Reflection
Overview
After getting my Bachelor’s of Science Degree at Auburn University in Early Childhood Education, I knew I had to make a decision to continue with my education and get my master’s degree or go directly into teaching. As I thought about the internship opportunities I had while working toward by bachelor’s degree, I was reminded how large of a role technology plays in the classroom. Throughout my classroom related experiences at six different schools, technology in learning was a key theme. It was very evident to me how key technology has become in the overall learning environment and possessing the skills to facilitate technology is critical. After considering my options, I decided to pursue a Master’s Degree in Learning, Design and Technology (LDT) at the University of Georgia and apply to the Instructional Design and Development (IDD) Emphasis Area.
It was a decision that I did not take lightly. Though I was focused on the education side of things, my father encouraged me to also think about the business aspects of the LDT program. That was the beauty of the curriculum at the University of Georgia. It gave me the ability to pursue my interest in both the education and business aspects of technology and learning.
In the middle of my program, I was offered a full-time teaching position in the Gwinnett County school system. Though it brought several scheduling challenges juggling work and school, I can look back now and see the benefits that each brought to my studies and career. There were school projects that flowed nicely into my education curriculum and then there were always things or new tools I was learning that helped me in the classroom.
Themes
Throughout the program, we focused on using the ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation) model for our projects. When I began this program, I wanted to learn how to design and develop programs for both a business setting and a classroom setting. I also wanted to develop the skills to develop and build a website. I think that throughout the program I focused a lot on design and development. For design, my goal was to design programs that would keep learners engaged and learn the basic concepts about design. I worked hard to design programs that were interactive thereby keeping the learner engaged. For development, my goal was to learn the basics to build programs and websites. The studio classes proved valuable for building my development skills. I spent a lot of time exploring various programs related to development and learning how I to use them to build my projects.
Professional Networking
I had the opportunity to attend the first ever Instructional Design and Development conference at the University of Georgia Gwinnett Campus during the fall of 2014. While at the conference, I had the opportunity to network with other educational cohorts as well as people from the business community. This was a great opportunity to meet people who had been through the program and to hear about their experiences and the opportunities that opened up for them after completing the program. It was here that I had the opportunity to meet Kathy Brew with the Gwinnett County School System. She eventually became a client of ours for one of our group projects. It was great to speak with her and learn about the opportunities within the educational setting ahead once I had completed the program.