My UMGC Experience:
Teaching and Learning Beyond Boundaries
 

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UMGC specifies in one of its objectives documents that the MEd program is “designed for PK-12 teachers, technology integration specialists, staff developers, and administrators seeking to develop expertise in instructional technology for teaching and learning”(Master of Education in Instructional Technology Student Handbook, n.d.). Something that is not present in this document is the experience this program provides for working in an online environment. Through this program, I have learned as much, if not more, from my online experience as I have from the content of the program.

In fact, now that I think about it, my expectations of what this program would be like—and how I would develop through it—were too low.  I was not prepared for the experiences I would have in an online learning environment – especially when it came to group work – and I had no idea of the amount of skills, knowledge, and confidence I would gain as part of this program. To be honest, I chose an online program because of my busy work schedule and there were no major universities near me that would offer a program with face-to-face classes that would fit my needs. I thought I would just get online, read a few articles, submit assignments, earn my grades and move on. I was not prepared for the relationships I would create and depend upon with my fellow classmates.  I did not foresee the amount of communication and true learning experiences I would get from the course instructors.  I have built quite a repertoire of technology resources and Web 2.0 tools as expected, but I have also developed immensely in my classroom instruction and my ability to interact online. 

Beyond the content, each of my courses had at least one major lesson learned that will impact on my future self and my classroom experience. Here I would like to mention just a few of the courses and how they impacted—and will continue to impact—my life and my teaching:

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EDTC 600 Foundations of Technology in Teaching and Learning.

This course began my journey into the virtual classroom environment and although I was initially overwhelmed with the pace and content, I realized that by the completion of the course my classrooms had already been transformed. Specifically, I was introduced to the ISTE Standards on which the whole program has been centered.  I was also introduced to the technology model (SAMR and TPACK) and I immediately began applying them to my teaching as I utilized the wealth of web2.0 tools that were explored in the course. My student could see and feel the transformation in my classroom experience. This led to a better and more fun learning experience for them and as a result, they gave me the title Tech Wiz (“Tech” are the first three letters of my last name but here it stands for “Technology”).

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EDTC 610 Web-Based Teaching and Learning: Design and Pedagogy.

The experience in this course taught me to evaluate technology for its usefulness before using it in instruction. I had always thought that web design was reserved for tech wizards. However, a few weeks into this course I was already able to build my first ever website and realized how easy building a website could be.  Moreover, after completing this course, I became more interested in building a professional website and this lead me to found Techo Academy (www.techoacademy.com) which has gone through years of improvement and has been a major asset to my professional career.

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EDTC 620 Technology in K-12 Education: Synchronous, Asynchronous, and Multimedia Technologies.

The advantages of a good taste of multimedia presentations go beyond the classroom. While I was not a bad multimedia designer/presenter, this course went a long way to polish up my skills on how to create presentations with the audience in mind.

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EDTC 625 Hardware and Software in Instructional Development.

In this course, I wrote my first professional blog post and it was from this point that I decided to become a blogger in the future.  It was in this course that I began to really pursue the uses of blogs in the classroom and I think it has definitely become a must for my future classroom.  Students learn so much from each other and through peer review.  Blogs are a great technology to facilitate that when classroom time won’t allow it.  This was the first point that I started to envision my future classroom and the role technology would play in it.  From this point on, my mental picture of my classroom would change, but it would always be on my mind.  This course made this program and the effect it would have on my teaching abilities real.

 

EDTC 640 Leading Technology Change in Schools.

This is one of the courses that sets UMGC’s MEd program apart from those at other universities I know of.  While being a teaching program, this course took it further to train me to not only be a great classroom teacher but to also prepare myself to be an exceptional educational leadership professional.

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EDTC 645 Integration of Technology: Global Perspectives.

How can we train students to be globally-minded? How can we incorporate global mindedness in any classroom; including mathematics, physics, and so on? These are some of the questions that were answered in this course. This was one of my most eye-opening courses.   It built my skills in two major ISTE Standards for Coaches:  Collaborator and Digital Citizen Advocate (ISTE Standards: Coaches | ISTE, n.d.).  Not only did I begin to see the classroom from a more global perspective, but I started to see technology as a tool to not only enhance or facilitate instruction but also to shape the perspective of my students.  Teachers teach so much more than curriculum.  Technology can magnify the lessons learned.  Connecting classrooms around the world through technology can not only provide good learning opportunities but can also open students’ eyes to the world around them and perhaps allow them to value their own educational experience on a more personal level.

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EDTC 650 Teaching and Learning in K-12 Virtual Schools.

If I were going to vote for the most enjoyable, most transformative course in the program, this would be it. The concept of virtual schools was completely new to me; however, it was explored in so much depth that instead of the brick-and-mortar school that was originally my plan, I am considering to rather open a virtual school in my country.

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Conclusion

The benefits of this program are limitless to me. I was inspired by how each of the courses in the program centered on ISTE Standards and how all of my professors allowed me to apply my assignments to my content area.  I was able to create resources and lessons that would be directly applicable to my future classroom.  This was a valuable experience and helped my professional growth through motivation and applicability. As I worked through my courses, these lessons built on and around each other into a pretty good idea of the type of technology leader I will be in the education world.  I determined that direct interaction with students and their learning is key to my career.  It will be from the classroom that I influence change and instructional improvement from a technology perspective.  My goal is to create well rounded students.  When they complete my course, they will have gained not only content knowledge, but also tools, skills, and perspectives to make them productive members of an increasingly technology driven society.  I want my students to be able to use technology as a tool for learning, not just as an accessory or just to say it’s being used.  Technology should be used to connect students to each others’ learning – both in and out of the classroom.  And finally, I plan to use technology to assess, evaluate, and develop instruction that advances student learning in a time when traditional classrooms struggle to keep up with the digital learners we encounter today.

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References 

ISTE Standards: Coaches | ISTE. (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2021, from https://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards-for-coaches

Master of Education in Instructional Technology Student Handbook. (n.d.). https://www.umgc.edu/documents/upload/med-student-handbook-2017.pdf