1. Synthesis Paper
My Learning Experiences at MSU’s MAET Program
“What we learn with pleasure, we never forget” Alfred Mercier
Nevin kamal
CEP 807
When I applied to the MAET program at Michigan State University, I knew that I would be
accommodating different goals. I knew that education is changing as there is a huge shift towards
technology, and I wanted to be prepared for that change. I chose the MAET program because I
felt that it would be a way to stand out among my colleagues. Additionally, my choice to pursue
a Master’s in Educational Technology is directly related to my interest in technology and
teaching.
My goals throughout the program focused on increasing my understanding of technology and
find new ways to integrate it into my ESL classroom. The MAET program was very pleasing to
me because of the variety of options I could choose from for my degree. I am grateful to the fact
that the elective courses covered areas and skills and I was able to choose the ones that suited my
teaching needs. Yet, I was not sure of the rigidity of the courses and the academic standards that
I was putting on myself while taking a full-time teaching job as well as taking care of my family.
When I look back at the past years, I realize that I had a wonderful learning experience that have
enhanced my knowledge of using technology in class and how to become a better technology
leader. Although the entire course was informative and beneficial, I would like to reflect on some
of them that have affected me the most.
In the spring of 2010, I was enrolled in CEP 820: Teaching K-12 students online taught by Dr. L.
Wolf where I learned strategies for creating and implementing online curricula for K-12 students.
At the beginning, I was really worried about this course as I had to develop an online unit on my
own using different technologies. The most confusing part was choosing a suitable course
management system to develop and deliver the content. After doing some web search, I chose
Blackboard (CMS), as it was provided by the university where I teach. I decided to use what is
available to save time and focus more on the content to be delivered. After taking a deep breath, I
started working on the course. Once I started, I found that it was not as hard as I thought it would
be.
The weekly assignments focused on specific tasks that I had to complete for the online course
and the notebook entry. This course offered a very productive way to use Google docs. By
uploading the notebook entries on Google docs, I was able to express my vision and
communicate my plan for the course. Receiving feedback on my entries was a very helpful
learning experience and I am using this method with my students now. As I worked more and

2. more on the online unit that I was creating, I became more comfortable with Blackboard and
included several technologies each week to introduce students to new and innovative learning
experiences. I asked students to create screencasts, audio projects, create brochures and
PowerPoint presentations, and join discussion forums. This course was a challenge for me as it
was my first time to create an online course using different technologies that would last for 5
weeks on persuasive and argumentative essays. Not only this, but this course helped me to learn
about different course management systems, introduce different intriguing technologies for each
assignment, and most importantly, how to make technology serve and foster a specific teaching
objective. In brief, the Developer’s Notebook was a challenging and a rewarding task that helped
me develop my knowledge of web publishing.
In spring 2011, I took CEP 822: Approaches to Educational Research taught by Dr. Roeber. It
offered me a chance to search for and review studies related to my teaching area. In this course, I
was introduced to how to conduct action research, plan and implement my own research
methods, and analyze its effect on my educational setting. I had to learn how to research and
critique published educational studies. This practice helped me to develop my teaching approach
and pedagogy. After learning about educational research, I began my own process of developing
an action research by learning how to formulate valid research questions, develop an appropriate
hypothesis, and design ways of collecting and analyzing data. My action research was about the
effect of using technology to enhance ESL grammar. The research discussed in detail the rational
for conducting the study and reviewed in depth related literature. I realized from this experience
that educational research is a necessary process when making important pedagogical decisions.
I was not very enthusiastic about this course, but as I began to read more published studies and
was introduced to how I should analyze and critique them, I started to understand many aspects
of educational research. These readings helped me to change the way I teach and encouraged me
to try new technologies in the classroom. The readings in this course made me understand that
there are many technologies that can be used in teaching but not all technologies work for all
students all the time. This course emphasized that students learn better when they are introduced
to a combination of strategies as not all students learn in the same way. Bearing this in mind, I
became aware that new technologies are great but they will not work all the time for all students;
therefore, teachers have to show a kind of flexibility and adaptability to students’ levels,
interests, and needs. The culmination of this course resulted in an action research project that
included a rationale for performing the research, a detailed description of the research design,
and a literature review of some related topics.
Another thought-provoking course was in fall 2011, CEP 815: Technology and Leadership
taught by N. Sheltrown. This course focused and different leadership ideas, styles, and principles
applied to education with regard to technology. The major part of the course involved

