Masters Capstone: Learn, Design and Technology
My Journey.
My Goals.
My Experiences.
Summary Of Courses
Below is a summary of the courses that I took to earn my Master's Degree. I ramble on a bit about each class and how it impacted my learning and my job. These courses have transformed my perspective and improved my teaching practices.
Introduction to Instructional Design ITEC 5160
Instructor: Oksana Wasilik, PHD
Spring 2021
I was incredibly overwhelmed by this class at first because the first module and introduction to this course outlined a project we had to complete called the ID Project. This was my first semester in the program and could not wrap my head around this design project I had to create. I contacted the teacher right away as I felt that it was urgent that I complete this as soon as possible. I then began to realize that taking this assignment in small portions was the best way to approach it. Also, the course was designed around getting this project done in segments. It provided all the research articles I needed to complete a literature review, and all the information about how to put an APA style paper together. Once the course assignments got going the project seemed much more doable overall. I also realized I could use this project to improve my own teaching practice in the classroom concurrently. The course introduced me to all the pieces of an instructional design proposal. It also gave me a summary about educational theories such as Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism. The overall project for me turned out to be about 45 - 50 pages of writing, designing, and reflection.
Message Design ITEC 5320
Instructor: Mia Kim Williams, PhD
Spring 2021
Digital Literacy. Multiliteracy. Creative Processes. Gestalt Principles. This being my first semester, I was pushed to complete these open ended assignments that had little structure, but pushed me to create, design and reflect in new ways. I couldn’t believe that I was asked to create an infographic to communicate my learning to my instructor. I initially thought of this as being quite trivial and thought from my traditional background that I was here to write essays and reflect in this way. I was so wrong. This course was the first course that changed my perspective on learning, but also on teaching. I began to understand how reflection in other ways besides writing was the key to developing my creativity and innovation skills needed to push my own teaching career past the traditional “old school” mindset. This mindset was to read, reflect and write. All in all I still think that reading, reflecting and writing pushes my mind to investigate and dig for information I otherwise would not, but message design taught me to reflect and use digital tools to communicate the same messages I would in a paper. I learned to communicate through video, picture, color and words, with tools I had never used before such as Canva, screen capture, podcasts, powtoon and storyboards.
Communication in Distance Education ITEC 5510
Instructor: Mia Kim Williams, PhD
Summer 2021
In this class we investigated communication in digital contexts such as podcasts, social media, and other digital platforms. The assignment that stood out to me the most was creating a podcast. We had to create a podcast using a podcast application and share that with the rest of the class. We reflected on how we could create podcasts in our own work environment and how it could be useful in the classroom or the educational setting. Social media is another communication tool that we investigated for educational purposes. The platforms offer a way to collect information and share ideas with people all over the world. I found this interesting and continue to ponder how I could use social media as an educational tool in my classes.
Introduction to Research EDRE 5530
Instructor: Courtney McKim, PhD
Summer 2021
In this class we were introduced to qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods research methods. We were required to read about all of these methods and took quizzes and tests on the information that we read about. We were asked to critique research processes and papers. I enjoyed this class because throughout the rest of the program I could look at all the assigned research articles with a critical eye.
Technology and the Mind LDTE 5020
Instructor: William Cain, PhD
Fall 2021
This was the first class that I was asked to create a personal learning website. This assignment was probably one of the coolest assignments because it gave me the opportunity to explore website development in a constructivist learning style. I was given the topic and then went for it. I created a site that could display my work throughout the course and experiment with different tools that the website offered. As far as the content of the course, technology and the uses of technology were of course the key topics. The big question for me in this course was whether technology makes us smarter or not? We looked at how technology advances our cognition and how it is just a tool to store information and gather information. We looked into the future by investigating up and coming technologies that are currently out of our reach but in the future will most likely play a huge role in how we learn and interact as humans. We investigated different technological tools that are being used in the educational setting currently. Through all these investigations we were looking at how technology can help us learn and become smarter and how sometimes it is a crutch to do the thinking and work for us.
