Reflection Letter

Dear Educational Technology Faculty,

Background Experience

My name is Mir Alikhan; I am currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Educational Technology. It is my first semester in graduate school, and I have started with exactly one class. I am pursuing my Master's Degree because I need a higher degree in Educational Technology to advance my career. The Master's Degree in Educational Technology will help me gather the skills necessary to help design instruction at my work place and to integrate technology effectively in their one hundred plus technical training courses. I am a training professional with more than eighteen years of technical training in design, development, evaluation, and instructional technology background. My interest in educational technology was sparked during my first year of teaching at the college level. I chose to utilize a flip camera to record my lessons and demonstrations and upload the instructional videos to youtube for my students to watch as many times as they need to. I chose the Master of Education in Educational Technology (EDTC-MEd) at the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) because of its unique program structure, industry-based experienced faculty, and its collaborative learning methodology. I hold a Bachelor's Degree in Education, majoring in Technical Training Development and Performance Improvement, and an Associate Degree in Applied Science. At my current job as an instructional design and technology analyst at Saudi Aramco Oil and Gas company, I kick off my instructional design process by performing a complete analysis of learning needs and training goals. Using my proven development system, I design a customized delivery system that best meets training requirements.

My training philosophy is that Instructional Design is an approach used to transfer information in an easy-to-understand method utilizing available technologies to enhance the training program. My key responsibility is to conduct a training needs analysis, identify the technology solution, design the training based on gaps identified, develop training to be delivered utilizing the identified technology solution, implement the developed training program and evaluate the training.

Experience during the Program

The M.Ed. The Educational Technology degree program has taught me the skills to enhance my instructional design and technology knowledge. I learned how to conduct academic research in education. In the EDTC program, I learned the different learning models, theories, and methodologies for developing a training curriculum. I was nervous about starting my online classes. I began with EDTC 6320, and it was different from saying the least. I did get to work with my first group, which was a little frustrating. I like to work alone, which is my personality, but collaborating is essential. We worked on a project to inform employers what exactly an Educational Technologist does and how it would benefit their company. I learned to use Powtoons and create a Wiki for the first time. We cited charts, graphs, and facts by the ethics laid out before us. We used both male and female characters to emphasize diversity.

EDTC 6321 was an exciting course. I took this course a bit off sequence since I could not find it being offered. I took this particular course with Dr. Maria Elena Corbeil, who is fantastic. She gives excellent feedback and helps you understand how to produce a better product. I created four instructional units using the ADDIE model to guide. The simplest thing of identifying our target audience was invaluable. By identifying your target audience, you understand what level you anticipate your learners to be. They can be experts or beginners in what you are about to teach them. The instructional goal was to help email district users to be able to retrieve quarantined emails. I called to produce a small video using Camtasia and post those on YouTube using Google sites as a delivery system.

In my next course, EDTC 6323, I developed an instructional goal and performance objectives. The design document created a training video showing users how to create a technology work. I learned how to conduct a learner analysis or think about the learners themselves, including their motivation for learning the new material. I also created a project timeline and budget. The information that I learned will serve me well if I go into the private industry. Budget numbers are always significant to present firsthand to present a cost-benefit analysis. I also learned how to create a hotspot quiz upon the professor's recommendation using Google Slides. Hotspot quizzes are better than multiple-choice questions when practical experience is essential.

EDTC 6325 was one of my favorite classes. I learned how to build an entire online course using Blackboard as the delivery system. I created an online class tailored for corporate employees on the challenges and solutions for working in virtual teams to improve team performance. I learned to develop goals and sub-goals for the first time. I learned how to create a syllabus much like our professors' online classes. Our professors help as they model what we need to build perfectly. The course was delightful and a great learning experience. My only regret looking back at it was the class I created was not utilized and approved by my work because it was not hosted on the company-approved LMS.

