I’m comfortable with technology, and I think I always have been. Reflecting on my previous experiences, it is pretty easy to see that my life has been focused along a path of tech integration, even before I knew that is what it was called. Adapting, learning and using technology has always come easy. The personal computer evolved during my formative years. Our family’s first computer was the VIC 20, named for the 20 characters that filled a horizontal line on the screen. It was hooked up to a data drive that used tape cassettes. You found programs by using the tape counter, and literally fast-forwarding or rewinding. We moved from that to a Commodore 64, where the computer was contained inside the keyboard. It contained a whopping 64k of memory, which was more than we knew what to do with. At school, the first Apples were being installed, where I learned how to program in BASIC. Fast forward to college where I had a PC but convinced my folks I needed a Mac LC. I used it to pick up freelance graphic design projects: programs for college plays, flyers for bands in coffee shops. Perhaps my theatre background / degree really set me up best for a lifetime of experimenting, learning, and playing with new technology. A theatre technician at heart, I spent the bulk of my college years learning how to problem solve, improvise, collaborate, and learn on the fly. 
After graduating from Concordia, I found myself in a printing house doing quick turnaround graphic design again on Macs (with a double major in theatre and marketing). I built up my portfolio until I got a job in a graphic design and marketing department, a job I loved (where I was actually paid to work in Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark XPress and all sorts of component toys) until I eventually returned to school for a teaching degree. I supported myself through that second bachelor’s by working as tech support for the Bemidji State Education Dept. professors. Basically, I taught them how to use technology, served as their help desk, helped set up the ed dept. student lab, kept their Mac server running and designed their webpage. I had no idea what I was doing, honestly, but always figured it out before I was called on to know it. In my first teaching job in Pequot Lakes, I immediately befriended the tech guys, who returned the favor by letting me play with all the newest gadgets. I set up a secure login system for their Mac Lab and taught the tech guys how to play around with OSX. I knew just enough to be dangerous.
I’ve always had a knack for picking up tech skills quickly, intuitively. One of my personality traits is an ability to stick with a problem and see it through. In fact, I’m an introverted tinkerer, which makes learning new technologies and finding classroom applications a rewarding experience for me. When I write a script or design a form that works well as a rubric, and figure out how to mail merge it for students, and I show it to colleagues, I find myself never really being truthful when they ask how long something took. Sometimes, I honestly don’t know because I lost track of time. Sometimes, it took a matter of minutes, and sometimes, well, it took longer, but the end result was worth it.
Today, I’m known as an “early adopter.” I love playing with new apps and finding ways to incorporate technology with my students. I feel confident that I could use, implement or teach just about anything that is a Web 2.0 app. I find myself running through lists of apps I use regularly, thinking of new ways to make use of those apps or students who would benefit from a particular feature. And I’m comfortable leading workshops for my colleagues or my students. Last semester I had the opportunity to create and teach an English elective called Digital and Media Literacy. Some days worked better than others. Some days the technology failed us. And some days I realized that I’d under or over-estimated what my students needed. But every day was an adventure, and a fantastic one at that. I used the MN Language Arts Standards, but I really based the class on the ISTE NETS-Students Standards. My proudest moment was the day I gave them a project, but left them to figure out which tool they could or should use, and how they could meet the challenge of the assignment. Every student used the skills we've been working on in class to select a tool and communicate their ideas effectively. By the end of our semester, they could talk about Creative Commons, fair use and copyright, they could create basic movies, they’d used mind-mapping, presentation, audio, video and screencasting software, and they could figure out which tool was the best one for the job. We celebrated the end of the semester with a demo slam where each student went out and found a new tool to demo and present to the class. It was a fantastic experience.
My past experiences have completely shaped my views on technology integration. I’ve seen technology as a tool, as a way to be creative, and as a way to improve processes and system from an early age. My most recent experiences, including my first semester in the MSUM MSET program where we were driven to learn new apps, teach each other, consider the 4C’s of the 21st century classroom and work through the ISTE NETS-Standards, have greatly influenced my understanding of tech integration.
Are there areas I need to improve? Absolutely. I need to write more concisely. I need to make sure that I’m anticipating the experience and readiness of my learners. I need to remember that everyone doesn’t come to technology quite so easily. And I definitely am always working to better articulate the objectives for my lesson before I even consider what technology tool might be most effective. One of the biggest epiphanies I’ve had this year is that when I am better about stating objectives, clearly relating them to the lesson, and clearly articulating them, my students do better. I am still a work in progress, for sure. My technology skills are pretty solid, although I am always learning and improving there, too. But I am always looking to grow my teaching skills.
Also, as far as technology specific skills go, I know that I need to branch out further. I’m solid in the Google world, but am not native-comfortable on Apple products (iPads, iPhones, Macs). Also, I’m not comfortable on many purchased apps. Our school went Google 4 years ago, and I had already ditched Microsoft Office for Open Office then. So my Microsoft skills are lacking. Also, I have very little knowledge of the backbone stuff, like programming, coding, or how networks function. There is so much to learn, and so little time!
One goal for myself is to continue to grow. I want to better manage my time so that I’m taking care of all things academic, all things professional, balancing family / play / rejuvenation and work time. By the time this class is completed, I would like to know how to better help my colleagues integrate technology into their own classrooms, and I’d like to have several lesson plans developed to offer in my main stream classes. And, I’d like to master some app that I have yet to discover. I’d also like to prepare 2-3 workshops that I could share with colleagues either in my own district or at a statewide conference. I’d also like to continue to develop my professional portfolio, begun last semester in KSP 689.
Here's just a little bit about where I've been, and where I want to go.
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