Reflection on Masters in Classroom Technology Program

Before starting the MCT program, I wont lie; I was not the most
technologically savvy person. I still dont consider myself an expert in
technology, but over the course of the program I have become more
confident and added many tools to my technology belt. I decided to get my
masters in an area I held interest, but was also weak at implementing into
my own room. I learned a variety of ways to integrate technology into my
art room. The art curriculum isnt the easiest to blend technology into just
for the fact its so project based. It was challenging for me to take the
technologies we learned about and incorporate them into my realm. The
biggest impact this program has had on my curriculum is that Im now much
more open to differentiating my instruction with technology. My final project
was using podcasts and videos as supplemental materials to benefit my
students. This was a great way for me to create a more transparent
classroom with my students, parents, and administration. If parents want to
know what their child is doing in my room my entire semester is online. We
have also discussed and created our own online ePortfolios and this is
another direction I am going to go with my students. I believe the idea of
students taking ownership and designing, creating, and managing their own
artists ePortfolios is such a monumental stride for them becoming a more
digitalized citizen. The organizational skills theyll gain from putting together
an online ePortfolio will be a tremendous asset for them. Below is a
reflection on my growth and strengths pertaining to the NETS-C standards
set forth by the International Society of Technology (ISTE).
Standard 1: Visionary Leadership
I have not been able to develop a technology plan or help with
planning for my district, but I have been able to help with the integration and
implementation of technology within my school and department. As a
teacher, Ive noticed the need for quality leaders with a vision. Ive taken the
opportunity to lead in branding our art department through social media and
using technology to connect us to students, parents, and the community.
Ive witnessed the benefits of using technology in the classroom and have
become an advocate for the implementation of using technology with a
purpose. I hope to continue to push my district and department in
implementing and using more technology to benefit our students.
Standard 2: Teaching, Learning and Assessments

Of all the standards I believe this is one of my strongest. I have

learned a variety of ways to differentiate instruction, create assessments,
and provide a wide range of engaging learning experiences for my students.
I have learned about many new tools and been able to implement them into
my room. Ive felt more comfortable sharing my successes with my
department and school. Being one of now six art teachers, if theres
something Im doing in my room with technology theres a really good
chance one of my colleagues could use the technology as well.
I have created podcasts and video tutorials and organized them on a
Weebly site I built to give my students an opportunity to refresh on the units
were covering or catch up if theyve missed days. Ive also created my own
personal artists website. These website building experiences have given me
confidence to have my students create their own ePortfolios. Ive screen
casted over PowerPoints Ive created so if theres a day when Im not there to
demo a substitute can now hit play and my students wont miss a day of
instruction. Ive created a WebQuest as a way to introduce an artist and
history to my students. Ive used Prezi, Microsoft Office, and all of the
Google tools have become amazing technologies in my curriculum. Ive
really jump started our departments use of social media to promote our
curriculum. Ive begun to take advantage of the LMS Schoology that we use
in my district more now after completing this program. Its an area that Id
like to become even more fluent in because its such an important tool we
use in my district to connect with students and parents. This program has
given me more confidence in all of these technologies.
Standard 3: Digital Age Learning Environments
Creating a digital age learning environment has been an area Ive
worked to improve from the beginning of the program. I feel like its been
one area Ive seen the most improvement. Ive already mentioned Ive
started the branding and implementation of our department using social
media to promote our department and students. We have a very strong
department and its important that we advertise it and are always shining a
positive light on the arts. Its also important we develop a community within
our department. By using Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram I have really
been able to jumpstart this process.
We are an all google district now. I have started email groups for our
department and other groups with the art departments at the other two high
schools in our district. Ive created shared folder in Google Docs where my

