Doctorate in Educational Technology- My Journey Pt. 1

EdD, Educational Technology

If someone were to ask me if I were interested in earning my doctorate a little more than a year ago, I would have responded in a resounding no. I already had preconceived notions about graduate work let alone advanced graduate work. My masters was a program that was fairly rigorous, so I made the assumption that a doctorate would be just as rigorous if not more. So, what was the reason that led me to climb up the mountain?

My hope is that once I am finished with this process I will be a competitive applicant for a leadership position in my district or that I find opportunities to teach in higher education. I am hoping for these doors to open much later in my career because there is still room to grow in my current position as a digital learning coach. Recently, I was able to earn the Google for Education Trainer Certification. This process involves first earning level one and two, passing a total of three exams and an extensive application process that includes a video demonstrating how you innovatively use an app to transform learning. Now that this process is complete, I feel a deep sense of accomplishment, and confidence that I have demonstrated mastery of the skills necessary to be sanctioned by Google to conduct training in my district and in others as well.

Infographic: eLearning

I choose to pursue a doctorate in educational technology because I am passionate about good teaching. I have dedicated my life for the past 15 years to be the best I can be for my students and now for the teachers I work with. Being an effective teacher in today's classroom also means being an  effective facilitator with the ability to leverage, and seamlessly integrate educational technology. When I bought my own iPad and brought it to my class for my kids and I to use, the engagement level was off the charts! At that moment, I knew that I wanted to harness the power of technology to create an environment that tapped the innovation and creativity of my students s they could demonstrate their mastery and express their thinking in a variety of ways. I will eventually seek to lead decision makers and stakeholders to continue to garner more technology for our students and support teachers in every way possible to integrate it effectively into the curriculum throughout all content areas and grade levels.

Graphic Representation of my Professional Learning Network

The program that I decided to enroll in is an educational doctorate which is designed for those that wish to continue to be a practitioner rather than a researcher. This program in educational technology will prepare graduates to lead, research, and to design systems of integration, implementation, and program evaluation within a program, organization, district, or institution.

I began the climb up my mountain in May of 2016. I am currently one year into the journey and I have four courses to go before I can begin research. I anticipate that research should take another year  or so and then I can graduate in the spring of 2019 if everything goes well. The following are the notable and tentative decisions I have made so far in anticipation of the research I will do.

Topic: The pivotal moment of inspiration for teachers to fully integrate educational technology.

Research method: Qualitative field research using interview.

Conceptual framework: Constructivism

Here is an example of a multimedia project that I created in one of my classes. It culumnated from all the modules in the couse put together. It took a lot of time and effort, but I am very proud of it.