As The Years Go By
By: Tina Iafrate
As I look back on my original Goal Statement from May, 2008 for admission into the Educational Technology Masters Program, I can’t help but smile. From my first class in Plymouth, England, to my last online class from Seoul, Korea; I have learned so much in the past 3 years. Going into this program I knew I was going to learn how to use new software, computer programs and different forms of technology, but I couldn’t imagine how it would impact my life or my students' lives. My original Goal Statement was all about learning how to use computer programs to make movies, slideshows and edit audio. However, this class is about so much more than simply learning to use computer programs. From the cultural experience I had in England, to researching educational philosophers in CEP800; every class has broadened my viewpoint on what it is to be a great educator. Unfortunately, while writing my original goal statement I failed to realize the real life implications of learning these skills and how they would translate into my everyday life. Now that I am wrapping up my final class, I have learned that this program was so much more than learning new technologies. It was about exploring them to better my students' education, but most importantly to expose myself to new ways of teaching in order to reach every individual student’s learning needs. When it’s all said and done, I’m happy to say that I have accomplished all I wanted to in my original goal statement along with so much more. I am comfortable using many different types of computer technologies and have even used several in my classes already. I’m looking forward to using the information I have accumulated during the past 3 years to teach my in order to broaden their understanding of what it means to “learn.”
