As an art educator, I have several goals for my students. I want my students to succeed in visually representing their ideas and visions along with being able to read others’ works of art. Focusing on these goals have led to the introduction of teaching students the basics of drawing and composition. Discussing color theory and the principles and elements of design also plays a large role in the standard art curriculum. These lessons and projects have become mundane tasks for both my students and myself. Falling into this trap of robotic teaching, I wanted to expand my ideology and my teaching practices to provide an environment for my students to embrace the creative nature of art. Artists do not think in terms of projects and assessments. A large part of the creative process is critical thinking and problem solving. These skills are not inherited but developed over time with practice and execution. I began my Master of Educational Technology (MAET) degree with the goal of utilizing technology more in my classroom leading my students to gain more confidence with technology and having them use it during their creative process. This simple goal has involved overtime to include challenging student mindset with the inclusion of failure and embracing technology to inform communication and understanding of key concepts and academic goals. Through thoughtfully designed courses that focused on peer group discussions alongside self-reflection, the MAET program has enlightened me on how to foster creativity in my students by developing a curriculum that supports problem solving skills and failure. It has also been instrumental in changing my perspective by understanding my students’ viewpoints first and tailoring my instruction to reflect that. Most importantly, the MAET program has allowed myself to reflect on my instruction and become critical of my use of technology by making sure that its inclusion is logical, consistent and necessary.
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how to foster creativity in my students
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develop a curriculum that supports problem solving skills and failure
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how to change my perspective on student understanding and comprehension
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to be critical of technology implementation in the classroom
The MAET Program has taught me:
Teaching Understanding with Technology (CEP 810) was the first course I took in my MAET career and the most influential because it introduced me to the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge Framework (TPACK). This concept is emphasized throughout the MAET program for its revolutionary ideology of integrating technology into the classroom. Although simple in its essence, this pedagogy enlightened me on the how, why and impact technology has on a classroom and its learners within that classroom. Not only did this concept explain the importance of thoughtful technology integration, it explained why some techniques triumph over others. When I began my MAET career, I taught art on a cart and rarely used technology (electronic technology such as computers, iPads, projectors etc.) due to lack of time and resources. My main goal throughout this degree was to learn how to integrate technology into my instruction and classroom (when I get one). Before I studied TPACK, I naively believed that technology instantly equated to success. CEP 810 taught me the benefit of thoughtfully integrating technology in a way that reinforced content in a logical way for my students to comprehend. This course also challenged me into dissecting where I receive my information and how I use that information throughout my teaching. By systematically identifying and reviewing my Personal Learning Network (PLN), CEP 810 challenged me to get out of my comfort zone and extend my PLN into different areas of interest. At the end of the course, it was clear that in order to help my students comprehend and attain information I need to see the material from their perspective and relate it to their lives and interests through thoughtful integration of technology. Instead of reading a blog and trying to emulate another educator’s tactics, I need to assess my students and develop a plan that benefits them and myself.
Influential Courses:
CEP 810
Teaching Understanding with Technology
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CEP 811
Adapting Innovative Technology to Education
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CEP 822
Approaches to Educational Research
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Another course that influenced my thinking on education was Adapting Innovative Technology to Education (CEP 811). This course began with working with an unfamiliar technology as a basis for all the coursework, which opened my mind and imagination to all the possibilities of Maker Education. I connected with the coursework in this class because creativity was the core concept. I enjoyed having to learn a new technology and relate it to units and lessons that I teach my students. This is something that I do quite often when I learn a new technique or see an interesting unit or lesson on a subject that I teach my students. What was different with this course was the approach taken to learning the new technology. Of course, I kept thinking about how I could relate the technology to my curriculum, but I also began to think about TPACK and how my students would perceive this new technology. CEP 810 helped my understanding of how and why to add technology into the classroom and CEP 811 helped spark my creativity for finding new technology to integrate into the classroom. Art does not necessarily have to be taught using the standard mediums of graphite, paper and paint. Technology like circuit stickers and Maker Bots can, and do, blend art with technology and other core academic areas of study. As an art educator, I feel that one of my responsibilities is to inform students on how relevant art is in within their lives even if they choose a career outside of the arts. I have always believed that art and technology are related and this course made it clear that the two should not be divided into different areas of study completely. A dream I have is to create a curriculum that blends these content areas together so students can create works of art that reflect the 21st century individual.
