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Technology Back Then
 

As I am approaching the final weeks of completing my master's degree in educational technology, I appreciate this assignment as it allows me to reflect on my lifelong and educational journey which brought me to where are I am today. I remember when I took my first “computer” class in my high school senior year. It was a semester long class and I remember learning something about coding. Until I arrived in the U.S. in 1999 I never knew what email or Internet was. I opened my first email using my Yahoo account and I was so excited but sad that I could not email my mom because not everyone could afford a computer back then. I wrote letters to my mom in Lithuania, mailed them and waited a month for her reply. It amazes me now when I talk to her on Skype everyday. How much technology has advanced! My 5 years old son knows more about technology now than I knew in my senior year of high school.

 

I graduated from Lansing Community College in 2005 with my Associate's degree and with my Bachelor’s in International Relations in 2007 from Michigan State University. I started working as an International Student and Scholar Advisor in 2009 at Michigan State. I really enjoy my job where I advise international students and scholars from over 130 countries. A year into my job, I knew that I wanted to pursue my studies further and I debated for a while what Master's program I should choose. I looked into many programs which had to do with education, and my top two choices were Teaching English as a Second Language and Educational Technology. I was excited when I found out that Master's in Educational Technology was offered fully online. To make sure this was a program for me, I enrolled in a certificate program first.

 

My Inspirations

 

I was inspired by my job and my love for languages to enroll in an educational technology program. Our office has been using more and more technologies to communicate to international students, provide immigration information and assess their learning. We know that this generation of international students does not learn things the way we learned 5 or 10 years ago. They do not want to read long forms with lots of instruction, they are bored to sit in long workshops and they prefer to get all the information online by attending webinars or watching instructional videos. It was a bit of a shock when we were doing our Fall orientation program and during some speeches and workshops students were either on their phones, ipads or not paying attention to speakers. When we showed some instructional videos as part of one session you could tell that they participated and paid attention to what was on the screen. We knew we had to change our international orientation program by incorporating more technologies.

 

Another reason for applying to this Master's program is my love for languages. I am originally from Lithuania and I learned to speak various languages back home. Now that I am a mom I see the need of my son (learning Lithuanian) to communicate to his grandparents and other relatives back in Lithuania. I thought this Masters program would be excellent in helping me learn some skills to develop a website for small children to learn basic Lithuanian.

 

MAET Certificate Program

 

When I finally enrolled in CEP 810 (Teaching Understanding with Technology), 811 (Adapting Innovative Technology to Education), and 812 (Applying Educational Technology in Practice)  I was surprised a little. It seemed to me that I was the only one in class who was a non-educator. I felt a little intimidated by all the educators in these classes and afraid that this program would not be appropriate for me. However,  instructors of those classes, especially Melissa White, were very understanding and encouraging! They allowed me to adjust the assignments to my audiences. What I liked the most about those classes was the small group work where we collaborated with each other to create meaningful projects such as “Mobile Technology Uses in Elementary Classroom.” In these classes I gained so many valuable tools I could use in my workplace as well as teach Lithuanian. One of my favorite projects to work on was the StAIR project (Stand Alone Instructional Resource). It is a very simple tool but a very effective one, which helps students learn a particular point at their own pace. I learned to create the StAIR in a Kiosk mode, which I would have never known about if I hadn’t taken these classes. Simple readings such as Getting Things Done for CEP 810 class helped me gain some great organizational tools. In CEP 811, I learned to use such tools as Prezi and Jing, which were so helpful in my future MAET classes. What I appreciated the most was that instructors had us record all our learning and reflection in a blog. Now I can go back and review my projects and my reflections.

 

Learning Outcomes of the Master's in Educational Technology Program

 

After I finished the certificate courses, I knew immediately that I must apply to a Master's program. I met with my academic advisor, Leigh Graves Wolf, and she was very helpful listening to my needs and helping me choose classes according to my preferences. Most of my classes I chose to take were project-based which was I was very excited about. I was easily able to create assignment projects and apply them in my work environment. And finally, towards the end of my program I was even able to present on these technologies along with my other two colleagues in state and regional conferences for international educators.

 

One of the classes that I will never forget was CEP 817 (Learning Technology through Design) with Punya Mishra and Kristen Kereluik. It was one of the most fun and creative classes that I took. We had a few group projects that we worked on but our biggest project was designing a web resource (Big Kahuna project) that teaches about specific ideas from a subject matter of our choice. Class instructors understood that I do not work in a K-12 or direct instructional context so I was able to come up with an equivalent project. I designed a website for small children to learn basic Lithuanian language skills such as alphabet, colors, numbers and short phrases. I was very proud of my final project and the work I put in to create it. This class and the knowledge I gained in designing the website gave me great confidence in creating something similar for teaching international students about specific immigration related topics or even advancing the website that I already created.

 

CEP 820 (Teaching Students Online) was taught by Sandra Sawaya and Dr. Anne Heintz. In this class I designed an online module for international students and integrated some tools that allowed me to teach the module effectively to our international population. Those tools included various quizzes, visual layouts, recording lectures using Jing, and step-by-step instructions. We could choose any website we wanted for our online module creation. I was very familiar with Weebly, however I challenged myself and chose Desire2Learn for my project. It was very challenging as I had to call  to call Desirer2Learn Help Desk multiple times, but in the end I managed to finalize my online module. I chose Desire2Learn because I knew it would be very beneficial for MSU international students if they were to take a course I designed. I designed the course for international students to teach them and help them prepare off campus work permission applications. Now I have the skill that may be useful in the future, as our office is looking for more ways of engaging our students using various online tools.

 

One of the last courses that left a long lasting impression on me was CEP 882 (Seminar in CEP) taught by Dr. David Wong. The topic for the seminar was The Nature and Design of Compelling Experiences. The big ideas of the course were to understand the broader view of the nature of compelling experiences and how to create compelling experiences. We examined compelling experiences in photography, film and television, music, architecture and a domain of our choice. This class was more of a non-traditional CEP class but I think everyone should take this class because it taught us the real meaning behind compelling experiences. This class has taught me various tools I could use when I design an online module or even a webinar for international students. When I design something I try to use a lot of visuals for webinars or when I try to explain students various immigration forms. Using lots of visuals motivates students to learn and brings a better understanding of a specific topic. Before this class I struggled to understand the meaning of compelling. After this class and Professor Wong’s explanation during each module, I finally understood compelling is not something that looks pretty or beautiful or attracts our attention; it is something that makes us think twice about its real meaning, something that has a meaning behind it, something that teaches us something, and something that involves deeper thinking and emotions. Most of my work for this class can be found on my CEP 882 blog.

 

My Future

 

The road towards obtaining my Master's in Educational Technology has been amazing. It has taken me to present on technologies in various conferences, it helped me produce great projects that I am very proud of and most important it taught me to never end my journey here. It has taught me to think missionally and not instrumentally! I will definitely continue the journey of learning in my near future. I know that the MAET program has some great refresher courses that I can take in a year or two. This program has helped me to improve my work environment. This program was an asset on my resume when I applied to the NAFSA Trainer Corps program and got accepted. I am excited to be going to the NAFSA national conference to present a poster on “Bringing Digital Media to International Office.” And a final thank you is to my family (my husband and my son) who have been so supportive over the past three years.

Technology Across Cultures

by Neringa Tuyilingire

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