entire department shares documents frequently. We have a really great

rapport and realize its very inefficient for all of us to create our own
PowerPoints for similar lessons. We share documents, tweak to make them
our own, and in turn save time. Theres no sense in reinventing the wheel
when there are technologies like Google Docs.
I personally have created podcasts and video tutorials for my students.
I feel confident that this creates a strong digital learning environment
especially in my Photo lab. I feel between my implementation of these tools
along with Twitter, Schoology, and Googles tools I create a very digital
environment. We also edit using Adobe Photoshop software. Ive modeled
tutorials that lead students to other tutorials creating more independent
critical thinking students.
Ive also learned about basic trouble shooting. This is an area where I
use to struggle. I feel more confident in fixing small problems with
computers, printers, and technologies after completing this program. Im
more likely to go through numerous steps to check what the problem might
be. Im then much more aware of what to look for and where to seek help
online.
Overall, I want to promote students to use technology more in my
room. I want them to use it with confidence and for logical purposes. I want
to model what are effective ways to use technology to become stronger
visual artists while creating a stronger digital environment in my classroom.
Standard 4: Professional Develop and Program Evaluation
I think this is another area where I have improved tremendously. I
have been able to attend Professional Development sessions and bring items
back to my department to share. Ive taken on a leadership role of going to
more technology based PD opportunities while my colleagues have gone to
other PD sessions of more interest to them at the time. Ive also been able
to lead in showing my fellow colleagues how to troubleshoot issues as PD. I
think my final project where I analyzed the benefits of using podcasts and
video tutorials in my photography classroom gave me a great experience at
looking at data and evaluating my program. I explored how it affected
students attitudes and performances. I think its always great to reflect
back on a semester or year, but when you can look at data from your
students, analyze it, and draw conclusions that are going to improve your
teaching that is always a positive. Its made me really rethink how I operate
as a teacher.

Standard 5: Digital Citizenship

Digital Citizenship is an area where I feel confident in how I interact
with my students. When I first graduated from BGSU in 2005 with my BFA in
Art Education social media was just becoming popular. At the time we were
told Dont get a social media account, and definitely do not interact with
students on social media. Today, its almost impossible to not use social
media. The key is to be ethically responsible for your actions. Both my
Twitter account and Instagram account are open to the public. If I was
posting items that werent viewed as acceptable for students to see I would
have my accounts private. I also communicate to students my expectations
of them when using technology. Its become even more important to me
after completing this program that Im aware of what my students are doing
while theyre online on my watch. Ive already mentioned how Ive promoted
our department through Twitter and Instagram and this is an area where Ive
really urged students to reach out to other artists. Ive gotten students to
participate in large curated art events online as well as contact artists from
all parts of the world and approach them with questions. I am constantly
showing students how I contact these artists and I explain how it really has
expanded my practices. I feel like Ive had major growth in the past few
years since becoming a more digital citizen myself and I try to model that for
my students.

Standard 6: Content Knowledge and Professional Growth

For me, completing my masters in classroom technology was my first
major step towards professional growth and increasing my content
knowledge. In the future I plan on attending more technology centered
professional developments that my school offers as well as seeking outside
professional development that is technology based. I would also like to lead
more professional developments as I am much more confident in using
technology and believe I can help others. As I move forward in my career, I
plan to have technology goals to infuse technology into my classroom on a
weekly, if not daily basis. I plan to frequently reflect on my instruction and
seek ways to implement technology to benefit my students.
In conclusion, as I complete my masters in classroom technology its
amazing to think how much Ive learned as an educator. Along the way I

have created my own website for my artwork, created other websites to act
as a resource for educators and students, created technology-enriched
lesson plans, and assessments. Ive learned how to screencast over my
PowerPoints. I have created podcasts and tutorials for fellow colleagues and
students. Ive gained confidence in trouble shooting technology issues and
helping others. In the future I plan on continuing in developing my
curriculum around technology and implementing new tools as often as I can.
Its important to me that I share what Ive learned so that my students
benefit from my integration of technology. I want to keep them engaged
while teaching them 21st century skills that they can take with them beyond
my classroom.