Scott Hudson

As I reflect upon my time completing my Master’s in Educational Technology, I look back with great satisfaction.  I have met most of my goals including using technology to help provide differentiated instruction,  to increase my knowledge of mathematics, and to help colleagues to improve their skills using technology, and I have been able to add new career goals.

 

Prior to taking courses to complete my Master’s, I was a traditional teacher.  I used direct instruction to teach my students.  Much of a typical period was spent lecturing, walking around the  room, and disciplining students.  There was little differentiation, and my students had very little ownership of their learning.  One of the main reasons for working to obtain a Master’s in Educational Technology was to help solve those problems, and a major goal was to learn about technological tools so I could be a more complete teacher and provide more opportunities  for students to learn.  Without question, the courses I took helped me reach that goal. 

 

I expected the courses to be all about technology.  I was hopeful to learn about interactive whiteboards, graphing calculators, and networking, but the courses did not directly teach me about those topics.  However,  I have learned how to use all of those tools, and I credit my instructors and the technology I have worked on for giving me the confidence to have success working with interactive whiteboards and graphing calculators.  In fact, I have successfully designed lesson plans using both the tools I learned in courses as well as SmartBoards, Promethean boards, and a variety of  calculators.

 

Another goal I had was to be a leader in education.  I have started heading in that direction as I have worked with several of my colleagues to help them expand their use of technology and to increase differentiation in classroom.  In fact, a new career goal of mine is to become a district technology coordinator or a blended learning coach where I work with teachers to help them improve their technological skills.