Laura Coughlin

Where was I before this program?

I became interested in including instructional technology as a major part of my teaching in the summer of 2011 after attending EdWeek SJSD, an instructional technology focused week of professional development put on by my school district. I had just completed my first year of teaching (a second career for me) and was thinking about beginning coursework toward my Masters. I began researching programs and was particularly drawn to the Information Science and Learning Technologies degree with an emphasis in Technology in Schools because of the fast-track option, which has allowed me to complete the program in just one year. Some people in my life thought I was crazy as a working mother of two small children to undertake what was essentially a double-time Masters degree program, but I have always been someone people describe as “intense” when it comes to school, so this intensive degree program and I have gotten along just fine. When I entered the program, instructional technology was something I was interested in mostly because I personally found it entertaining, but what I have discovered through my coursework is that while I was right about it being fun, instructional technology can also be a tremendously powerful tool for learning.

What have I learned?

Before this program I had never considered what wonderful benefits instructional technology holds for those whose life situations make traditional schooling difficult. My coursework has opened my mind to consider not only the ideas of using technology more effectively in my brick and mortar classroom, but also to the fact that totally online education is out there, and for some students it is the best option. One of the most personally powerful projects I completed in my coursework was the creation of the lesson plan and slide presentation for me to deliver a live, interactive, online lesson via Blackboard Collaborate. For the purposes of the course, I delivered my lesson to my adult classmates, but I was truly able to envision the possibilities of live online instruction for middle and high school students who have physical impairments that make traveling back and forth to school difficult, and also those students who live in remote areas of the world where traveling to school daily is time and resource prohibitive.

I teach middle school communication arts, and the students I have in class are a new generation of learners. They are 12 – 14 year olds who exist in a world where internet access is just another household utility and Facebook has been around since kindergarten. They live online, and in my coursework I have learned that I can use technology to harness their desire to have a constant online presence. Using web 2.0 tools I can create assessments that give my students an instant relevant audience by giving their work a place to exist online. One of the most successful applications of this idea in my classroom came at the end of the 2011-2012 school year, when I asked my students to essentially create an online book report. Students chose many different tools to create their reports, from Storybird to WiX, but what each student had in common was their increased engagement with the activity because they knew that when they were finished they would have a world-wide audience. This is a motivation only instructional technology can create.

As a communication arts teacher, one of my passions is encouraging writing as a key component to all subjects across the curriculum. During my coursework I have discovered lots of opportunities for technology to aid in encouraging writing across the curriculum. Today’s middle school student is more often than not attracted to the visual components of learning. Videos are powerful tools for this age of student. With the technology available in many classrooms today, videos can be almost seamlessly integrated into daily lessons. A content-specific video followed by a brief writing prompt can be a fantastic way to both grab the students’ interest and encourage writing.

What difference does this make in my work?

The impact of my coursework on my educational career has been two-fold. Firstly, it has expanded my view of technology and the possibilities it holds for the future of education. While I began this program with a general interest in instructional technology, over the past 12 months of intensive study of the ideas and practices of this fast-expanding field what at first seemed like interesting ideas began to feel more like crucial skills for teaching the upcoming generation of learners who not only feel comfortable with current technology, but will grow to adulthood in a world where frequent adaptation to the constant evolution of technology will be a life skill – a life skill that I now feel I hold some obligation to teach them. Secondly, as my colleagues noticed my increased use of technology in my classroom, I have slowly become a technology leader in my school. Teachers come to me when they can’t get their technology to function the way they want, but they also come to me when they have ideas for using technology in a lesson but aren’t quite sure how to implement them. I am enjoying this new niche, and can see the possibility that my future might include a role where I focus less on my own classroom and more on the classrooms of an entire building or district. My Information Science and Learning Technologies degree with an emphasis in Technology in Schools has given me the confidence to be a technology leader.

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