Coming out of my bachelor study and into the teaching world as a freshly graduated teacher, I was met with a global pandemic. Experiencing the chaos of switching from teaching in a physical classroom to an online learning environment during my final internship was a wake up call for me. I had always thought that technology was well integrated into the classroom and learning setting. However, I have experienced that the ever-evolving tech and the ever-changing needs of a 21st century learner requires more knowledge and innovation to implement it properly than it has in the past. This experience and the passion I have gained for technology during my childhood has manifested into a desire to inspire others to be innovative with the use of EdTech in their classrooms and to motivate students to be passionate about technology like I was.

 

Further experiences as a 21st century teacher, has fueled several other motives to be an EdTech professional as well. For example, in all of my student teaching there was always at least one student with a learning difficulty or special needs. I have seen where technology has been used to improve the learning experience for those children and where technology could have been used and instead the student missed out on an opportunity to learn. Technology in the classroom can and should be used to improve the accessibility for students with learning difficulties, special needs, or even behavioral and emotional problems. As I have experienced through my student teaching during the pandemic, EdTech also provides us with increased accessibility for communication and collaboration in and outside of the school community. I believe we should utilize technology to continue to increase the communication collaboration between schools, students, families, and outside stakeholders to ensure that the students needs are always being met. Finally, as an EdTech professional I believe it is essential to continually reflect on and improve the tools that are currently available. I think that is one of the major things that motivates me about technology is that it is constantly changing and being improved on - and that is a goal that I believe we should see reflected in everything we do as educators.

 

To summarize, my goals as an EdTech professional, are to learn how to utilize the available tools of technology in education to:

• Motivate and inspire others to be innovative and utilize EdTech in their classrooms

• Motivate and keep students engaged

• Improve access to education to student with learning difficulties

• Increase communication and collaboration within and outside of school communities

• Build on and improve the tools currently available