Almost three years ago I began thinking about how I was going to get the hours that I needed to renew my teaching certificate. I knew I needed to start shopping around for a program, and at that time I was not even sure what I wanted to major in. I had heard from many other teachers at my school that they were getting their master’s degree in teaching. I began doing some research. I looked at the particular program mentioned by my colleagues and decided that I just was not interested; that I wanted to expand my technological knowledge in some way. I looked around at a few different schools just to see what programs were available. I noticed while searching that some schools offered a programs for educational technology. I had received a few flyers in my school mailbox about degrees in educational technology, but for some reason, my brain did not even connect with idea. I am a technology teacher with a bachelor’s degree in business education, and although I have a lot of past experience with technology use, technology education was not a major part of my undergraduate studies. It seems as though that business education teachers who work for school districts without a business department end up as technology instructors, which for the record, I am not complaining about. Nonetheless, I knew at this point that pursuing further studies in educational technology was the best decision for me; teaching technology is what I love to do.

Deciding on a major was one hurdle I was able to jump, and it ended up not being the highest! I did not realize how difficult it would be to find the right school for me. After making the decision to enter a master’s program in educational technology, I really wanted to make sure that I chose the school that best fit my needs as a learner. For many months I researched different schools; in and out of Michigan. Ultimately, the MAET at Michigan State University spoke to me the most; not to mention its top notch reputation. I thought the program was well structured and the courses offered were relevant. The structured program was my favorite part. I liked the progression one takes through the program. I started with the certificate program and then moved into the master’s program afterward. Having the program set up in a way that allowed students to easily progress from one stage to the next helped alleviate any overwhelming feeling that I had about begin a graduate program while working full time. I just felt like it was a perfect fit. I even found out that there was an educational technology endorsement that could be added to my teaching license; cha-ching! From this point, I knew the MAET program at MSU was the perfect place to stay for my “master’s vacation.”

By the spring of 2011, I had successfully applied to the certificate program and would be checking in to my first course very soon. Needless to say, not only was this my first graduate studies course; it was my first online course as well. The first course I took was CEP 810. Let me be frank, this course changed my life. CEP 810 and Carolyn McCarthy introduced me to learning theories (TPACK) in education and educational technology tools to aid in learning that I had never in my wildest dreams heard of. This course dramatically changed my way of thinking about technology, my teaching, and my students from consumers of information to creators and collaborators in the digital world.  Believe it or not, I did not even know what Web 2.0 tools were prior to beginning this class. I was able to take what I was learning in class and apply it directly to my own classes the day after I learned it. CEP 810 revolutionized my technology classroom.  To give myself a little bit of credit, I am well versed in technology and specific technology tools (think Microsoft Office here, the boring yet useful stuff); however, my eyes were opened to plethora of free productivity tools (Wikis, Web 2.0 tools, podcasts, RSS feeds) available on the web for sharing and collaborating as opposed to consuming and creating. Prior to this course, I was only at surface level with many of these tools.

The other two certificate courses were of equal value to me just as much as the first. In CEP 811, I was introduced in depth to the Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Designing your lessons using UDL principles ensures that any student will have an equal chance to succeed to completing the lesson. It is a way to vary your lessons to make sure that all types of learning needs are met. Teachers of technology will see varying skill levels in their classrooms. Using UDL principles, teachers will be able to more effectively customize their lessons for individual students. Also in CEP 811, I was introduced to MERLOT and was able to create a Stand Alone Instructional Resource (STAIR) that I eventually shared with other educators on the MERLOT website. CEP 812 was my last course in the certificate program. Completing my Wicked Problem Project was very substantial for me as it was probably one of the most influential pieces to affect my own classroom. My Wicked Problem Project involved creating a digital system that allowed for faster feedback and formative assessment to students while also reducing the amount of paper piles in the classroom. My thought was that when teachers allow for student work to pile up on their desks that they are doing a disservice to their students by not providing them with adequate feedback on their work. I instituted in my classroom the program that I discussed in the Wicked Problem Project (Edmodo), and it has been a huge success ever since. Currently, I am in the second year of utilizing it. The students love it because it provides and safe, digital way, for us to communicate in and outside of school, and students are able to receive and submit all assignments through the program. It is a social network for my classroom. I can proudly say my classroom is “green.” We use little to no paper! I really feel like the certificate courses are the technological meat of the program. Once students successfully complete these courses they should be ready to tackle the core master’s courses armed with technological prowess.

