What's Love Got to Do with It? 
How do you synthesize 4 years of learning in one essay? I do wish I had a steel trap mind and could remember everything I have read and heard throughout my program. However, no such luck. So I will do the best I can.
As a child and young adult, I followed my love of music by playing the trumpet, without much introspection and certainly without much consideration of where it might lead in terms of a career. Being a first generation college graduate didn't afford me much family support and guidance for a career direction. I just “followed my gut.” After being out of school for twenty years, I made the decision to pursue the master's degree. Finally, I began to feel that I was implementing thoughtful actions that I hoped would reap thoughtful rewards.
As I stated on my program site home page, my EDTEC journey began with the baby step of wanting to learn more about web design. The readings and assignments led me deeper into a sojourn that was to become my “master's program.” This “program” has been my nearly constant companion for the last 4 years.
It wasn't until I came back to school that I truly recognized my love for learning. I feel that learning gives me energy, enhances my interest in the world around me, and generally keeps me feeling young at heart. I think we are naturally born with this curiosity. However, it can be squashed with a poor educational experience. Albert Einstein once said “It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry.” It is critical that educators utilize the ideas, models, theories, and concepts embraced in the field of instructional design. Understanding how people learn, what motivates them, and how to make learning relevant are tools that allow the instructional designer to make a difference in the lives of learners.
Throughout most periods of my life I have pursued self-improvement activities, such as trumpet playing, meditation, and Dressage (a style of horseback riding). These activities require that the trainer/teacher provide a systematic approach that includes delivery of content appropriate to the skill level, relevancy to increase transfer of training, and strategies to keep the learner motivated. In doing so, both student and teacher can reap the rewards. Discipline, organizational skills, time management skills, some level of self-motivation, and a commitment to improve (i.e, love of the activity) are required of the learner. All of these tenants are embodied in the field of ID.
There is nothing particularly natural about learning to play an instrument or riding a horse. For kinesthetic activities such as these, talent can be an attribute, but a learner must also make the effort, be offered good training, and then implement best practices. The processes are similar in both Dressage and playing an instrument. Common aspects include integrating the teachings and theories, practicing something until it becomes automatic (automaticity) and building upon each skill level, which relates to Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development theory.
I have learned from personal experience in both riding and trumpet playing that if you develop incorrect techniques, it takes much more time and effort to undo your mistakes and learn the correct approach. One of my Dressage trainers used to say that it took one thousand repetitions to rewire the brain to do an activity correctly after doing it improperly.
Not being an educator, I never spent much time thinking about learning. With the knowledge I have gained in my study of Instructional Design, I have been able to revisit my personal learning experiences (such as the ones I mentioned above), and see how my learning processes fit in to the systematic approaches that make up ID. My personal struggles with “trying to undo the wrong way” gives me a passion for offering learners the opportunity to get the correct information in a clear and efficient manner.
Ideas Shine Through 
In this section, I have attempted to summarize ideas, theories, models, and concepts that have struck a chord with me and how they relate to the field of Educational Technology and each other. At the risk of being a tad academic, I have included a short paragraph on each individual idea. I did this not for the benefit of my EDTEC instructors, who already know these things, but for my prospective employers and clients, who may not be as well versed in the field of Education Technology. Following this I will try and knit these ideas together and explain their value in my future endeavors.
Instructional Design (ID)
This master's program has provided the ADDIE model as scaffolding for our accomplishments in the field of instructional design. However, throughout our curriculum and experiences it is clear that this model is not simply a linear tool with neat spaces between the steps. Instruction and training is not always a tidy step-by-step process. For example, Thiagi offers great techniques for massaging and/or circumventing ADDIE with his Rapid Prototyping model (Thiagarajan 1999). Diane Gayeski offers her Out-of-the-Box Instructional Design concept and cautions us against letting models hold us back. She also reminds us that models can sometimes leave the learner out of the design and knowledge-exchange process (Gayeski 1999).
