STACY N. HARRISON
Hari Krishna Arya of India once said,
"Teachers will not be replaced by technology, but teachers who do not use technology will be replaced by those who do."

Reflection


what have I learned call out

I have learned a great deal as a student in the M. Ed. in Educational Technology Program. There were times when things were challenging, stressful, and time consuming, all at the same time. I definitely had to manage my time to stay on top of things. However, it was all worth it. In fact, throughout this program I learn a number of things that I can apply to my job now, as well as positions that I may hold in the future such as a technology coach for a school or district.

The assignments completed in this Educational Technology program also improved my existing knowledge and skills in regards to technology. For one, I know more about editing images. Beforehand, I primarily knew the basics such as using the Paint program and PowerPoint. With those programs, I adjusted the color, brightness, saturation, and size, among other things. Using software such as Adobe Photoshop and online tools such as LunaPic, I am now able to create 3D effects, apply filters, layer objects, etc. These features can result in higher quality images for presentations, projects, websites, etc.

My skills in video and audio editing has also increased. I am able to do more than create videos with programs such as Photo Story that have built in music. Instead, tools such as Audacity allow me to edit music and other types of audio before adding it to my videos. Also, Audacity enabled me to add my own voice recordings to some of my video assignments, i.e., the introduction video that is included in the "About Me" section of my EDET 603 course portfolio which is an artifact for this portfolio. Furthermore, I learned how to add closed captioning to videos that I upload to YouTube.

In addition to closed captioning, I gained insight about accessibility and diverse populations. Through assignments such as the EDET 735 newsletter and final project I learned about Universal Design for Learning and Assistive Technology. This in turn made me more conscious of how I design and delivery my lessons with the intent of reducing barriers to learning. I make sure that I provide alternatives for students with learning and other such disabilities. Similarly, accessibility guidelines are followed more than they were in the past. For example, table headings, fonts that are easy to read, etc. are included in my documents. These things also carry over to what I do for my school's web page. In fact, I always include descriptive alt text for images, avoid flashing images, and choose appropriate text sizes and colors, to name a few.

This Educational Technology program has also taught me about instructional design (ID). The courses covered the use of various ID models such as ADDIE and MRK. As a result, I know how to apply them and how they benefit instruction. In EDET 722, EDET 793, and other courses lessons were created that were based on the ADDIE model. Likewise, EDET 793 incorporated assignments such as an instructional design module that used and compared three ID models. The requirements insured that we not only are familiar with ID models, but also that we know the information well enough to both apply it and teach it to others.

This program has required me to learn more about html code. As a result, I know how to create and host my own web page using html code as opposed to a website builder. HTML code was used to create course portfolios including one for EDET 703. Each time I learned more about HTML and designing and developing web pages. In fact, I can now incorporate the use of a template to improve the appearance of my website. Learning these things was not easy, but I was able to learn from my mistakes. This sometimes required trial and error, as well as Googling a topic on the Internet. On the contrary, a website builder was used for the EDET 603 course portfolio, the homework help website for EDET 650, and the EDET 735 newsletter. In EDET 603, Wix was used because HTML was not required. However, a website builder was used for the other two courses because I wanted a professional looking web page. That was the case because i had not used a template with HTML and for that reason did not think to consider it as an option. This program portfolio is my first and only experience with using a template with an HTML editor. I will continue to do so in the future. Likewise, the next time I use a website builder I will try a different tool such as Weebly to expand my options, as well as so that I can see how they compare to Wix. In fact, I may realize that these tools have more features than Wix and are better for building websites.

After completing this Educational Technology program, I will continue to apply what I learned to my job and share the information and skills with others. For example, I can incorporate more technology in my instruction and introduce my colleagues to new forms and uses of technology whenever possible. Moreover, my goal is to learn even more about technology by attending workshops and conferences, and enrolling in courses.