Following my successful completion of the certificate courses, I took a semester break before beginning again in the winter of 2012. Recently, the State of Michigan required that all educators take a course or two, depending on grade level, in teaching reading and literacy. I was made aware that I could take the required course (TE 846) as one of my elective courses. TE 846 was a lot of work and honestly took me somewhat out of my comfort zone. Teaching technology in a computer lab on a regular basis makes me somewhat forget what it is like to teach in a traditional classroom. Many other teachers do not have the tools readily available that I can utilize in the computer lab to help accommodate struggling readers. Either way, TE 846 taught me how to recognize struggling readers in my classes and provided me with solutions to help teach those students better ways to read and write more proficiently. One of the most beneficial things that I learned from this class was the CARES curriculum. CARES stands for Change of environment, Alter materials, Revise teaching strategies, Exchange task requirements, and Substitute alternative learning tasks or assessments. Following the CARES curriculum in your classroom will ensure that those students who are struggling will receive the accommodations that will best set them up for success.

One of the most interesting classes that I took in the MAET program was CEP 882. The premise of CEP 882 was to understand the nature and design of compelling experiences. We all know that students learn best when they are actively engaged in the learning process. As teachers, we have the job of selling a product. That product just happens to be what we are trying to teach. It is important to have a sound understanding of the factors that help develop a compelling experience. Teaching is difficult and I firmly believe that it is an art form. I have found in my own experiences that one way to connect a lesson to a student is to reach them on an emotional level. Designing a lesson plan that is emotionally compelling and deeply moving to a student is often not an easy task. When executed correctly, it is highly probable that a compelling lesson will engage and subsequently increase the knowledge of the student. This course was very enjoyable for me and really pushed me to think creatively and look at things from alternative perspectives. The final project involved the creation of a “work of art.” For my work of art project, I explored more thoroughly a hobby that I find enjoyable and tried to make it more compelling than it probably actually is; making a tie fleece blanket. My goal was for my audience to see the thought process that takes place prior to the creation of the blanket. A lot of factors need to be taken into consideration (personality, height, etc.) when making a tie blanket for another person. I also wanted to transition this pre-thought process into the life of the blanket (its multiple uses) once it is received and used by its new owner.

Over the summer of 2012, I completed three more MAET courses; CEP 800, 815, and 822. Each one of these courses provided me with different pieces of valuable information. CEP 800 was a course pertaining to learning theories. What I appreciated most about this course is the variety of settings that were studied. Learning is something that happens every day and everywhere. In this course, we looked at learning in school, in our own experiences, and on the job. CEP 815 was a valuable course to me in the sense that technology was studied from the perspective of a leadership role. Let’s face it, technology has changed the way people on this planet do a lot of different things; learning and teaching being some of the most important. CEP 815 helped me figure out how to best manage the relationship between teaching and learning. The best example I give can to support this is by comparing and contrasting instrumental and missional thinking and also the TPACK. This course has engrained in me the idea that the technology tool never comes first, but that we must first develop our course/student objectives and use technology as a secondary means to help us reach those goals. Finally, CEP 822 was the first time I was ever introduced in depth to conducting research. This course was just as much work as I thought, but in the end it was worth it. My final research proposal considered the effect of digital game based learning on student engagement and achievement.

Currently, I am enrolled in my final two courses of the MAET program. In CEP 820, I am having an awesome time developing my own course module. I was very interested in learning about online course design using a CMS. This class has allowed that to happen. I am presently creating a three lesson module on Digital Citizenship using the CMS called Haiku. I am really excited to see what the final product will look like; but I am even more excited to use Haiku to completely flip my classes at work. Not only am I enrolled in CEP 820, but I am also taking the final course of the MAET program; CEP 807. CEP 807 has been quite the journey so far. It is refreshing to see the amount of hard work and diligence it has taken me to get this far in the program. I am excited to have a digital portfolio as a final product for this course and something I can take with me from the program.  Now that it's almost time to check-out from my adventure in the MAET program, I need to remember how I can take what I have learned during my stay here and use it as a way to continue to learn in the future. I know that my PLN will play a vital role in my growth as a lifelong learner, and I only have the MAET program to thank for that.