The Understanding Instructional Design class challenged me the most, but it was also the class that helped to redesign my teaching the most from a pedagogical standpoint. For this class, I used the "backwards design" model to design a linear equations unit for my Algebra 1 students. Through this model, the unit is created in a way to allow students to transfer their knowledge to different situations. Rather than just practicing skills, students are using their new knowledge in real-world situations. The Understanding by Design handbook by Wiggins and McTighe was very helpful when creating this unit, and I have referenced it a few times since when redesigning other units for my classroom. As a Building Level Coordinator with my district's TLC program, I am in charge of leading some professional development meetings. After taking this class, I was able to present these ideas to my colleagues and work with a few of them to redesign their own units in this way.

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At the same time as Understanding Instructional Design, we also took a class called Developing and Designing Online Learning. Before taking this course, I had never thought I wanted to teach in an online format, but I can now see myself doing this. There are many things to consider when developing an online course, but Making the Move to K-12 Online Teaching: Research Based Strategies and Practices by Kerry Rice provides suggestions on how to effectively set up and run an online learning environment. These strategies were used when I completed my final project for this course. We also researched other types of online learning formats, such as blended learning. I was inspired by the format of this learning, and it became the basis for my final action research project.

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In Exploring Issues and Trends in Instructional Technology, I researched and wrote an argumentative paper on STEAM Education. This topic is important to me as I teach math, but also believe that the arts are vital to a well-rounded education. Researching how these content areas can work together to create an effective curriculum gave me some great ideas to use in my classroom, and also gave me the confidence to share these ideas with my colleagues. We also created a group project in this class about using Twitter as a personalized professional development platform. This project was for adult learners, and through my TLC position, I am excited to share our website this year with my colleagues so they can enjoy the benefits of personalized PD as well.

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I really enjoyed the Planning and Producing Instructional Media class. Although it was condensed a bit since we took the class during the summer, I learned a lot about how to use different types of media in the classroom. I had not realized how much learning can be affected by using different camera angles, sound effects, transitions, and more. All of those elements were used in the instructional video I created as a final project for this course. Creating this video for my golf students on "How to Make a Proper Golf Swing" showed me that video production can be useful in any content area, even sports. I feel confident in creating effective videos for my classroom, and teaching others how to do this as well.

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In Leading Change Through Instructional Technology, we discussed how to effectively create change using the conditions of change and keep in mind all of the different stakeholders. My group created a plan to implement co-teaching in a middle school and high school. Going through the process of creating this plan prepared me for any change that I'm involved in for the future. I am now able to facilitate the change effectively by providing thoughts on all conditions and stakeholders needing to be involved. During this class we also discussed transforming professional development. We read an excerpt from Professionally Driven: Empower Every Educator to Redefine PD by Jarod Bormann. Through my district's TLC program, I am in charge of some of the professional development at our school. This excerpt provided me with some great ideas on how to get teachers more involved in our PD sessions, and how to help others through their professional development journey by having them identify their own weaknesses. In the book, Bormann discussed his own weakness with engaging students using Bloom's Taxonomy. The definition of engagement that he proposed inspired me, and I used it as part of my action research study during the next semester.

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One of our last classes was Selecting and Integrating Instructional Technology. This class focused on creating rich, 21st Century classrooms. My group's final project involved global collaboration between a school in Costa Rica and a school in Iowa. Both environments would be updated with 21st Century learning spaces and equipment so that students could collaborate effectively with their same-school partners as well as their global partners. Although some of the parts of our project would be difficult to do in the real-world as we would most likely not have an unlimited budget, the ideas used in our project can be scaled down and implemented in different ways in our current classrooms. I plan to use some of the ideas from our project and others we learned throughout the class in my classroom this next year.

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My final project for this program involved completing an action research project. Teachers conduct informal action research every day, but going through the formal process allows us to make decisions based on formal data, not just instinct or feelings. My action research was to study "The Effects of a Station-Rotation Model of Blended Learning on Student Engagement." Writing the plan, conducting a literature review, and going through the IRB process taught me about the importance of creating a study based on past research and setting up the study correctly so that the data received would be the data needed to answer the research question. Analyzing the data challenged me to look at data in different ways and discover themes throughout each piece. Throughout that process, I learned that sometimes the data does not always work out as intended, but it can show trends and provide a path for future research.

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As I complete my instructional technology master's, I am looking forward to the future. My original goal for taking this program was to learn how to use technology more effectively in my teaching. As described above, I believe I have learned many strategies to incorporate technology at a deeper level in my classes, and I will continue my learning in this area through researching new strategies on my own, as well as learning from others in my Personal Learning Network (PLN), which has expanded immensely due to this program.

 

While going through the program, I also discovered new goals and possibilities for my professional career. Having this master's degree provides an opportunity for me to teach at our local community college. This could be in face-to-face, online, or blended formats. I believe this program has prepared me for any of those possibilities. This master's program has also helped to strengthen my leadership capabilities and grow in the area of providing professional development opportunities for my colleagues. My work as a TLC member has allowed me to easily share what I have learned in this program, and in doing this, I discovered my passion for sharing my technological and pedagogical knowledge. This degree provides the opportunity for me to help others integrate technology at higher levels in their classrooms as a technology integrationist/coordinator. I am very interested in finding a position at my school, or in the area, so that I can share my passion of technology integration with others.

 

Technology is always changing, but after completing this program, I feel confident in my ability to evaluate and implement strategies to include technology in the classroom effectively. I look forward to continue using the knowledge I have gained through this program in my own classroom to create an effective 21st Century learning environment, and/or help guide others in doing this in their classrooms as well.

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References:

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Bormann, J (2017) An excerpt of Professionally Driven: Empower Every Educator to Redefine PD. The Bretzmann Group

 

Rice, Kerry (2011). Making the move to K-12 online teaching: Research based strategies and practices. Boston: Pearson

         Education, Inc.

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Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design, (2nd edition) Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and

        Curriculum Development (ASCD).