November 3, 2009
Dear UTB Ed. Tech Professors,
In the Fall of 2007, I had made the decision to begin my Masters Degree. I was deciding between an Educational Technology degree at UT Brownsville and a Technology Education degree at Northern Arizona University (my Alma Mater). When I spoke to Dr. Sullivan on the phone, I expressed my confusion about which degree and which school to choose. His reply led to my selection of UTB over NAU.
It is important to note that I am not an educator. I am, by trade, a software engineer. It is, perhaps, my lack of an education background that made the skills introduced in almost every Ed. Tech class seem new, exciting, and valuable. Because I only have a couple of pages to focus on ‘lessons learned’, I’ll be omitting most of those skills to focus on two skills that I feel made the greatest impact during my education.
My first exposure to peer-based research was in EDCI 6300. Without a doubt, the ability to comb through others’ research, find their conclusions, and spot their biases is the most significant academic skill set I have attained during my time in the program. I have used these research skills in more than half of my classes, and have used them outside of my coursework, as well. However, EDCI 6300 also taught me that, while the skills needed to find quality research are extremely valuable, the ability to use external research to formulate my own conclusion is one of my most profound weaknesses.
I began my research project with a clear goal in mind, and a strong start. However, it soon became clear that there was so much information related to my project (how school financing influences student test scores), that I was unable to categorize the data to form a decisive conclusion. My final draft was more of a loose collection of ideas than a concise presentation of facts. I have since revisited my paper, and have attempted to refocus my project. To this day, I am still struggling with the task. If I could make one suggestion for future classes, it would be to allocate less time on the dissection of individual research articles, and more time for narrowing in on how to use the contents of the articles to formulate a coherent research paper.
When I enrolled in EDTC 6341, I had assumed (from the title) that it would be a technology-heavy class. What I discovered was that Student-Centered Learning was the amalgamation of how I had been taught as a child (Programmed Instruction), how I taught others as a young adult (Andragogy), and how I aspire to teach others when I eventually have my own classroom (Constructivism).
The way in which this methodology was presented to me as a student is something I will take with me well past graduation. Priscilla Norton—one of the proponents of Student-Centered Learning—guided our class through the development of a learning module from beginning to end. And, the act of seeing someone piece together a robust, state standards-compliant learning experience from scraps of learning theories was nothing short of inspiring. I am currently using this learning methodology in my Practicum, and will continue to use it in my educational future. If I could make one recommendation to modify the M. Ed Tech curriculum, it would be to remove the ‘elective’ classification from EDTC 6341, and replace it with a ‘core’ course classification.
My two motivations for entering the Ed. Tech program were my love for education, and my desire to leave the engineering field. Because of financial barriers, I do not anticipate making the full transition to the educational field upon completion of this degree. However, I have every intention of ‘moonlighting’ as an instructional designer, or education technology advisor, or classroom teacher at any educational institution that will employ me. I’ll use the part-time work to keep my skills sharp until such time as I can transition out of engineering fully.
You’re probably wondering what Dr. Sullivan told me over the phone to make me choose UTB for my Master’s Degree program. He told me, “We won’t waste your time.” And, in writing this reflection letter, I’m reminded that Dr. Sullivan was correct. The UTB M. Ed Tech program did not waste my time.
Best wishes and regards,
Fred Kaplan