I have not yet had the opportunity to fully immerse myself in the instructional design arena. My main experience outside of the program curriculum, is developing and sustaining a departmental website. Despite not being a full-fledged instructional designer like some of my graduate colleagues, I have come away from the program with a good scaffolding of knowledge.
One of the most interesting and helpful books on ID was The Essentials of Instructional Design, by Abbie Brown and Timothy Green. This book was not part of our course readings but I discovered it through a Teacher Education book fair. The authors note that the first recorded instance of ID was cave dwellings, which I found amusing and interesting.
Key to all ID is knowing the audience. Malcolm Knowles' theory of Andragogy is a helpful resource for designing adult learning products. His belief that adults are self-directed and assume responsibility for their own learning can help guide us in designing adult instruction. Retrieved March 15, 2007 from http://tip.psychology.org/knowles.html . With adult learners it is important to understand their calibration. In other words, how closely is the alignment between what they know and what they think they know? (Clark & Mayer 2006). Are they a motivated audience or do they need a bit of nudging and encouragement? By having knowledge of the learners, instructional designers can make appropriate choices, such as utilizing program control versus more learner control. If they are youngsters, how do you capture their attention, and hold on to it? How do you combine various technologies and techniques to create the richest blended learning experience?
Another important concept in instructional design relates to Sticht's Functional Context Theory. This theory stresses the importance of making learning relevant by offering it in context of “real world” applications that enhance transfer of training. ( http://tip.psychology.org/sticht.html ) Other models that remind us to keep training and learning relevant are ICARE and CLAM, which I refer to a number of times in my artifact reflections.
Motivation
Recently, a friend of mine had an experience student teaching in the SDSU Teacher Preparation program. He was assigned a master teacher of middle school music students for a semester. Based on conversations with him, I inferred that his semester was one of learning from non-examples. For some of these classroom students, this may have been their first introduction to musical instruments. Their musical journey began by way of the master teacher playing the various instruments. The problem with this strategy was the fact that the only instrument he was adept at playing was the saxophone. So the youngsters got to hear a sax being played decently, and the rest may have sounded like some form of squeaking or squawking. It is hard to imagine that they learned the value of all of the instruments. I think he was creating a bit of cognitive dissonance for these kids. Had I been the master teacher and I couldn't play the instrument well, I would have played a recording of professionals making their instruments sing. First lesson for these students: All instruments sound beautiful when played by a skilled musician. I can't imagine that these students were very motivated, and it is quite possible that some may have developed negative attitudes about certain instruments. Unless some brilliant musician or music teacher comes along and enlightens them, they may carry these attitudes throughout their lives.
Granted, this isn't an issue of global concern. However, I use this story as an example of how important it is to inspire and motivate learners. Keller's ARCS model fits perfectly for teaching students about music (link to http://www.e-learningguru.com/articles/art3_5.htm ).
Just being around people who love what they are doing is motivating and inspiring. Being able to attend two ISPI conferences while in my program really sparked my interest in the field of educational technology, and made me a more motivated learner. My 670 Games and Simulation class gave me good insight into creating motivating environments and engaging learners. In addition, I got helpful information in some of the ISPI conference presentations. For certain, I know that passion drives intrinsic motivation. I hope to be a part of that process as an Instructional Designer.
Blends
One-size-fits-all training approaches are becoming less and less effective in our increasingly global and diverse workforce. Blends may include online and onsite interventions that together weave a more powerful learning experience than by offering just one strategy. Blends offer advantages to both learners and the organizations. Learners can benefit by being provided more flexible, socially interactive platforms and by getting information in more than one way. Organizations can reap cost benefits by reducing classroom training, which can lower travel expenses. I like the idea of blends because they afford each instructional designer the ability to mix and match to create the most effective experience for the audience and situation at hand.
