THE EDTECH JOURNEY SO FAR: MAET and CEP810

This year has been a blur. It has been a banner year of transformation and challenge, and the year isn’t even over. In March of 2018, I started a trajectory of new thinking inspired by several PD experiences. I attended my first EdTech conference, a small gathering called Cue in Palm Springs. I also served on a WASC accreditation team the following week evaluating a school that was trying to integrate technology into their classes with mixed results.

When I returned to the classroom the following week, I had been inspired to return to school to find answers and receive more comprehensive training in Educational Technology. A random website listing the top schools for online EdTech programs led me to the Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) at Michigan State University. I went for it and applied.

The questions and inspiration that I experienced at Cue and on WASC continued while taking the first class in this program—CEP810: Teaching for Understanding with Technology.

During this class, aspects of my practice as a teacher were confirmed and others were challenged. Having spent the last 6 years teaching in an iPad 1:1 school, I had stumbled upon problems and breakthroughs—both original to myself but also inspired by others. As a whole, this course consistently asked me to develop practical skills and tools that I had never considered necessary. In particular, developing a PLN (Professional Learning Network) and digital workflow inspired by the GTD (Get Things Done) model will be transformative. And in particular, the PLN online learning activity in which I took on Photoshop these last 7 weeks has already paid dividends. I’ve created some great graphics that have inspired other peer teachers and has encouraged the creativity of several students.

As a whole, my work has already begun to change. I see myself becoming more creative, lecturing less, facilitating creative assignments, designing learning opportunities from PLNs that students create for themselves, and generally guiding them into becoming creators as an expression of their learning.

On a practical note, I teach four different subjects. I have “ditched the textbook” for one of the classes, inspired by a member of my new PLN Matt Miller. I am excited about the trajectory my approach as a teacher is taking. I am shooting for becoming a TPACK teacher, striking that bullseye intersection of Technology, Pedagogy, and Content.

But I am not without concerns and questions.

The classic question looming in my mind is how am I going to get through all the content of my class. I am sure all teachers feel this way, but most history classes in High School end shortly after WWII. Getting into the 90s? The teacher that gets through that decade in a meaningful way is a unicorn. Indeed, I am not talking about the teacher that has their students fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants, one-decade-a-day-to-get-from-1950-to-2000 kind of way, but useful instruction. That teacher is a superhero. How do I go more in-depth with all this creativity and exploration and still cover what I need to include? I’m not sure yet.

Also, while I have been inspired and several creative activities have already emerged, I am concerned that all this inspiration will dry up. I fear that I will be super creative at the beginning of the year and then just slip into what is familiar when things get tough half-way through the year.

Much like this bicycle video that went viral a few years ago, this last year—and really several years—has felt like learning to ride a “backwards bike.”

But I am ready to jump in with both feet and transform how learning is done in my classroom and at my school.

Thank you CEP810 and MAET, I know this is an excellent start to something beautiful!