Onwards and Upwards
Well, my MEd journey has come to a close and I have successfully completed what I had set out to do 18 months ago, which was to get to the next step. To quickly blow my own horn, I walked away with a 3.9 GPA, which I never imagined I could have accomplished. With 18 years of adult teaching experience under my belt I think I was a little overconfident with my Adult Education class, which is what dragged my GPA down from a 4.0. Oh well.
Initially, I thought my MEd would ensure that my ideas were taken more seriously, but ironically people now ask me for ideas and assume that I am right because I have a MEd. I can live with that. My MEd has also allowed me to change career paths from an in-class teacher to an e-Learning designer; a step that I have wanted to take for years but have never received any calls for interviews. I may not have been able to take this next step without this designation.
However, the newly gained credibility and respect has come at a cost. My supervisor often says, “No offence, but people with degrees always think they are better than me.” and always emphasizes “nothing personal.” I feel a sense of animosity between those with and those without higher degrees. I will be the first to agree with him that many people do feel they are better than those without. Many of my ESL teaching coworkers quickly brandished their Masters (sometimes in Science) to get their way in meetings. It was frustrating, and now the tables have turned; I do not intend to follow that practice. What I will do is guide my peers the way I have been guided to best educate learners.
As mentioned in my introduction, I had six key learning goals going in to the program. I feel that these goals have been met. I am confident in designing online teaching material, both in a LMS and in more interactive platforms, such as Adobe Captivate. I have a strong theoretical understanding of adult learning and apply this knowledge to my online courses while adhering to cognitive learning theory. Designing e-learning courses is a team effort, so my newfound knowledge of leadership and collaboration skills has helped me perform better in a team atmosphere.
For many years I have been asking myself how I could combine my passion for technology with education. The answer was with a MEd in distance education. Taking this program had paid off even before graduating. In my introduction I mentioned I didn’t know where my MEd would take me, but now I have an idea. It has taken me to a job that combines technology and education. I can apply my 20 years of teaching experience and passion for the profession and combine it with my love for technology to build exceptional e-Learning courses. My company expected at least two months to get a new course designer up to speed. Thanks to this program I was able to convert an existing in-class course to e-Learning in the first week, which was beyond their expectations.
I have a very strong background in education and technology but I am very weak in collaboration and in leadership, which is a personal area that I will continue to develop. The honeymoon stage at my new job is over, which is why I am always reflecting on what I had learned in MDDE 660 and 665. The time has come to put into practice what I have learned. I feel that my collaboration and leadership skills, or lack thereof, have always held me back from achieving my potential, but with my newly acquired knowledge this will surely improve.
My employer values lifelong learning and insists that all employees better themselves through education. I’ve always valued lifelong learning but have often said, “okay, that is it…no more courses…I am done.” However, I always come back for more. I have an opportunity to do some in-class teaching to maintain my teaching skills. I train coworkers on MS Word and I approach classes differently than my pre-program teaching. I learned from MDDE 665 and Adult Education that everyone brings something to the table, so I will get people to share what they know with others – I will not be the sage on stage. That is the extent of my education…I have no plans to pursue a Ph.D. (famous last words).
This is my last paragraph in my M.Ed. journey, which kind of brings a tear to my eye. What will I do with all my free time? Spend it with family of course, and ensure that my two young sons value education as much as I do and that they do not resent having to stay up late every night to finish papers or read articles. It was all fun…yes it was I keep telling myself. And I am grateful for those who helped me on my way. There were some exceptional instructors, too many to mention as most were stellar. They have raised my bar as an instructor. I thank my wife and two sons for their patience, guidance and motivation and thank my instructors at AU for their assistance in helping me achieve my potential.