I am dedicated to lifelong learning, not out of necessity, but out of desire.  Some of my inspiration to continue learning arose out of people watching.  I never wanted to be that person who says, "I don’t understand that newfangled thingamajig". That person at work who refuses to learn about computers and those relatives who want to watch a movie but refuse to learn how to use the DVD player, have been part of my inspiration.  The rest of my inspiration comes from the fact that learning new things and overcoming challenges creates a sense of accomplishment and gives me purpose. Experience has taught me that things cannot remain the same and that the status quo is never good enough.  New ideas and new generations need to be acknowledged and appreciated.  Be it formal or informal,  “education leads to changes-changes in knowledge, changes in skills and competencies, changes in the way we communicate and understand each other, changes in our sense of self, and changes in our social world” (Cranton, 1996).  I want to be part of that change.  By continuing my education and always looking for innovative ideas, my ability to practice Physical Therapy and teaching excels. My role should be forever changing as I reflect and expand on the positive aspects of my work and try to eliminate the negatives by my willingness to learn from others.

As I reflect on my learning in the MAED program, I am amazed at how far I have progressed in the understanding of technology.  During my formative elementary school years, Texas Instruments had just developed a calculator that my math teachers saw as pure evil.  “How will kids learn to add and multiply if they use these gadgets?” was a common cry back in the seventies.  Calculators were banned from all tests.  Today, this backwards thinking seems crazy.  Being an older student who lacks formal computer training, I always say I’m comfortable with technology, but not very good.  Through this program my eyes were opened to see all the possibilities of technology.  By taking online classes,   I’m not afraid to ask for help and knowing the proper terminology, I ask for the right kind of help.  Future plans on learning include utilizing technology to increase communication among peers and increase my student’s family participation in their programming.  Along with that, I plan on doing research projects and using technology to collaborate online.  Learning technology will allow me to belong to professional groups online and work collaboratively through Skype, dropbox.com and google.docs, overcoming time and geographical limitations.  My greatest resource of new knowledge continues to be picking the brains of experts in my field, but I find it easier to connect with them through technology.

One of the most significant social and cultural influences in adult learning today is technology.   The easily accessible forms of communication and collaboration change the way we receive and share information.  Technology is not something I sought after, but I need to learn it to keep on top of today’s communications.  I learned technology informally and formally as some classes required technologically savvy projects.   “Within a short span of time, electronic, communication and information technologies have changed society as a whole and affected how people go about their daily lives (Merriam, 2007, p.17).”  In the future, my plans to continue learning about technology include expanding on my knowledge of creating videos and blogging, playing around with new programs and tapping into the human assets.  Online tutorials are another asset that has allowed my progression with technology by putting information is at my fingertips.  Looking at today’s society, the impact of technology is immense and I often see people struggling to keep all the old ways.  The video, Pay Attention, speaks to meeting students where they are at and engaging them through creative avenues as an alternative to old school ways.   The school at which I work has made great gains in utilizing technology to teach, share and explore.  Surprisingly, there are still some people who refuse to use computers.  Fads do come and go, but technology is used in everyday life and in every aspect of society and cannot be ignored.  It is in figuring out how to the balance technology so it will enhance the core content that is the challenge for me as an educator and trainer. ​

Learning how to learn is one of the most important aspects of education.  I had to try, then fail, ask questions and finally master the skills, using the support offered to me along the way.  In this way, using technology has changed my image of myself as a learner.  I have new confidence that I can accomplish great things.  This confidence helps me as a therapist, trainer, mentor and researcher.  I believe that for the present, achieving my MAED is an ending point of formal education but it is in no way the end of my learning.  I have plans for continued education through conferences and through mentoring and training.  Skills learned from this program may not be put to use by me today, but in the future they may be relevant.  Learning is rarely a straight line with a beginning and end. "As ​Dewey has argued, things often happen all at once, elements are jumped, matters need not move in a 'logical' order …something much more fuzzy and less linear than this - a model [of learning] which allows for zig-zagging movements, and for interaction and accumulation. (Smith 2001).”  This is how I view my learning- continuous and zig-zagging.  The MAED program has pushed me out of my comfort zone.  Writing was not a critical part of obtaining my degree in Physical Therapy school since the programming was heavily science based.   This program assessed my new knowledge through extensive writing and although I had a lot to learn, I enjoyed the process of expressing myself in this new way.

To further emphasize the importance of continued learning, I wanted to share my experience with participating in the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI) during my MAED classes.  Taking the TPI on several occasions, I noticed that my scores changed every time.  Usually I took the inventory at the beginning of a class.  Before a class, my score reflected dominance on only the apprenticeship aspect and then midway through a course or at the end of the course my scores increased on transmission, developmental and nurturing aspects of teaching.  It is difficult to say whether I changed drastically or if the change came from the impact of what I am learning.  I would wager to say the change came from new learning.  After reading a great article or discussing a stimulating topic within a course, the new knowledge ignites new awareness of all of the things that I need to consider in my teaching.  That brings home the point that one should never quit learning because it makes you dull and uninteresting.   I enjoy learning from others and believe that it is a sign of maturity in a teacher to feel secure enough to listen to other perspectives and learning new ideas from your students as you teach them.  Many of the classes that I have taken have taught me how to design a learning program that encourages discussion and reflection.  It is the discussion that opens our minds to other perspectives and the reflection that allows new ideas to formulate.  I do dare to teach and I do desire to continue my journey of lifelong learning.

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