Past, Present, Future and Lifelong Goals
By: Carlie Ferschneider
As I approach the end of my graduate program journey, I am able to reflect on ways that I have grown as an educator, technological leader and professional over the past few years. The Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) program has given me opportunities to explore, to learn new technological tools, and to engage with new ideas. It has given me feedback that has pushed my thinking, tips that have supported my technology integration choices, and opportunities to collaborate with colleagues. As part of the application process for the MAET, applicants were asked to create a list of past, present, and future academic and personal interests that led students to pursue this specific degree. The experiences and knowledge that I have gained along my graduate journey have encouraged me to continue working towards the original chosen goals, as well as create new objectives that inspire me to remain a lifelong learner and effective educator.
Although most goals are created with the intention of completion, I think that several of my past, present, and future goals will endure as lifelong goals that I can continue to work towards throughout my entire career as an educator. One goal of mine was to stay aware of the fact that the realm of education continues to shift as technology improves and changes each year. Although change can be difficult for several educators, I plan to accept the challenge of staying cognizant of recent technologies and effectively utilizing these tools, features, and programs to enhance learning, deepen understanding, increase engagement, and provide academic success for all learners. As educators, we cannot ignore changes in technologies. Rather, we have a duty to stay abreast of changes, to evaluate them, and to integrate them in ways that support our pedagogy and content.
A new objective that I have developed is to modify prior, current, and future lessons, activities, and assessments so that technological tools, features, and programs are successfully implemented in order to enhance student learning. Although I created lessons and projects that incorporated technology prior to the MAET program, I did not always consider how my teaching strategies, content, and technology interrelate. The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model taught me how to efficiently blend content, pedagogical, and technological knowledge in order to effectively integrate technology into the classroom. this model heightens teachers' awareness of the complexities of technology integration. It heightens teachers' awareness of the complex interactions of technology, content and pedagogy in context.
Even though I have not been assigned a specific technological leadership position within my school district, I am considered the go-to person within our building for questions and technical difficulties. I have set time aside to practice the knowledge that I have gained throughout my graduate courses and teaching experiences by introducing new tools to coworkers, collaborating with administrators about educational websites, receiving student feedback on current projects, and demonstrating how I currently use technology to enhance current lessons to engage all students.
In conclusion, it is important that I remain a lifelong learner and continue to work on any past, present, future goals with the intention of educating students to the best of their ability. The areas of education and technology are consistently shifting and teachers must remain flexible and continue to set high standards for themselves so that they can create a balanced relationship between pedagogy, technology, and content.