Electronic Performance Support Tools and Job Aids
As knowledge workers, we are being asked to manage ever increasing amounts of information. We can't be expected to have instant recall on every topic related to our responsibilities. However, we are expected to access information quickly and discern its validity. When training is not essential, we need methods to get accurate information on demand. In Job Aids & Performance Support. Moving from Knowledge in the Classroom to Knowledge Everywhere , Allison Rossett and Lisa Schafer define performance support as:
A helper in life and work, performance support is a repository for information, processes, and perspectives that inform and guide planning and action. (Retrieved March 26, 2007 from http://www.colletandschafer.com/perfsupp/index.html )
A performance support tool can be a rich resource for quickly and accurately getting the information needed to do the job or perform the task at hand. It has become an essential ingredient in a blended learning experience. My 795A internship experience was one of designing and developing an electronic support tool for a training and technology department in a large corporation. Although these employees were part of a team, they lacked essential information about each other's capabilities. The tool that we developed allows them to easily access this information, in order to improve their collective performance.
Simulations
As bandwidths increase and graphics improve, simulations are becoming more powerful. Simulations in training allow users to mimic real life learning experiences without reaping real life consequences. Research has shown that providing hands-on, multi-sensory, interactive experiences result in improved learning and retention.
Using this technology can develop higher-order thinking skills such as decision-making, problem-solving, and analytical reasoning skills. Something that I find very interesting, given my kinesthetic endeavors, is that physical engagement in training can improve muscle memory and automaticity. In doing so, cognitive load is reduced and short term memory is freed up for performing the given task or assignment.
An interesting example I found in my simulation research was a program called Hatzmat: Hotzone, which was developed for the New York City Fire Department. You can read more about this in my Instructional Design research paper.
Learning: the Brain-Emotion Connection
"There can be no knowledge without emotion. We may be aware of a truth, yet until we have felt its force,
it is not ours. To the cognition of the brain must be added the experience of the soul." - Arnold Bennett
(1867-1931), British novelist.
I came across this quote when doing my research on current trends and practices in instructional design. Learning is more than just a cognitive process. This is obviously not a new idea, based on Arnold Bennett's time span. As sentient beings, we resonate on three levels: mind, body, and spirit. I believe that true learning requires the engagement of all three facets of our being.
In the winter of 2005 I attended a 700 Seminar facilitated by Dr. Allison Rossett. We examined the juncture between learning, technology, and business. We interviewed Mary Martinez, CEO of the Training Place to get her advice on the fusion of these three elements. Instructional Design professionals like Ms. Martinez and her colleagues are exploring ways to design and implement training that integrates the biology of learning with traditional educational and psychological understandings. For example, Ms. Martinez believes that designers who understand the impact of emotions and intentions on learning can translate these influences into individualized learning solutions with improved monitoring and assessment capabilities.
It is critical to the field of ID that we keep abreast of research on our brains and emotions, and how they intertwine in the learning process. By doing so, we can become more effective in the field of Instructional Design.
Emotional Intelligence
According to Wikipedia, Emotional Intelligence (EI) is defined as “an ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotion's of one's self, of others, and of groups.”
Research has shown that IQ by itself is not a good predictor of job performance. In addition to cognitive factors, good performance on the job requires the high skill levels in the domains of IE. The domains are knowing your emotions, managing your own emotions, motivating yourself, recognizing and understanding other people's emotions, and managing relationships. Many people involved in education now believe that developing good people skills is as important as IQ and knowledge for success in today's workplace. The workplace is becoming more and more a collaborative environment, and people must learn to communicate and work well in groups. The processes and outcomes of IE development can have positive effects on both individuals and organizations. Strong IE skills lead to reduced conflict, improved relationships and greater stability in an organization. Retrieved April 7, 2007 from http://www.businessballs.com/howardgardnermultipleintelligences.htm and http://www.eiconsortium.org/research/what_is_emotional_intelligence.htm
My conclusion is that Emotional Intelligence is a behavioral model that has significant implications in the field of Instructional Design. As creators of ID, it would benefit us to stay current in this area of research. Having always been interested in things of a more intangible nature, I find this topic very intriguing. It is likely one of the most challenging topics we should address as Instructional Designers and learning agents.