EDTC 6332, our Practicum course, was extremely helpful as it brought together everything that we learned throughout the program from start to finish. It also used the ADDIE method to put the training together by analyzing the problem to Implementation and Revision. The training I designed and implemented was to help school district users identify Phishing emails to keep their personal and professional data safe. Looking back at the program, I learned a lot. The EDTC 6320 course, as I mentioned before, was the perfect course to start the program. It taught me how to follow the timeline on an online course. I learned the difference between asynchronous and synchronous classes. I felt it was essential to attend every online synchronous class. I would highly recommend that any individual starting the program do the same. As the class presents a type of orientation into the online curriculum, it is necessary to do so. The course was very educational as far as being in an online cooperative environment. I have gotten into collaborative groups in my current job but not online. It is a great learning experience. I would encourage anyone doing this for the first time to be respectful of team members and work on time. EDTC 6321 was the second to the last class that I took. I would not recommend anyone take it this far out of sequence. I took EDTC 6323 instead, and although I was able to put everything together nicely, it would have been helpful to have had the experience early on in the program on how to put an instructional design together using the ADDIE model at the beginning of the program. The professors are always there to help, and they helped in this instance. Looking back at EDTC 6323, it was a great learning experience. I would look into different forms of evaluation. The professor recommended using an interactive activity to assess, using a hotspot quiz. I had never used that before, and the solution that I came up with Google Slides with was not without its glitches. I did not know how to go about interactivity until later in the program.

I would recommend anyone taking the program to look into how this is done and what solutions are available. I mentioned before EDTC 6325 was very enjoyable. I took this course during the summer, and I think I would have benefited a bit more if I had taken this class during a regular fourteen-week semester. This is no longer possible since the program has been accelerated to a seven-week module. Just building the Blackboard course from scratch was a great learning experience. I would recommend anyone taking this course to start from day one as it is a pervasive project. The more meticulous you go about the class, the better off you will be, and the more you will get from it. I would recommend that anyone taking the practicum EDTC 6332-course start work from day one. The project is pervasive and requires attention to get a nicely developed product.

I have used some of the skills that I have learned from the program in my place of employment. I have created videos showing BYOD users how to join the devices to our wireless network. I have produced training that will teach new hires on the dangers of opening a dangerous SPAM email. Like anything else, you get out of it as much as you put into it. Enjoy the program as it will serve anyone who goes through it well in their career.

I had no idea how much I would learn and how many possibilities of helping others this program has opened up. The experience has been, without a doubt, one of the best career decisions I have made. I worked with many very talented people from all walks of life. I have worked with students from other countries and states, which I found very rewarding. The professors in this program are very knowledgeable and help everyone as much as possible. I am no longer intimidated at collaborating online and exchanging ideas with people more talented than I. I also found that I have skills worth sharing with others, which has boosted my confidence in my abilities. I can put together lessons and training for all sorts of needs by studying the audience, coming up with a needs assessment, developing a solution, and evaluating it. I enjoy my current workplace; however, I would love to contribute to the EDTC family by giving back if the opportunity arises as an Educational Technology adjunct faculty. I am even open to the idea of volunteering to teach a course of two. It is gratifying working closely with Subject Matter Experts as I learn as much from them as the people that will ultimately use the training created. I understand that Educational Technologists and Instructional Designers work in all sorts of industries. Every organization can take advantage of the skills these professionals have. I know no one knows where they will be in five years, but I hope to use the skills I attained in the Master's in Educational Technology to help others.

As mentioned earlier, before joining the EDTC program, I worked in the training industry since 2002, was already knowledgeable about technology trends, and had strong technical skills. But I lacked any proper understanding of learning theories and their application into training programs. I learned to collaborate to exchange ideas and build on others' experiences.

From my previous professional experiences, I have learned that I will continue to make mistakes and learn from them. I have learned to accept that nothing can be perfect, especially in any technology-based field. As we all know, technology evolves and continuously changes when I look back at my early projects and realize that they could be done in a much simpler and better manner.

Thank you for your support, expertise, and advice.

Kindest Regards,

Mir Alikhan