The Evolution of Goals
To be an effective educator, I believe that I must stay current with the latest educational trends and resources, and network with other educators sharing their experiences and knowledge. Expanding my personal learning network by engaging in conversations on Twitter such as #edtechchat and #edchat is where I will engage with inspiring educators and become part of the Twitter education chat movement. I also plan to attend The annual Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) Conference next March to explore new innovative technology tools and resources, and to network with other like-minded educators. Lastly, within the next 5 years, I would like to participate in the MAET refresher course where I can reconnect with the @MAET program and stay current on the ever changing field of “Educational Technology”. Knowledge is power and to empower others you must first empower yourself, and I plan to empower myself with knowledge.
Image taken from HotLunchTray.com
I believe that as one of the top veterinary technology programs in the country and one of only three programs housed within a veterinary school, we should be leading the way in veterinary medicine educational research and sharing our experiences with other educators and colleges. I plan to present these experiences and innovative instruction methods at the bi-annual Symposium for the Association of Veterinary Technician Educators (AVTE) in 2019. I also plan to publish content in The Journal of the Association of Veterinary Technician Educators (JAVTE), which is the official publication of the Association of Veterinary Technician Educators (AVTE). It is a peer-reviewed journal, used to share scholarly research to educators in the field of veterinary technology and by contributing to the publication we can inspire and lead others in veterinary education.
Perhaps the easiest of my plans is to grow as a learner because I will never stop learning. I am a lifelong learning as I am always searching and hungry for knowledge. To focus this goal in my immediate future, I plan to explore what opportunities are available using augmented reality, virtual reality and simulation models in veterinary education. I plan to follow topics like #digitalhealth and #AugmentedReality on Twitter to learn the advances in technology and the instruction methods associated with augmented and virtual reality. I will also connect with groups like International Veterinary Simulation in Teaching (InVeST) to gain knowledge of simulation use in veterinary medical education and join the discussion on authentic replacements for live animal models and clinical interaction.
Growth as a goal can seem arbitrary, so to ensure that I don’t let my goals slip away and become just fanciful ideas I have a detailed prescription written out to follow. Growth as an educator, a leader and a learner all stems from learning. Engaging in conversations and outlets that provide opportunities for me to learn in these three areas will allow me to grow in these three areas as well. As I learn and grow my goals will change and that is evolution.
As I enter into the last few weeks of my master’s program, I stand face to face with the future, and it’s daunting and intimidating, but also extremely exciting. While I cannot know what the future holds, I do know that my future will contain growth. I have set some “growth goals” for myself in three main areas, growth as an educator, growth as a leader, and growth as a learner. As an educator, I want to continue to learn and effectively integrate new methods, new techniques and new technologies into my courses. As a leader, I want to lead the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Veterinary technology program in a direction that allows for expansion in capability, quality and quantity. As a learner, I want to continue to discover and gain new ideas and knowledge. Since growth can be a pretty vague goal, I have detailed my plans to cultivate and nurture that growth in all three areas. As an educator I plan to engage in and expand my personal learning network, as a leader I plan to share with and encourage other educators by speaking at conferences and contributing to the educational research publications and as a learner I plan to explore avenues of augmented and virtual reality, as well as simulation models and how they can be integrated into veterinary medical education. In order for my goals to be achievable, they must be specific so I have detailed the ways that I will specifically work to foster growth in each of my three focus areas.
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