Knowledge Management
Most people are familiar with the phrase “Knowledge is Power.” Unfortunately, this can imply the keeping of knowledge in order to control or hold power over others. I recently saw an ad with some of the same words, but conveying a positive meaning. The phrase was a SkillSoft advertisement in the Workforce Performance Solutions magazine, “Knowledge is Power, Spread it around.” Good for them! To mirror Thomas Friedman's sentiments from The World is Flat, and like the open source contributors, we must have this sentiment to move forward and collaborate in our increasingly global business and learning world (Friedman 2006).
Thomas Stewart was really onto something profound when he wrote Intellectual Capita l ten years ago. He suggested that knowledge workers were quickly becoming the key capital of organizations and that knowledge management, the garnering and cultivating of this intangible intellectual capital, is an organization's most important obligation, as well as its key to success (Stewart 1997).
Currently, in the 795B Seminar class, I am reading about how technology is creating a more global society by leveling the playing field in business and commerce. Knowledge management becomes even more crucial as barriers such as time and location are no longer constraints for communication and productivity (Friedman 2006).
Knowledge Management Systems
Technology is now allowing us to archive enormous amounts of work, knowledge, and entertainment data. People are storing everything from family pictures to music to portfolios of professional accomplishments. According to Neil Beagrie in “Plenty of Room at the Bottom? Personal Digital Libraries and Collections”, we will soon be able to store the equivalent of all of the Library of Congress texts on our PC's. (Retrieved January 29, 2007 from http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june05/beagrie/06beagrie.html )
It is essential that we have the tools to manage and retrieve these vast amounts of data. Tools such as EndNote, del.icio.us, mylibrarything.com, and bloglines are enabling people to organize and store information for immediate retrieval. As an aside, I think the intellectual property rights specialization of law will give lawyers plenty of opportunities for work, and the nature of estates will change considerably as more assets are stored digitally.
I am involved in the process of admitting credential candidates to the School of Teacher Education (STE) program at SDSU. We frequently communicate with applicants (usually via email) to clarify information, relay concerns, or provide information on being admitted. I can foresee that the system would be increasingly useful if all electronic correspondence between the applicant and the STE office could be stored in the students' SDSU webportal. This information could be retrieved by both the applicant and the department as necessary. Having this data archived and accessible could help clarify the process, and perhaps reduce stress that applicants may have regarding the application process.
I just recently became aware of the value of developing and maintaining a knowledge management system in the 795B Seminar. I have created de.licio.us and bloglines accounts which I continue to populate. Already, I can see that it is more efficient to retrieve information by having it categorized electronically. A friend was recently able to share a website with me via his de.licio.us account that contained some html coding information that was helped me in preparing my ePortfolio site.
Performance Analysis
I have learned that it is important to see the broader picture when it comes to performance analysis. Tasks such as conducting audience analysis, task analysis, and reviewing extant data help define this broader picture. Key concepts to honor are keeping the end in mind, knowing your audience, and imagining what excellence would look like in a given situation. It has been gently drilled into us to not assume that training will fix a problem. I now have skills and a systematic process to guide me beyond what might be presented by a client or employer. I can engage in targeted inquiry to problem solve. Is it a training problem? Can it be improved with skills and knowledge? Or could it be a motivation, incentive, or environmental issue? Would non-training interventions such as coaching, job aids, performance support systems, feedback, or job re-engineering be appropriate?
A New Model for Education?
