Goal Reflection Essay
or
What does it look like to you?
by Laura Chamberlain
If you had asked me to visualize my goals on entering the Master’s in Educational Technology program, it probably would have looked something like this:
And it would be accurate.
Sadly.
At the time I started the program in January of 2011, I was a recent College of Education graduate with no classroom experience outside of my year long internship. I wanted skills to help students work with the content (notice I am not saying "learn the content", or "master the content", just "work with"). Particularly if it involved "cool stuff". Cool stuff wins points with students, right? At the time I didn't consider my technology skills poor, but I knew that I could enhance them. And given my recent internship, I knew that among teachers, a little technology capability could carry you far with your peers. Goals? I had them! Starry visions of my students creating these "souped up" presentations that would awe, astonish, and delight filled my head.
Then classes actually started.
It became clear very quickly that this was so much more than shiny, pretty things. Suddenly, all the things that I had learned in the College of Education program, especially during my internship year, were clicking into place with this new technology component. I did learn about all sorts of neat tools, but it was about much more than that. I realized that my initial goal: "Use Technology!" really should have been: "Use Technology Well!" My goals became more clearly defined, and big, concrete ideas about "use technology well" became something I not only knew, but wanted to know more about. I no longer wanted cool projects, I wanted the right technology for the job and I wanted the pedagogy to be thoughtful and I wanted the content meaningful. I no longer wanted to have students make things, I wanted them to seriously consider their products and messages. The goal became to get the skills and knowledge to make this degree matter, so that the teaching and learning that would happen in my classroom would matter. That is, how can I be the best at this?
And so my visualization would have changed too.
Sadly.
At the time I started the program in January of 2011, I was a recent College of Education graduate with no classroom experience outside of my year long internship. I wanted skills to help students work with the content (notice I am not saying "learn the content", or "master the content", just "work with"). Particularly if it involved "cool stuff". Cool stuff wins points with students, right? At the time I didn't consider my technology skills poor, but I knew that I could enhance them. And given my recent internship, I knew that among teachers, a little technology capability could carry you far with your peers. Goals? I had them! Starry visions of my students creating these "souped up" presentations that would awe, astonish, and delight filled my head.
Then classes actually started.
It became clear very quickly that this was so much more than shiny, pretty things. Suddenly, all the things that I had learned in the College of Education program, especially during my internship year, were clicking into place with this new technology component. I did learn about all sorts of neat tools, but it was about much more than that. I realized that my initial goal: "Use Technology!" really should have been: "Use Technology Well!" My goals became more clearly defined, and big, concrete ideas about "use technology well" became something I not only knew, but wanted to know more about. I no longer wanted cool projects, I wanted the right technology for the job and I wanted the pedagogy to be thoughtful and I wanted the content meaningful. I no longer wanted to have students make things, I wanted them to seriously consider their products and messages. The goal became to get the skills and knowledge to make this degree matter, so that the teaching and learning that would happen in my classroom would matter. That is, how can I be the best at this?
And so my visualization would have changed too.
After immersing myself in an intensive summer hybrid course for my Master's program, I finally accepted a full time teaching position. Everything that had always been in theory for me finally had a chance to be put into play!
However, it is always easier said than done. I was in a rural school that had very limited technology, infrastructure, and support. As I reflected on my Master's experience, I saw that it was all still possible, but it wasn't enough to simply know big ideas, you had to organize those ideas into ways that students and fellow teachers would understand, and you had to be the one promoting technology. Having the experience of several years of teaching altered my goals again.
If I look back through the program, my early goals were simplistic: Show me how to do things that are neat. Give me lots tools. As I progressed through the program my goals became more concrete and knowledge based. Tell me why and how technology in education can work so that I, in turn, can teach very well and be the best I can be. In this last stage of my Master's program, there are many more facets to the goals that I hold. While the big goals about "using technology well" are still present (and I am still learning about being a better educator), my goals are to become more student-centric in thought and deed-as I hope this final visualization confers. Not only do I hope to allow students to engage and master content using technology, but I want to advocate for them having access to and being able to express themselves with technology, not just in my class but throughout the course of their entire education.
However, it is always easier said than done. I was in a rural school that had very limited technology, infrastructure, and support. As I reflected on my Master's experience, I saw that it was all still possible, but it wasn't enough to simply know big ideas, you had to organize those ideas into ways that students and fellow teachers would understand, and you had to be the one promoting technology. Having the experience of several years of teaching altered my goals again.
If I look back through the program, my early goals were simplistic: Show me how to do things that are neat. Give me lots tools. As I progressed through the program my goals became more concrete and knowledge based. Tell me why and how technology in education can work so that I, in turn, can teach very well and be the best I can be. In this last stage of my Master's program, there are many more facets to the goals that I hold. While the big goals about "using technology well" are still present (and I am still learning about being a better educator), my goals are to become more student-centric in thought and deed-as I hope this final visualization confers. Not only do I hope to allow students to engage and master content using technology, but I want to advocate for them having access to and being able to express themselves with technology, not just in my class but throughout the course of their entire education.
All word images created by Laura Chamberlain