Reflection
When I began my master’s program in Information and Learning Technology (ILT) , I had been teaching classes for the City of Boulder for a decade. I started with the city as a consultant for the Information Technology department teaching software skills to every department, including a few classes for Senior Services. About that same time, I had also started a small business teaching computer skills to the elderly in their own homes. Not long after I started the business, I became a parent. Parenting requires similar skills to teaching the elderly; it takes patience, respect, and a good sense of humor. I take my children’s learning for granted, but I am usually surprised by how much my elderly students are able to learn. Now, years later, I find that older adults are catching up with society, texting and tweeting along with the rest of us.
When I took the first class of my master’s program, I was unfamiliar with Web 2.0 technologies. Most of us in the ILT program at that time had little experience with using or developing wikis, blogs, and screencasts. So much has changed since then. Social networking has integrated into the mainstream, and it’s unusual to find a late adopter who doesn’t use email or search the World Wide Web on Google. The transformation has been remarkable.
I have experienced my own transformation during my master’s program. I’ve always known that I enjoy learning new technology. I never gave it much thought. I perceived technology as a subject to be learned. Now I see technology as a tool for learning a subject. I have learned how to use technology to create instruction based on best practices, theory, and design principles. My design classes have given me a sound basis from which to begin; a place to stand and take in the view. My theory classes have given me a place from which to reflect. There is so much more to designing instruction than knowing how to use the tools. I now take into consideration an audience that needs to be engaged, the clients that need feedback, the projects that need to be managed, the content that needs to be researched, and the data that needs to be collected and analyzed.
Each of my classes has contributed to my knowledge in a way that will be useful to me on the job. Though there remains so much more to learn. I am grateful to the dedicated people who took the time to teach me, and grateful for the ILT philosophy that students will orient themselves toward their own valid way of learning. I’ve gone from knowing how to get someplace simply because I have a good sense of direction, to knowing how to articulate a plan on how to get there, and create a map for others to use to choose their own destination.
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