Lauren K. Zebula
Learning in an Ever-Changing World
By Lauren Zebula
As I come to the close of this program and, at least for now, my formal education, I have begun to think about how I will continue to be a life-long learner. I enjoy learning and I intend to continue to do so in a variety of ways. First, there are many sessions, conferences, and even courses offered by my school district. Just this year I enrolled in a course on exceptional children which taught me more about special education, the acronyms, diagnoses and teaching techniques. I also plan to continue to seek out resources, information, and lessons on my own using the methods and websites I’ve discovered as a result of this program. Finally, both in my career and also in my everyday life, using heuristics for learning to help me learn to do just about anything, while it seems simple, is such a useful skill.
While these are the ways in which I intend to continue to grow as a teacher and a person, this program has also led me to see how I can continue to incorporate more technology into my classroom and even think about online teaching in the future. My current school is already beginning to make big shifts in how they teach students through programs like a county-wide virtual school, a new bring your own device policy, and through teaching methods like the flipping the classroom. I see myself getting involved in more committee work to help advance our school while sharing ad learning from colleagues. The combination of my love for learning and my experience in the online MAED program has led to me see my future as a learner as one in which I become a better teacher and teach my students to become better learners, all through which technology will play a central role. As I mentioned earlier, there are so many things in our everyday lives today that we couldn’t have even imagined ten or even five years ago, making the future hard to plan for. There’s really only one way that I can prepare myself and my students for this uncertain future and that is to use this passion that I have and the skills that I’ve acquired to help me, and ultimately my students, continue to learn and advance in this ever-changing world.
El Dia de los Muertos Lesson, 2012
As I look towards the future, it’s hard to say what exactly it will bring. I know where I am today, as a teacher, as a learner, as a wife and as a person. I also have goals and dreams for the future in these various areas of my life, though we never know where life will truly take us.
Technology has, and continues to, revolutionize just about every aspect of our lives. This is part of the reason that our future can be so unpredictable. Who would have thought even a decade ago that we’d have such an immense amount of technology and access to information in the palms of our hands? Even five years ago, while online degree programs were available, I didn’t know how exactly these programs even worked or if they’d ever fit my learning style. Our world is ever-changing, and teaching and learning are no exception. As a teacher, it is important to me that I continue to grow in my profession and most importantly, to find new and better ways in which to reach my students. The only way to become a better educator, and in larger part a better person, is through ensuring that I am a life-long learner.
My experience in the Master of Arts in Education program through Michigan State University has opened my eyes not only to a wide variety of knowledge, issues and techniques in education, but maybe even more importantly, to a whole new way of discovering, learning and teaching. I discovered how I could interact with other learners to engage in thoughtful discussions, create meaningful projects, and discuss significant issues. I learned to seek out information and research on the internet using tools like Google Scholar and the MSU electronic library, something I’d previously used only an actual library for. I realized the importance of looking to forums and tutorials when using new technologies like web authoring software, Prezi or Glogster. I discovered the immense amount of resources available on teaching and leadership, ranging from webinars to online courses to traditional books available in PDF form. While my program focused on school leadership, there was surely no shortage of technology, especially since it was delivered in an entirely online format. While I already considered myself to be tech savvy, this program opened to my eyes to how I can use it to teach, learn and help my students to learn.