Master of Arts in Education - Annotated Transcript

Courses by Semester and Year

Fall 2010

CEP 816: Teaching & Learning Across the Curriculum

Spring 2011

TE 831: Teaching School Subject Matter with Technology

Summer 2012

CEP 820: Teaching K-12 Students On-Line
TE 846: Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners
TE 838: Children's Literature in Film
THR 894: Special Projects in Theatre
The timeline on my Learning Page and this list of courses provide a chronological history of my master's program focused in Technology and Learning, and a brief description of each course and the key concepts explored.

Fall 2013

CEP 818: Creativity in Teaching & Learning

Spring 2013

CEP 813: Electronic Portfolios for Teaching & Learning

Summer 2014

ED 800: Concepts of Educational Inquiry
ED 870: Capstone Seminar

Annotated Transcript

CEP 816  - Teaching & Learning Across the Curriculum

Instructor: Rand Spiro
This course was the first time I was introduced to the TPACK (Mishra & Koehler, 2009) model of teaching with technology, and it really caused me to think seriously about how the influx of technology will revolutionize education in the decades to come.  In this course, I explored a variety of Web 2.0 and Open Source Education tools with a new focus on including them into instruction with greater clarity of purpose. Having been out of the classroom for a number of years, this course helped me to re-introduce myself to the body of research growing in support of new educational paradigms which support collaborative learning, hands-on immersion into curricular subject matter, and a renewed vision of how to design instruction that will prepare students in the 21st Century.

TE 831 -  Teaching School Subject Matter with Technology

Instructor:  Erik Byker
TE 831 introduced me to many more open-source, valuable educational tools that are available for use in teaching and learning in a Web 2.0 environment.  In addition to exploring TPACK (Mishra & Koehler, 2009) in greater depth, this class focused on the use of various tech tools, and their potential for application in the classroom within the context of various subjects. Through application-based assignments, I was able to design instructional units and lessons with well-chosen technology, including the use of tools such as Wordle, Glogster, Voicethread and Wikipaces.  Since this course was not only administered entirely through Wikispaces, and I because I chose it for designing an instructional unit, I became very skilled in using Wikispaces as a platform for extending lessons beyond the classroom, and for creating an authentic place for students to publish, share and edit their own content and that of their peers.

CEP 820 -  Teaching K-12 Students On-Line

Instructors:  Anne Heintz, Leigh Wolf
This course in designing curriculum and instruction in a totally on-line environment pushed my thinking beyond that of blended learning environments, and caused me to examine more deeply the advantages and disadvantages of face-to-face, hybrid, and online learning.  Included in the topics explore were critical analysis of a variety of content management systems, along with reading and assignments to explore assessments in a variety of forms.  Although designing instruction for online learning presents a unique set of demands, this course allowed me to advance my skill in web publishing and curricular design both in terms of content and structure. Organizing course materials and designing lessons in a completely online environment requires a deep knowledge of the content and the students themselves.  From building this course, I became more equipped to present professional-looking web content which focuses on user accessibility, engagement and the development of tutorials and resources in support of learning.

THR 894 -  Special Projects in Theatre

Instructors:  Kirk Domer, Alison Dobbins
Working with Kirk Domer and Alison Dobbins in the MSU Department of Theatre, I developed a professional development workshop for educators exploring digital technology and play in the classroom.  This cooperative project was started after I attended the 2011 Conference (Media Theatre Performance Laboratory), and began working with faculty on the 2012 Conference.  Through this collaborative project, I designed two days of presentations and workshop materials to highlight and explore a variety of uses for digital play in the 21st Century Classroom.  Topics explored included:  the power of storytelling, digital images, video and audio media integration, and exploring the art of play within a variety of classroom subjects and content areas.

TE 846 -  Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners

Instructor:  Paul Crutcher
TE 846 allowed me to research various approaches and techniques for literacy instruction, and to engage in a focused research case study with a high school sophomore struggling with literacy issues. Using a variety of instructional approaches at varying levels of understanding, this application research study gave me valuable insight about how to isolate reading skills within the context of daily instruction, and how to scaffold instructional supports accordingly in order to meet the needs of each student. Course themes included detailed analysis of tiered intervention strategies, and I was able to incorporate phonemic, word-level strategies with higher-level analysis throughout five units of instruction.  Case study results indicated large growth in student achievement in both oral reading and reading comprehension based upon a variety of diagnostic, formative and summative assessments use before, during and after instruction.  

