The University of British Columbia's
Master of Educational Technology (MET) Program
Being accepted into one of the world's top ranked graduate schools is both a great honour and gratifying affirmation. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I think is even more precious when you're an "old guy" like me. I have just begun classes. Therefore, because I haven't yet done any coursework - and because my acceptance into the program was an accomplishment in itself - the only content I can post are some extracts from the "program specific questions" section of my application.
Please describe other professional employment experiences you have had that you feel are relevant to your application for this program.
I had several years of experience in Special Education as both a classroom educator and a consultant/trainer. This laid a solid foundation for my current interest in educational technology and led to my firm conviction that, if utilized appropriately, educational technology can help make knowledge and success more equally attainable for students of all backgrounds and abilities.
As a Special Education teacher from 1994 to 2001, I became familiar with such concepts as multiple intelligences, learning styles, individualized education programs (IEPs), classroom adaptation, collaborative teaching, and adaptive/assistive technology. From witnessing the positive results of these concepts being successfully implemented—usually with considerable reliance on technology—I developed a serious interest in educational technology.
As a “consultant/trainer” from 2007 to 2009, my research endeavors and practical experience were focused on special needs and literacy resources for teachers, school psychologists, occupational therapists, and speech language pathologists. These resources involved various technologies and it was my job to learn and then teach the appropriate technology to existing clients and future prospects. To support these efforts, I developed a website (http://udlresources.com) that provided current data on the latest Universal Design for Learning (UDL) resources and hosted a number of informational and training videos, many of which I produced myself.
Briefly describe your experience, if any, in the use of, or administration of, educational technology.
Since March 2009, I have been trialing various technologies (such as the worldwide web, multimedia, blogging, social networking, micro-blogging, mobile and cross-platform apps and other emerging methods of acquiring/sharing information) for the various courses that I teach at Hanyang University. For each class, I maintain a course page that provides students with syllabi, rubrics, downloadable handouts and resources, information about major assignments, and embedded web apps that allow learners to easily make webcam videos and upload large files for many of their assignments.
For example, in one of the core classes I teach, presentation skills are worth 40% of the overall grade. To facilitate the highest possible rate of progress in my students, I video record their presentations individually, give personalized copies of the videos to the students, and require them to view and analyze their own performances. They download the appropriate rubric from their course page, and then prepare a self-assessment in either written (MLA style) or video format. (They can record with their own smartphones or the webcam app I’ve provided on their course page.) Once students have finished their revisions, they can email or upload the final version for me to check. To assist with this process, students are also provided with at least four peer-assessments and a printout of my own formal evaluation. An added benefit of this process is that, if a student disagrees with my mark, he/she is welcome to request a review, which can be done easily from the video.
Another technical innovation involves the use Techsmith Camtasia Studio software to transform my classroom PowerPoint presentations into video tutorials that are posted on students’ course pages. This “flipped classroom” approach increases the amount of classroom time spent on communicative activities and “student-talking-time” plus it allows students to absorb teacher-generated information at their own pace, without fear of being singled out for being slower (or faster) than their peers.
Please describe any professional or scholarly achievements that you feel are relevant to your application for this program.
Because English is a second language for my Asian learners, most of the useful academic tutorials found on YouTube and other sites are narrated too quickly for them to easily understand. To address this problem—and give my students some useful information about correct formatting in academic writing—I decided to make my own tutorial with kinesthetic, auditory, and visual components that are much stronger and clearer than usual. Based on my experience in Special Education, I speculated that a video that included emphasis on all three of these learning styles might be more useful for L2 learners than the usual stuff that is commonly posted online. To address the kinesthetic learning style, students were instructed to have their word processors open while watching the tutorial and use the video playback pause button while following the step by step instructions on their keyboards. To support the auditory style, I used clearly articulated and slightly slower speech, with no background noises or audio distractions. To enhance the visual component, I used colourful animated callouts, zoom-n-pan, and English subtitles that were easily generated with a high quality super-cardioid condenser microphone and standard speech recognition software. In the first semester this tutorial was used, forty “beginner” level students worked through it and achieved a 100% success rate, with all writing assignments being formatted according to MLA standards. So far, in this new semester, the results have been similar, so I plan to use a multi-sensory approach for all future video tutorials. The tutorial is located here.
In April, our Program Coordinator took notice of my technological endeavors and invited me to put together a technology workshop for the other instructors in our department. Three inexpensive software applications were demonstrated (hands-on) and colleagues were introduced to a specialized website that I had developed as a follow-up resource. It featured video tutorials and suggestions on how to use the applications plus links to their respective download sites. Several colleagues expressed heightened interest in the use of technology and I found the entire experience of planning and implementing this workshop to be extremely rewarding. More than ever in my career, I can easily visualize myself as a “teacher trainer” and believe that, by helping other teachers to make good use of educational technology, I can help improve the learning experiences of many more students than just the ones who attend my classes.
Please provide a statement of no more than 500 words (which will also serve as a sample of your writing) about the professional and scholarly goals that you hope to achieve in this program.
My immediate goal involves a multimedia writing course that I have been developing since July. Students will be expected to both independently and collaboratively develop dynamic multimedia content that effectively communicates meaningful ideas. They will use computers, selected reading assignments, sample media, cameras, audio equipment, video editing software, and other available technologies as they shoot videos, develop critical thinking and collaboration skills, practice the writing process, develop online portfolios, formulate critical responses to other media creators’ work, and share their own content with the global community. My formal proposal for this course was accepted on August 29 and classes will commence in March, 2013. Although the basic plans are already in place, I expect to be continuously improving and developing the course—especially with the new knowledge and insights that, commencing in January, 2013, will be acquired during my participation in the UBC MET program.
My medium term goals involve concepts and research interests that I am currently using on a limited basis—but would very much like to investigate further. One of those interests is the “flipped classroom,” where inquiry-based learning and communicative activities in the classroom are maximized by providing students with online access to video tutorials, lecture podcasts, and other digitized information. Another interest is how the Universal Design for Learning framework might be applied to online education. Still other educational interests include collaborative learning, digital content creation, learning management systems, social networking (especially blogging and micro-blogging), mobile computing, and virtual learning environments.
As one who firmly believes that widespread and appropriate implementation of educational technology can help make knowledge and success more equally attainable for students of all backgrounds and abilities, my long term goal is to help make this happen on a global scale. Too many people—especially those in the developing world—are still being deprived of their right to a decent education, and I believe that technology is vital for changing that. Initiatives such as UBC’s internationally recognized Master of Educational Technology program, South Korea’s national plan to digitize all textbooks by 2015, the seven-year old One Laptop Per Child project, and the more recent EdX online-learning initiative (founded by Harvard University and MIT), are convincing evidence that the ongoing evolution of educational technology is already providing significantly improved opportunities for students all over the world. With a Master of Technology degree from UBC, I can look forward to the possibility of making a contribution to that important global initiative.
Please provide any other information you feel would be important to the Admission Committee in evaluating your application for this program.
The UBC Master of Educational Technology program is an excellent match for my goals and abilities because I have been passionately and effectively using some form of educational technology for a number of years. I fully appreciate and believe in its unlimited potential. With today’s prolific rate of ongoing technological developments, however, it is neither practical nor responsible to continue relying solely on passion and self-teaching to maximize my potential for helping students who so much deserve opportunities to learn. With the guidance, new knowledge, professional insights, and widely recognized credentials of the Master of Educational Technology from the University of British Columbia, I will be fully qualified to continue being an asset to Hanyang University and to begin working towards my ultimate goal of helping to make a difference globally.