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CEP 810 and CEP 811 demonstrated the importance of thinking like my students for comprehension and inspiration. However, it wasn’t until CEP 822 that these concepts were tied together to illustrate how the combination of these two practices can create a curriculum that develops a clear responsibility on the students’ behalf of their own education and development, thus creating 21st century learners. Approaches to Educational Research (CEP 822) examined how to attain data from research and how to interpret those results. While not the most alluring of topics, this class was the most beneficial. It is important for educators to understand that students may not possess the same background knowledge and context compared to others. Further, this information may be misinformed or incorrect. Understanding this phenomenon is half the battle because the cycle of misinformation will continue without considering the source of that misinformation. Without confronting the incorrect source(s) students are likely to retain their misinformation after the lesson has ended. Realizing that students cling to their misconceptions will help me relate to my students’ thinking and comprehension in order to help them unleash their creativity. Having my students realize that their peers may or may not have the same beliefs, rather correct or incorrect, will help in their communication of ideas and topics throughout their academic career. In the art room, this will benefit the creative process and critique for the development of deeper and more comprehensive visual elements.
Over the past year, the MAET program has challenged how I approach art education. Before the program, I followed the same curriculum each year with the same format of making sure that my students experienced each area of art and created something to demonstrate their knowledge on the subject and medium. I adhered to a strict formula of presenting information and demonstrating a project or lesson for my students. I introduced artists to my students and examined their work as a class but never touched on the subject of creativity. Before this program, I didn’t have conversations with my students about what it means to be creative and how the artists that we study defied all odds and created what others deemed unnecessary or inappropriate. After completing the MAET program, I am focused more on the process instead of the outcome and I am having my students approach art education with an artist mindset by thinking more about the creative process and less on the product they are creating. This approach is also challenging my students on their views of art and its role in their lives. My students are at a vulnerable age where they praise technical skill over conceptual ideology. The MAET program taught me that in order for my students to grow as artists and 21st century learners they need to question, experiment and fail before they can retain new information and grow. It is my responsibility as an art educator to enlighten my students on how art is vital in their lives and utilized in everyday life more than they realize. Without art, social media, music and entertainment would not exist. It is through art that we communicate and connect with one another. It is my responsibility as an educator to demonstrate how technology can help in communicating, understanding and connecting to concepts. It is my responsibility as an educator of 21st century learners to demonstrate how technology can aide in critical thinking and problem solving skills. I am a multifaceted educator with the overarching goal of my students utilizing all available means to understand, communicate and reflect on all topics presented to them in and outside of my classroom.
"The MAET program taught me that in order for my students to grow as artists and 21st century learners they need to question, experiment and fail before they can retain new information and grow."
This program offered invaluable experiences that have benefited my future as an educator. It has expanded my definition of a learning community, altered my viewpoints on instruction and my thirst of knowledge. Although I took my classes online with the addition of an on-campus summer cohort, I never felt isolated or forgotten during courses. In fact, I have expanded my educator PLN to include hundreds of peers with varying viewpoints of education along with a litany of influential blogs and news feeds. I am more apt now to turn to my colleagues for advice due to courses focusing on group peer discussion and brainstorming. It was reassuring to learn that educators from all disciplines face the same issues and concerns in the classroom. My viewpoints on instruction has evolved to include where misinformation originates from and to be mindful of my student’s perspective. Most importantly, I have learned that it is important for my students to fail while discovering answers to their questions. All too often, I try to create lessons that guarantee all my students are successful. While structuring my lessons this way to improve confidence I am setting my students up for disaster by unintentionally creating disinterest and lack of determination. I spent a majority of my degree self-reflecting on my role within art education after obtaining the powerful knowledge presented throughout my courses and have concluded that as an educator, I am an influential mentor to my students and ultimately responsible for how they view technology and approach problems or situations.
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The MAET program has enforced my love of learning, my path as a lifelong learner and my strive to always be better at what I do. While taking classes, my students were aware of my studies and questioned what I was completing in my classes daily. In direct response to my coursework and readings, I have incorporated more self-guided learning and research where students are given choices in how to approach lessons whether it be in technique or medium. As a stepping-stone in the curriculum, more open-ended lessons have been added where students are given a subject or a theme and they are responsible in completing the project how they see fit. Group critique and self-reflection are now mandatory for all projects for students to grow their visual vocabulary and strengthen verbal and written communication skills. Plans have been made to incorporate iPad software to help aide in critique and researching for projects. I hope that through example and practice, my students understand there is always room for improvement and change leads to great things. I hope they embrace what it means to be a 21st century learner and always challenge themselves.