- Standards
- TF-I Technology Operations and Concepts
- TF-II Planning and Designing Learning Environments
- TF-III Teaching, Learning, and the Curriculum
- TF-IV Assessment and Evaluation
- TF-V Productivity and Professional Practice
- TF-VI Social, Ethical, Legal, and Human Issues
- TF-VII Procedures, Policies, Planning, and Budgeting
- TF-VIII Leadership and Vision
- Projects
- Resume
- Course Schedule
- Talks
Reflection
I've been a web developer since 1995 and with the University of Arizona since 2003. My first project for the UA was to build a learning management system for a multi-year study in the area of tobacco abatement. It was the first time that I had had something that I created assessed in such a rigorous way. Low and high fidelity prototypes and heuristic evaluation prior to launch and assessment of the learners through quizzes once it was released. The research team discovered that the web version, when compared to its face-to-face counterpart, resulted in web participants performing better on the post test but satisfaction scores were higher in the face-to-face experience.
Many projects and years later, the idea that it isn't good enough to transfer knowledge via a web-based learning system but that it also has to be satisfying (fun, engaging, rewarding - what have you) led me to the Educational Technology program. I felt like I had a handle on the technology part but the education half was where I needed to build skills.
I came into the Educational Technology program to answer a few, high-level, questions:
- How do people learn?
- What makes a good learning module?
- What role does social interaction play in the learning process?
- What tools are professional educators using to create successful learning modules?
- How can assessment be used to inform both the teacher and the student of the success of a learning module?
Over the course of the three years I have been in the program, I have had my questions addressed. I have also discovered new questions that will fuel my continued learning.
In preparing this reflection, I spent some time rereading the ISTE standards, trying to work out how the standards applied to my current role at the Arizona Health Sciences Center and how my new degree might steer me toward new challenges. What I came up with reads like a manifesto but it does define what I have gotten out of this program and how I plan to continue learning as I join the community of Educational Technologists.
As an Educational Technologist, it is my job and passion to:
- Continually learn about emerging technologies that could be used to improve learning. (TF-I)
- Spread my earned knowledge through presentations, workshops and one-on-one training. (TF-I)
- Work collaboratively with faculty and staff to develop learning environments that adapt to a wide range of learner needs. (TF-II)
- Support faculty and administrators in the selection of technologies with a focus on suitability and sustainability. (TF-II)
- Develop skills in a wide range of technologies to facilitate the creation, dissemination and evaluation of units of instruction. (TF-III)
- Integrate assessment strategies including data gathering, analysis, and reporting in all technology-based units of instruction. (TF-IV)
- Participate in communities of practice so that my fellow technologists can benefit from my experience and I from theirs. (TF-V)
- Encourage the use of technologies that are capable of adapting to specific learner needs (TF-VI)
- Promote policies that result in equitable access to technology by all students. (TF-VI)
- Advocate for the development of a technology infrastructure that supports the safe and reliable use of technologies supporting instruction. (TF-VII)
- Lead the short and long range planning of educational technology initiatives. (TF-VIII)
