Reflect, Refine, Respond
Introduction
Michigan State University’s Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) has helped prepare me for an ever-changing world filled with new technologies. As I reflect on my experiences in this program, I first begin to think about why I did this in the first place. Was it to become a better teacher? Was it to incorporate more technology in my classroom? Was to change people’s perspective on my hobby, video games? Was it to gain new perspective from my peers about the state of our education system? In short, yes; all of these are things I have learned throughout my time in MAET. However, I want to share with you the classes that have left on me the most profound impacts and have transformed me into a true Master of Educational Technology.
Learning Experiences, Not Mistakes
One of the first classes I took towards my graduate serious games certificate, MI 830, was my favorite class throughout the entirety of the MAET program. As a social studies teacher, I always encourage my students to look at history from multiple perspectives or through different lenses. MI 830 provided me a different lens in the gaming making experience: understanding users. Although simple in concept, the premise of this class was to design a product, be it a game or technology, intended to solve an existing problem.
For my first product, I wanted to design an app that helped show the application of math during live sports. As a former math teacher, I know the difficulties that my colleagues in the math department face as a subject that is very polarizing. Hoping to aid them in their efforts, my app was going to show how interesting math was. That was the plan. What I discovered in my observations was how terrible my idea was. However, this “failure” led to a new and even better idea. Putting my teacher hat back on, I saw a new opportunity to create a product that helps explain football to an observer who doesn’t understand the sport. This product led to a meaningful goal that I wanted to solve: helping others experience the same enjoyment I had watching this sport.
When I reported back on my observation, I initially started by saying how terrible my first idea was. Dr. Carrie Heeter stopped me mid-sentence and instead reshaped my perspective on the scenario. She said, “Nick, based on your findings, you might have just saved your company thousands of dollars in unnecessary product development and research.” This idea has stuck with me beyond this class. It’s a very simple life lesson that I often relearn time and again, but a profound one nonetheless: learning experiences, not mistakes. By no means did I ever fail, my goal simply changed.
As I continue my journey as an educational resource designer, I may have to change my goals. Maybe videogames aren’t the media that will be most effective; that opens the doors to board games. If not board games, then something else will help. By finding meaning in our goals, we learn of our true intentions. While I wanted to design a resource intended to make math more exciting, I instead found a way to make a sport I thoroughly enjoy more approachable to those new to it. This very much embodies my philosophy as a teacher trying to make my subject matter more approachable to my students.
Technological Leader
The next course that profoundly impacted me was CEP 815. As I conducted my research about educational technologies, one thing has stuck with me throughout this experience. If teachers have trouble using the technologies we recommend or they don’t see their benefits, these resources will continue going unused. As a strong proponent of educational video games, this harkens back to the idea of knowing one’s audience when designing a product. My market is both students and teachers; the students cannot get the resource if their teachers do not provide them. I need to make games that not only help students grasp concepts better but provide teachers valuable feedback and cover academic standards.
"This is not a math game.
This is a glorified worksheet at best."
My research largely focused on educational video games and why they aren’t as popular in the classroom. One of the rationales was that educational games fail at one or both parts of that: education or gaming. Many of the educational games I played growing up had some learning components to them, but many of them severely lacked in one area or another. Websites like mathgames.com drive me nuts as they hide fun gameplay behind learning walls further polarizing their audiences of both teachers and students. Similarly, there are websites that make very entertaining games but lack severely in the educating component. The gameplay and the content learned are drastically different resulting in lost meaning; what even is this game?
This is where I come in. In CEP 815, I learned how to be a technology leader by providing advice and feedback to a first year MAET student. I discussed with them the technology they planned to use in a lesson, I observed them use said technology, and debriefed about the experience. I took on a new role as the tech expert coaching teachers in their implementation of technology. I am the middleman between the tech company introducing their product and the teachers it is designed for. This validates my career goals as I want to be the middleman between two industries: education and gaming. Until there is collaboration between these entities, educational games will continue to fail for two main reasons.
