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CINDERELLA:
How can you know what you want
Till you get what you want
And you see if you like it?
— Steven Sondheim, Into the Woods
About Me and Then Some
August 2011, I successfully graduated from the Master of Education in Educational Technology at University of Texas at Brownsville. I have been accepted in a doctoral program.
For the past 30+ years, I have been enmeshed in technology. Literally. It just happened. But I must like it. I'm compulsive about it.
I decided to look back and perhaps learn how my journey got me to - here. As a young girl, I was always drawn to uncharted territory. By the time I was 21, I had been around the world. Really. I couldn't see enough, experience enough, or get enough. By the time I was 30, I figured it was time to get serious about something. A college degree, husband, one kid, a professional career, years later, I'm here. I am the director of information technology at a two-year college. My son is entering his second year of college at UT Austin. And me - hopefully, I will successfully complete the Master of Education in Educational Technology (Master) August 2011. The e-portfolio is my last step in this particular educational journey. I have been accepted into a doctoral program, but that's another story.
Purpose
Reflection and application are two critical components of experiential learning. David Kolb, an American educational theorist, posits that knowledge is continuously gained through both personal and environmental experiences.1 Meaning I, the learner, get to apply what I'm learning as I move with and through the learning experience. More importantly, I learn, not just from structured educational processes, but from others in the same experiential learning space: my peers, professors, external subjects, experts, etc. If I do it right, my portfolio should demonstrate my personal, intellectual, scholarly and environmental experiences in both reflection and application. The purpose, of course, is to successfully complete the Master. The real benefit is that the electronic portfolio provides me a dynamic, digital space that represents my professional self. In general, electronic portfolios have become standard practice for academics, students and professionals to display personal skills, achievements and reflective blogs and wikis.
Learning Curve
While I consider myself an information technology expert, I experienced a steep learning curve at the beginning of the M.ED. Program. Prior to my work in higher education, I worked in information technology in the corporate setting. In higher education, I work in executive technology management, service and support. In my reflection paper, I detail the steps I took to prepare for higher-level learning. First big curve was scholarly writing and literature reviews; difficult task. I'm a prolific writer but not a scholarly writer. EDTI 6300 is the toughest course I have taken thus far. Another curve, working with public schoolteachers; my only experience was with my son's teachers, and he went to private schools. They (public school teachers) talk about subjects and issues for which I have no tools or education. Almost all courses required developing lesson plans for PK-12 classrooms. The teachers I met and worked with are true to their trade: they teach. I learned from them what I could not learn on my own or from the online course content.
Navigation
Hopefully, my portfolio is simple to navigate and read. The menu bar to the left of my picture lists the portfolio elements. Peruse at your leisure in the order you like. Note that this site is dynamic. Content will change from time to time. QuickTime may be required to view some course modules.
The site works well in Firefox, Safari, and IE 6 up. While I have several PBworks sites, I elected to pay a yearly fee for my eportfolio (this site) to take advantage of advanced features. I developed the PBworks site using Windows and MAC systems. I used Adobe CS4/5, Microsoft Office, ConceptDraw and several open source and shareware applications to publish my eportfolio.
The words on this site are mine or otherwise cited. You should be able to tell what words are which as you read. If you like what you read, use to help in your own creative works. If you believe that what you are taking and using should be cited, do it. Enjoy.
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