A recent report by the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce is suggesting a new blueprint for American education. One consensus among educators, business leaders, and policy makers was an agreement that we need to bring the educational system into the 21 st century. Key attributes include being able to think flexibly, quickly retrieve information and discern its validity, develop a high emotional intelligence quotient, be globally literate, astute at collaboration, and become adept at learning and thinking across disciplines. Both this article, “ How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20 th Century” , and Thomas Friedman in the World is Flat (Friedman 2006) share examples of schools that are creating more interdisciplinary curriculum. The intention is that learners develop what educators are calling portable skills, such as critical thinking and having the ability to make connections between and among ideas. Offering International baccalaureate (I.B) programs may be one of the answers for Americans to remain competitive in our global environment. (Retrieved April 1, 2007 from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1568480,00.html). As a musician, I am keen on the notion of incorporating the arts into the academic curriculum. In addition to helping make social connections, I think that being involved in one of the arts makes you a more well rounded individual.
Networking
Whenever we had EDTEC alumni visit our classrooms, we would ask their advice on what constitutes success in the fields of Instructional Design and Performance Improvement. Common themes included characteristics such as the ability to guide people to discover what they really need (as opposed to what they think they need) in order to manifest successful solutions, having a combination of creativity and attention to detail, being flexible, having the ability to make the best of what you have to work with, always remembering who your audience is, understanding the organization you are working for and knowing who the decision makers are, having a voracious appetite for learning, and attending conferences and networking as much as possible. Engagement in this type of networking will allow me to learn from others, polish my skills, expand my horizons and opportunities, and keep pace with the prevailing winds of instructional design. Attending two ISPI conferences and a few local ASTD and ISPI events have already begun to pave the way for my professional associations.
Summary
To summarize my mission as an Instructional Designer, I need a well equipped arsenal of skills to draw from, yet be eclectic in my use of them. I need to understand who my audience is, what I am trying to accomplish, and have an idea of what excellence would look like in a given situation. I must finely tune my ability to discern the most appropriate tools and strategies for the situation at hand and not rely on any one given theory or model.
The American Indians have a model for innner knowing and proper perspective they call the Sacred Mountain Spread. It represents a place inside us of internal balance. It is also referred to as a “Working Spread” because the Indians believed that we must climb to the top of our inner mountain using our own courage and strength, and not rely on others.
When I came across this, I decided to refer to what I have learned in the program as my “Knowledge Spread." I feel that I must use the ideas, concepts, principles, and technologies wisely and to the best of my abilities so that I can make a positive contribution to the field of Educational Technology.
I would like to add one more element to everything that I have mentioned above. I think that the glue that holds everything together is imagination and optimism. If we are optimistic, have a healthy imagination, and call upon our creativity, success is ours!
I believe that I will incorporate all of these ideas, concepts, practices, and technologies into my career as an Educational Technologist. It seems to me that the processes of Performance Improvement and Instructional Design are similar to putting a puzzle together. In order to reap the rewards of good practice, we need to have a system for getting the information we need, putting all the pieces together, and then formulating a solution.
My Loves
Lifelong Learning
“If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.” - Kahlil Gibran on teaching:
I think what Gibran is saying is that wise teachers do not try and deposit all of their knowledge into a student. Rather, by instilling and cultivating a love and curiosity about life and learning, the teacher gives the learner a gift. Intrinsic motivation is driven by passion. This gift becomes a self-motivating process for active learning.
Another way to express this is through Thomas L. Friedman's curiosity and passion equation: CQ + PQ > IQ. Curiosity and passion will take learners further than their basic genetic make-up and fact based knowledge they may acquire (Friedman, 2006).
I spoke of this in the “What's Love Got To Do With It” section above. From both a personal and professional perspective, I believe that lifelong learning is imperative. I think that the knowledge journey is key to a rewarding life. Only now, we must think more globally and have more awareness of the world around us. Technology has given us the gift of having the world “in our own backyard.” I suggest that we step out that back door and make the most of it.
Instructional Design
I remember when I first realized I was “doing instructional design.” I love writing, creating content, and laying it out so that it is both cognitively easy to absorb and aesthetically pleasing. Creating instructional design in which I could utilize both my creativity and cognitive skills would be professionally satisfying.