First, a lack of collaboration will result in mediocre products like the above image. This is not to say that the occasional diamond in the rough can’t emerge, but it makes the possibility less likely. Teachers’ roles and responsibilities are ever increasing in the world we live, yet their voices are too often ignored. By collaborating with teachers, gaming companies can create meaningful experiences that teachers want to use. Partnerships like these embody the relationships teachers develop with their students year in year out. Second, teachers don’t quite understand the how to gamify their classrooms. I am guilty of defaulting to Jeopardy when it comes time to review for a test, but what if the students don’t care? The contestants on Jeopardy have buy in because there is real money at stake and they actively choose to be there. What about the students who either don’t want to be at school or know they are going up against the class know-it-all? Gamification takes careful planning and understanding of one’s audience. By collaborating with their gaming counterparts, educators can create gaming experience that meet the needs of all their students.
Modernizing Our Education
The final class I want to tell you about is TE 802. My student teaching internship was incredibly difficult. From a mentor who didn’t provide any feedback to learning the ropes as a new teacher, I all but gave up on my dream of becoming a teacher. However, TE 802 was the class that renewed my spirits every week and gave me the motivation to fight back against all the obstacles in my way. Every week, we had a new topic to discuss. Whether it was what type of world map we use in our classroom to why do we call ourselves Americans to difficult political matters, this class kept opening my eyes to new concepts and perspectives. The greatest skills that we as educators have is our ability to adapt. When we hear a new idea, we try it out for ourselves. When things don’t go according to plan, we improvise. When we are sick of the mundane, we take risks to engage our students.
One such case of this came when I was encouraged to use pop culture in my classroom. Being out of touch with what was popular, I created a rap battle project for my students. At first, my students groaned, some even said there was no chance they were doing it. When the day came to present their projects, it took a lot of coaxing to get started but when we did WOW. Some of my students were incredibly gifted with their lyrical skills. Once all their presentations were done, I decided to share with them my own rap. My students were in disbelief about my rhyming abilities. As you can imagine, this is a lesson I still use in my classroom to this very day. There are simple steps I take everyday to modernize my classroom for my students.
On the first day of school, I tell my students that I am a gamer. To some this might seem insignificant, to others this is a very BIG deal. From there, I usually get asked for my gamertag, which I politely decline sharing, and what games I like to play. I reinforce this idea by playing music from some of my/their favorite games during classwork time. I never forget when they start working, briefly stop writing, look at me confused, and say, “Is this Minecraft music?” as I smirk at my desk. To them, this is a teacher who understands what they enjoy doing outside of school; I don’t want to just get to know you the student, but you the person. The day before Christmas break, I bring in Mario Kart and provide them an opportunity to challenge me to a race; I’ve won 31 straight races, but who’s counting? I can’t keep up with every trend that happens in pop culture, so I choose to keep up with gaming culture.
In addition, I use technologies my students appreciate. I am a strong proponent of using YouTube, videos, and games in my classroom. I pick my resources carefully to ensure that they meet the needs of my students and their learning objectives. I was the first teacher in my building to utilize the website iCivics in my classroom. I have my students journey the Oregon Trail on the old MECC game from the early 90s. Not only do I share these resources with my students, but I always share these with my colleagues. Sometimes, I even go so far as to make my own games like the Pioneer Simulation; check it out in my professional showcase.
Conclusion
The philosophies I learned throughout the MAET program will stick with me the rest of my professional career. Learning opportunities, technological advancements, and modernization are all very general topics but so too is technology. As masters of Educational Technology, we play a very pivotal role in the years to come. The ways we implement technology today, in our classrooms or companies, will influence how we go about our daily lives. I had an agenda when I entered this program: to become an educational game developer. However, the thing I will come to most appreciate about MAET is how it allowed me to keep on my hats as both an educator and game developer. As I have reiterated countless times, I want to be the missing link in the chain. Education and gaming are two of my biggest passions; why wouldn’t I want to combine them together? Gaming and education struggle from an unwillingness to embrace each other. These are competing entities, but they have the chance to be complementary.
So, let’s return to the question I asked at the beginning. Why did I choose to get a Master of Arts in Educational Technology? I want to be the technological leader education needs. I want to modernize the education system I love with the technologies needed to help its students thrive. Most of all, I want students to have exciting learning opportunities that challenge and engage them. That’s why I want to be a Master of Educational Technology and why I am so proud to have this degree.