3. investigating and identifying instrumental and missional thinking. Instrumental thinking focuses
on using technology heavily in the classroom for the sake of using it. On the other hand,
missional thinking focuses on enhancing student’s learning by using technology. In this sense,
technology is used in education as a tool to serve different teaching and learning needs when
appropriate, and solve educational problems. The course focused on the shift from instrumental
to missional thinking. This shift occurs through the view point of the teacher in the classroom.
Using technology does not result in deeper understanding. Instead of using many technologies,
the teacher needs to re-prioritize the lesson goals and use specific technologies to support the
objectives introduced in the lesson.
Also, another concept that was emphasized in this course and throughout the program in general
was TPAK- Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. The TPAK indentifies the
knowledge teachers need to acquire to develop effective teaching and learning objectives. TPAK
has three overlapping and interesting types of knowledge: technology, pedagogy, and content.
Through this course, I understood that learning and teaching is not all black or white and that
teachers need to be aware of the grey areas that they might face while teaching.
The final assignment for this course-Technology Proposal- was a great learning experience for
me. This assignment made me think missionally about technology, about the needs of my
schools, and what needs to be done to meet those needs bearing in mind the cost and
effectiveness of different technologies. In this assignment, I reflected on the concept of TPAK
and tried to use it to meet my students ‘needs and at the same time took into consideration how
technology should be used for effective learning outcomes. Taking my teaching context into
consideration and trying to move from instrumental to missional thinking, I thought of using free
technology and tailor it to meet my students’ needs. After all, technology is not the aim but how
we can make the utmost use of the available technology to meet our teaching and learning goals
and needs. Throughout the project, students would work in collaborative teams to produce
different piece of writing for different genres. Students would use Google Sites to present their
projects. Google Sites could work as an e-portfolio to showcase students’ progress and
development throughout the course.
Towards the end of my experience in the MAET program, I completed a course titled CEP 816,
Teaching and Learning Across the Curriculum, taught by R. Spiro. This course emphasized and
encouraged online interaction. Dr. Spiro did not provide a rigid structure or framework for
exploring different online technologies and how they could be used in the classroom. I had to
explore the technologies individually and then post reflections of my experience on the
asynchronous discussion board on Angel. The discussions on different technologies such as
blogs, wikis, Delicious, Edmodo, Wordpress, and Google Sites were beneficial and practical.
Students posted examples from their own teaching experiences on to how to use these
technologies to better accommodate students’ needs. Another interesting discussion was on how
to use Wikipedia in the classroom, bearing in mind its validity. The online discussions were
challenging, effective, and stimulating. The Dream IT proposal was the final assignment for this
course. I had to develop a lesson plan that would incorporate some of the technologies that were
discussed during the course. This was a great learning experience for me as I had to reflect on the
technologies that were discussed and tried to include them in my teaching to suit the teaching

4. objectives and the learning outcomes. Students had to visit the class website to download the
instructions and worksheets.
The most interesting course for me was CEP 813, Electronic Portfolios for Teaching and
Learning, taught by Dr. W. Dickson. This course gave me the opportunity to create my first
online portfolio to showcase my accomplishment and ensure my web presence. The weekly
assignments guided me and structured my work on the portfolio as I had to add a weekly element
it. Though the weekly assignments would seem easy but they took a long time to reflect on and
produce. I have to say that I am very proud that I was able to create a personalized portfolio.
Throughout the course, I added several elements to the portfolio such as my resume, my teaching
philosophy, and my class.
The most rewarding element that I added to this portfolio was a page to showcase my students’
work. At that time, I taught reading to ESL students to help them pass the university language
entrance exam- IELTS or TOEFL. I used different technologies to engage my student more in
reading. They had to work individually, in pairs, and in groups to do online projects and quizzes.
For these projects, students used PowerPoint presentations, YouTube, Podcasts, and Google
docs. I published on my page samples of my students’ work to share with my colleagues, other
students, and parents.
As I approach to the finish of my master’s degree, I am thankful to the time I spent to bring my
thoughts together about what I have learnt during this program for the past three and a half years.
The MAET program has made me realize that flexibility and adaptability play major roles in our
social and professional lives in the 21st century. Therefore, I would encourage teachers to try out
and challenge themselves with new ideas and technologies. As teachers, we need to learn from
our students and embrace their enthusiasm for their digital life and act accordingly.
I am grateful to all the experiences I have had within the MAET program at Michigan State
University, and look forward to applying the knowledge I have gained to my teaching. What is
more, I have gained the tools that would allow me to maintain my goals of lifelong learning and
growing.