Theoretical Foundations LDTE 5000
Instructor: Mia Kim Williams, PhD
Fall 2021
The module that stuck out to me the most in this course was Brain Based Learning. It takes neuroscience and combines it with educational theories. The combination of understanding the brain and how it scientifically absorbs information and retains it, is fascinating, especially when we compare this with how we teach. As humans our brains are very unique and not one is alike, although we still design courses and lessons with little options on learning information. We covered Behaviorist, Cognitivist, Constructivist, Constructionist, Activity and Social Learning theories. All of these theories provided different perspectives on the best way to teach. The conclusion that I made from this course is that we are all different, even though the brain absorbs information in similar ways, our backgrounds, traumas and emotions all affect how we learn.
Innovative Pedagogy LDTE 5100
Instructor: Mia Kim Williams, PhD
Spring 2022
In this course we dove deep into defining innovation, pedagogy, creativity and learning. We investigated different models of teaching that help teachers incorporate technology such as SAMR (substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition), and TPACK (technological pedagogical content knowledge). The biggest assignment in this course was writing a theoretical paper on how I believed that public school systems should change. It involved trying to prioritize 21st century skills in the classroom. Prioritizing, problem solving, digital literacy, and teamwork. This paper was a way for me to innovate and creatively think about change in our systems of education.
Play, Make, Learn ITEC 5870
Instructor: Letha Mellman PhD
Spring 2022
This class was a fun investigation of how we learn through play. The biggest idea that sticks in my head from this class is that we go to kindergarten and get to play all day. We learn through song, play, stories and games the first day we go to school. Then the way we learn changes. All of a sudden we are asked to sit at desks, be quiet, read and write in silence. Where did the games go? Where did the play go? This class provided me with theorists and research that supported and backed play based learning. It had me reinvestigate what learning was and why we are learning in the first place. We are lifelong learners. We will continue to learn through many outlets in our lives. Lets not forget about play as a way of learning though! We were asked to create our ideal learning environment in this course. I enjoyed creating this because it was as if I could create an environment that could cater to everyone and their needs. I could think outside the box and leave room for creativity and innovation.
Critical, Digital, Praxis in Education LDTE 5220
Instructor: Letha Mellman, PhD
Fall 2022
The biggest piece of reading that we did in this course was reading parts of Paulo Friere’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, specifically Chapter 2. This piece scared me because of its reflection on how schools feed information to students and basically restrict them into thinking in specific ways. The course made me think on my own practices in teaching and wonder if I was in fact just pushing information onto students. I hope I am not and try my best to keep an open mind while teaching. We were also asked to rethink education in the times of technology. I contemplated how technology is changing education and how education is changing technology. It gave me ideas about how education could become more accessible to all cultures of our world. It was interesting to think about education being so personalized that students could choose what they wanted to learn and be guided through that process with a mentor and technology.
Learning, Experience, and Design LDTE 5210
Instructor: William Cain, PhD
Fall 2022
Learning is an experience and as a teacher what kind of experience do we want that to be? This is the question I am left with from this course. I thought a lot about my role as a math teacher and how sometimes I have to teach math to students who are not so interested in it. How can I create a better experience for all of my learners in the classroom? How can everyone benefit from coming into my math class? I hope that everyone can take something away from being in the classroom whether it is a new friend, a new perspective about working in groups, and of course some new mathematical concepts and patterns that appear in our world. This class highlighted the importance of making learning an experience that will enhance people's life. It is not solely about meeting a learning objective. If one were to meet a learning objective, but was bored out of their mind the whole time, this might mean that the experience could be improved upon.
Elements of Design LDTE 5010
Instructor: William Cain, PhD
Spring 2023
How am I designing my lessons? Are my lessons designed to captivate the attention of my students? I am currently taking this course and throughout this course, I have thought a lot about how I have designed my learning tasks in the classroom. I am not sure that right now I am captivating all the attention of my students and am searching for design solutions to do this. So far a big “ah ha” moment for me in this class is how the timing of feedback is used in my classroom. I designed my classroom to have a more instantaneous feedback loop for the students to see if they were doing the practice correctly or not. I got a subscription to Delta Math, which is a problem bank of math problems for middle school and up. This program allows students to work through problems, and see if they came to the correct answer. They can then see the process that could be used to solve the problem correctly and also an instructional video to go along with it. People need feedback in a timely manner especially in content such as math. Also in this course we took designs of everyday objects and critiqued them. We used a digital form of presentation of this design and why it was so useful. As always the readings in this course were insightful about how I can design everything better for learning and retention.