Performance Improvement
“But we've always done it this way!” I heard this frequently when I first started working for the university. Thankfully, I don't hear it much anymore. A major component of the master's program is Performance Improvement. My 685 Informational and Instructional Technologies for Organizations class with Allison Rossett really sparked my interest on this topic. As a result, I had the opportunity to attend two absolutely inspiring International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) conferences. Like the individuals who contribute to the open source movement, people in the field of performance improvement devote their skills and energy to making this world a better place.
All of the case studies, models, drills, and exams in the 685 class gave us appropriate tools to use, and sharpened our skills for assessing a situation and getting to the gist of the issue(s) at hand.
Customer/Partner Devotion:
A common theme that has emerged throughout my time in the program is the philosophy of honoring and respecting individuals whom you either serve or work with.
One of the most inspiring presentations I have ever heard was by Chip Bell, keynote speaker at the 2005 ISPI Conference in Vancouver , B.C. His presentation was entitled “Magnetic Service: Increasing Productivity Through Great Partnerships.” Mr. Bell offers training on creating passionately devoted customers through the Chip Bell Group in Gun Barrel, Texas . He told a number of stories with great eloquence and humor.
Another very inspiring conference presenter is Ken Blanchard of The Ken Blanchard Companies. I was fortunate to hear him present two years in a row at the San Diego ASTD conference, for which I volunteered. Mr. Blanchard instills attitudes of high value, community respect, and collaboration in his company and those they he serves that I respect and appreciate.
Brand and Differentiation
Both Mr. Bell and Mr. Blanchard speak about the importance of having a deep allegiance to service. With the leveling of competition in our global marketplace, consultants and companies must develop a brand that distinguishes them from other competitors, and fosters devotion from the customer and/or employee. We spoke about this at length in my 685 class. With jobs and processes being automated or outsourced, we need to have that “special something” to offer that illuminates us from others who offer similar services or products. Regardless of products and services offered, business models, productivity, or any other component of operating a business, quality human interaction must be a core competency.
In summary, I love learning, sharing my knowledge and findings with others, and being challenged by other's ideas. One of the quotes that I used in my web page is “To reflect is to disturb one's thoughts.” I loved this quote. Sometimes we get stuck in our thinking and it is good to have an experience where things get jostled a bit, encouraging us to re-evaluate our thoughts and opinions.
Change 
"The things that have come into being change continually."
– Augusto Roa Bastos
Advances in technology are changing how we conduct business and remain competitive in an increasingly global market. In an article titled “The New Society of Organizations”, Peter Drucker stated that employees will need to acquire new knowledge every four or five years, or risk becoming obsolete in an organization. He wrote this back in 1992 (Drucker 1992). Fifteen years later, it seems that this notion has been accelerated to every year or two. I recently spoke with a graduate colleague who had taken the SDSU EDTEC Podcasting seminar about a year ago. At the time, little literature existed on the subject. Now she is doing her internship at a company that wants to present training via podcasts. She has discovered that there is a plethora of literature on the subject now.
Thomas Friedman speaks about the effects of technology on our world in The World is Flat (Friedman 2006). Technology is improving at an accelerated rate and countries such as China , India , and Ireland are hungry for success and are advancing in leaps and bounds. According to Friedman, our society's governmental leadership and lack of infrastructure to sustain current technologies is leaving us very compromised in the global competitive business market. Our society needs to seriously re-evaluate its educational system, look around for better models, and take such action.
Many of my personal challenges throughout the program have been in regards to technology and program/software use. Being a digital immigrant (I just recently heard this term), I had minimal to average technology skills when I started the program. I have always marveled at the skills and knowledge that the “tech coaches” possess. One thing I have come to learn is that as soon as I master a technology, another will present itself. My personal challenge is to rise above the discomfort level I sometimes experience when this happens. I understand that it is part of the terrain of working in a learning and training environment. I know that I must be tolerant and accepting of this evolutionary process, so that I can stay current, competitive, and productive.
