve to compliment and infuse into the existing curriculum, not to replace it. Lifelong Learning Plan To further my professional development, my goal is attend seminars, become a flipped classroom and register as a speaker for tech conferences. Anybody familiar with technology knows that it is a fast changing enterprise; thus, it is paramount to stay in the loop on the latest trends in educational technology. A practical way of doing this is my March attendance at the annual Computer Using Educators (CUE) conference in Palm Springs. Many of the brightest minds in teaching share their strategies for how infuse

7 REFLECTIONS FROM A MASTER IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY computers in the classroom. According the website, The CUE conference is the largest and oldest education technology conferences in California, and among the largest in the United States (CUE Annual Conference, 2012, para. 1). As far as my classroom is concerned, my passion is to give students more control over their learning by allowing them to express mastery of content in a wide variety of ways; to accomplish this, I plan to develop a Flipped Classroom (FC). The presence of FC includes a stronger at-home learning environment by embedding videos, podcast, web-quests, and blogs on my class website. Key standards- based facts will be learned at home and class time will be open for inquiry-based learning activities and review of misunderstood concepts. The flipped classroom has been statistically proven to improve test scores and student engagement (The Flipped Classroom Infographic, 2012). Another huge vision is to share my experience and education with others. I believe the process of teaching others is a terrific way to grow and assess ones knowledge of subject matter. An upcoming example is my speaking engagement at my district technology conference. My dream of presenting the benefits of technology to my fellow peers is a great way to guarantee the future-presence of tech- minded teachers. Conclusion Studying at Azusa Pacific University has touched every part of me. Personally, I have grown to value the contribution my Christian faith has on my students, associates, and scholarly community. In my professional development, I am able to integrate technology in a student-centered way, improve parent-teacher-student communication with social media, and find creative teaching tips from my personal learning network. In technical skills, my ability to apply many new computer and web-based gadgets to my classroom has

8 REFLECTIONS FROM A MASTER IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY gained much ground; plus, in learning the limits of technology, Ive come to appreciate the role of teacher and how computers ought to support the curriculum, not replace it. To continue my learning and growth, my desire is to make an appearance at educational symposiums, model my room after the coined flipped classroom concept, and contribute original ideas by speaking at educational seminars. The Masters of Educational Technology program has developed me personally, professionally, technically, and as a visionary.

REFLECTIONS FROM A MASTER IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY References CUE annual conference. (2012). Retrieved from http://cue.org/annual Schrock, Kathy. (2013, February). Kathy Schrocks guide to everything: Bloomin apps. Retrieved from http://www.schrockguide.net/bloomin-apps.html The flipped classroom infographic. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.knewton.com/flipped-classroom/