Reflections

It was with some trepidation that I began the Master of Arts degree program at University of Colorado, Denver, in January of 2006. Years before, as a teacher and member of the school's Technology Committee, I often helped my colleagues in implementing current technologies. Later, as I was directing my attention to other areas, I found myself getting increasingly far behind in knowing about and being able to use current technologies. I wanted to catch up and also to be ready for future developments, but I knew I had fallen so far behind that it would be difficult to work with other students who would be far ahead of me in knowledge and abilities.

I had a difficult start, but I remained committed to my goals of becoming a proficient user of technology and a resource for my colleagues to depend upon. While I think we did well to become proficient users of technology, we continued to expand the use of technology in our building despite the lack of time and money for resources. The ILT program at UCD helped me to gain perspective, expertise and resources that I was able to bring back to my school. The master's program was very challenging and exceeded my expectations. The program helped me to move toward my goal of using technology as a 4th grade teacher, to collaborate with colleagues and to communicate with parents. I now feel more able to advance, improve, and help others to utilize technology to provide more and better instruction, and motivation and help to students.

Contact Stan Sameshima at stans67@gmail.com. Last updated on November 12, 2010 .