It would seem to me that continual technology changes will affect the EDTEC masters program and the nature of the curriculum. For example, I spoke with an EDTEC alum who graduated from the program in 2000. In his 541 course he used Macromedia Director for web design. I used Dreamweaver and tables to build my first site in 2003. Now web designers are using Cascading Style Sheets, and tables are no longer appropriate because they are not 508 compliant. New technologies will affect both how we do our projects and the nature of the projects and products that we create.
It is reasonable to think that learning processes will need to evolve as graphics and simulations become more sophisticated. These advances will continue to make learning more real for our future generations. For example, I remember getting some software about 10 years ago for our son who was about 6 at the time. One of the programs was a dictionary program called Encarta. I remember seeing a graphic of a Solar Eclipse and thinking “Wow, that's how it works!” I'm sure that the graphics were pretty basic back then, but I was impressed. I know that I studied about eclipses when I was younger, but reading words on a page must have not made it real for me. Seeing a visual representation enhanced my understanding of what a Solar Eclipse is. Now I can look back and say they were utilizing the multimedia principle (Clarke & Mayer 2006) by combining text and graphics.
I am not suggesting that we do away with books. One of my life's small pleasures is picking up a good book and getting lost in it. Many people feel that in our digital world, young people are missing out by not reading as much as my generation. Our younger generations are digital natives. They are growing up in front of computers and using technology at an early age. There is disagreement about the effects of “Twitch Speed.” Some feel that our young people are developing greater multi-tasking skills while others feel that they are just developing an “athletic” thumb. Perhaps it is too early to make credible determinations on the effects of tech savvy users and learning outcomes?
Social software is also changing the learning landscape. One of my research projects was on Political Blogs and how they are impacting politics at the grassroots level and changing the dynamics of politics. I speak about how Blogs influence learning in one of my “Data-based Decision making” standard artifacts (link to project). Blogs, Wiki's, PodCasts, and web sites such as YouTube and MySpace are transforming the way communities of learners can share information and collaborate. There is virtually no limit on the opportunities and creative solutions we will see in the future.
I have experienced the effects of enhanced learning in my courses by being able to share thoughts, ideas, and concepts with my classmates via Blogs, Wiki's, Podcasts, Moodles, etc. Although the classroom has always offered this platform of communication, social software programs allow us to extend our communications beyond the constraints of the classroom.
I admire people who live by the open source philosophy of what is good for the group, and not just what benefits themselves. Using Thomas Friedman's terminology, I aspire to creating high value with values (Friedman 2006). My employment decisions may include considerations such as the opportunity to work with socially and environmentally conscious individuals to make the world a better place.
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Corporate, Government, Higher Education,
K-12 Education, Commercial, Non-profit,
So many choices! |
I think everyone in the EDTEC program embraces the concept of lifelong learning, or they would not have entered into the program. I proudly include myself in this admirable group of learners. We have consciously chosen to continue on our path of learning and participate in the continuous reinvention of who we are.
For the past few months I have found myself scribbling cryptic little notes on whatever was available, computer, post-its, my hand, etc. Creating this ePortfolio and the accompanying reflections has kept me in a near constant state of reflection. I believe that this process is helping to aggregate the tools that have been given me.
I feel that I am at an auspicious juncture in my life. Many avenues are now open to me. Armed with my illustrious master's degree, I am venturing forth into a new career. At this point I don't know what arena I will be working in, but my intention is to contribute towards learning and training in whatever ways I can. I am confident that the skills I have acquired and theories that I have learned throughout my program will serve me well, and will allow me to make a positive contribution to the field of Educational Technology.
Thanks and Gratitude 
I am grateful for the wonderful faculty who have helped guide me throughout the program. Their knowledge, insight, and humor have made the program a wonderful experience for me. Another great mentor has been my supervisor and Director of the School of Teacher Education , Dr. Nancy Farnan. She has also been a stellar mentor, sounding board for my thoughts and concerns, editor, and general support system throughout my program.
References