TE 838 -  Children's Literature in Film

Instructor:  Laura Apol
TE 838, a critical analysis of many of my favorite children's books and films was an eye-opening experience in thinking about the stories we tell our youth and the power that they have to shape minds, cultures, and whole societies.  Although I enjoyed this opportunity to re-read some classics, what I found most startling was the repetition of societal norms which seek to perpetuate antiquated notions regarding identity, the human condition, and most important, the search for self which happens during adolescence.  Equally as jarring was the body of research included in course readings regarding copyright, trademark, and the legalities of the world of publishing. In composing my final essay for this course, I was able to weave together details from all the works of literature, films and many critical analysis texts together with clarity, showing how the canon of children's literature is not only art imitating life but the converse as well.

CEP 813 -  Electronic Portfolios for Teaching & Learning

Instructor:  Patrick Dickson
Although I had limited web-publishing experience, this course in creating an electronic portfolio helped me become a webmaster, and allowed me to create a web portfolio that I could use both as a professional, and also as a classroom website for parents, students and others interested in my work.  The most challenging aspect of this class was finding a platform that would work both as a professional and personal showcase for my work and that of my students. This course helped me understand the important of a clean design aesthetic, strong organization and structure, and helped me to focus on developing content that would be meaningful and useful for parents, students and other education professionals.  Designed to help students expand their thinking and creativity about the portfolio concept and its potential for use in the classroom, this course really allowed me to expand my thoughts about my own portfolio, and provided me with valuable knowledge that I have used with students in developing their own portfolios in print or digital form.

CEP 818 -  Creativity in Teaching & Learning

Instructors:  Punya Mishra,  Jon Good
CEP 818 was an opportunity to explore two of my favorite passions--teaching and creativity! This course designed and taught by Punya Mishra focuses on the "Thirteen Thinking Tools" (Root-Bernstein, 2010) of creativity and distills them further into seven tools for thinking creatively.  In exploring these tools, I was able to gain insight into my own creative process, and that of my students.  I found the book written by Root-Bernstein to be fascinating in the way in which it correlates concepts to one another and reframes the thinking tools across content areas and disciplines.  In my synthesis essay, I used the choreographic process as a lens for analysis of the tools themselves, showing how they are related and connected within my artistic discipline.  Whether designing a costume, or creating patterns for choreography formations, the seven tools for thinking creatively will stay with me as I continue to develop as a teacher and an artist.

ED 800 -  Concepts of Educational Inquiry

Instructor:  Steve Wieland
ED 800 explores the very foundation of public education, and the policies or fundamental ideologies which support the notion that education is the single most empowering institution in the modern era.  While exploring the history of educational policy, thought, and reform initiatives, I found myself returning to the same passionate ideas which spawned my desire to become a teacher.  In thinking about various forms of inquiry and educational research, it is clear that the research must drive any effort to improve the quality of education across our nation. Looking at the history of inquiry provides a perspective that is needed to move forward, and this course has reminded me of the importance of formative and summative assessments in designing instruction; and using data-driven research in the reform of educational paradigms and systems.

ED 870 -  Capstone Seminar

Instructor:  Matthew Koehler
The Capstone Seminar course focuses on using the web portfolio in a valuable and meaningful way as a professional educator.  Course themes encourage the careful analysis of a variety of web-hosting platforms, and a variety of methods for using a web portfolio both for the classroom and as a way of assimilating the best work from my Master's program in Education. Working on my web portfolio and expanding it to include more artifacts and evidence of work from my program was an insightful design process that allowed me to clearly articulate not only what I think is my most important work, but also to repurpose my portfolio to include a broader audience.  Focusing on organization and synthesis gave me a landscape perspective of all that I have learned and the dynamic ways in which I have grown professionally during my coursework and throughout my career in general. Through expanding my portfolio, I can also see many potential ways in which the portfolio (web or other) could be a meaningful way for students to synthesize their learning.

Master of Arts in Education Links