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Two years ago, I applied to the MSU Masters in Educational Technology (MAET) program, excited about the wide breadth of technology that I would be able to introduce to my classroom. I knew that my students were digital natives, who were growing up in a society surrounded by technology. I wanted to immerse my students in as much technology as possible  in order to help them be successful learners. I knew from first hand experience that technology could assist me in motivating and engaging children in classroom content. My short term goal for my masters coursework was to simply introduce more technology into my classroom. 
 
 
When I began my masters program, my long term goal was to become my school's learning resource director, who is in charge of helping our school and its teachers to incorporate technology into their classrooms. This is a goal that has stayed the same. That is a job that I still aspire to hold someday, but I now know that there are a wide variety of jobs that I could do where I would be helping schools and individual teachers to integrate technology into their daily practice. I am more confident in my technology skills, and as a result, I am more willing to broaden my horizons as far as technology oriented jobs go in the future. If I knew then what I know know now, my goal would be to be an innovative technology leader either informally or formally wherever I work. 
 

 

If I Knew Then...

By: Jenna Gabel
What I found out was that it was not the quantity of technology that I used, but rather the quality that was so important. I even found myself changing the way that I planned lessons when I utilized technol0gy. Instead of finding an exciting flashy new tool that I wanted to use and then trying to fit a piece of curriculum to that tool, I first looked at what the subject matter was that I wanted to teach. Next, I thought about my own pedagogy and the ways in which I wanted to teach that lesson. Only then, when I had a clear understanding of the content that I wanted to teach and the learning targets for my students, did I search for a piece of technology that would add value to to that lesson and that particular content. I now know that it takes time to create a valuable lesson including technology, and it is not the number of technological tools that I use in my classroom that matters, but rather the methods in which I use various technologies that make a difference in student learning. I ask myself if the technology that I have chosen allows my students to learn more than they could have without the technology. Therefore, if I knew then what I know now, my goal would be quite different. Simply put, I would want to become more purposeful about the technology that I use in the classroom in order to ensure that my lessons engage the most effective use of technology possible. 
 

 

 
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