Running head: GROWING INTO MY PASSION

Serria C. Eraseren
Growth Assessment: Growing Into My Passion
Azusa Pacific University

GROWING INTO MY PASSION

History of Coursework

Course #

Course Name

Term

Professor

Reflections

EDTC 511

Foundations in Ed.
Technology

Spring I

Dr. Kathleen Bacer

EDTC 517

Digital Communications

Spring II

Joe Bruzzese

EDTC 527

Special Topics in Ed.

Technology

Spring II

Barry Bettger

EDTC 518

Global Learning/Crosscultural Classroom

Summer I

Dr. Kathleen Bacer

EDTC 524

Instructional Design and

Development

Summer I

Katie Price

EDTC 521

Digital Imagery for Learning

Environments

Fall I

Doyle Potter

EDTC 523

Educational Applications of
Information Design and
Hypermedia

Fall I

Laura Silva

EDTC 515

Emerging Trends in
Technology

Fall II

Dr. James Brown

EDTC 520

Managing Tech-Supported
Curricular Tools

Fall II

Elisabeth Silver

EDTC 526

Practicum in Educational
Applications of Technology

Spring I

Dr. Kathleen. Bacer

EDTC 572

Advanced Educational
Psychology

Spring I

Dr. Jams Brown

New beginnings. Within this course I

remember creating my ePortfolio and
using Adobe Acrobat to build the
project.
Can You Hear Me Now? This is
where I gained knowledge to create a
website, the meaning of #(hashtags)
and using Twitter and social media
towards learning.
Building my Personal Learning
Network (PLN). This is where I learned
the importance of connection and
using technology to enhance learning.
New sense of global learning! Within
this course I can recall creating my
GLP proposal and building my
eNotebook.
Google Blogger was implemented
within this course and I saw firsthand
the importance of weekly blogging.
The introduction to Personal Learning
Space (PLS) was also implemented.
Adobe Premiere and Photoshop
elements were emphasized within this
course. I really loved putting movies
together and filming our own movies
(sports event and professional
interview).
Global Learning Projects! This is
where I was able to create a site that I
loved and showcase my passion for
reading and writing.
MOOCs and MARP! I really loved
creating a MARP and doing this for a
specific audience in order to get a
specific purpose across. Online
resources such as Prezi, Weebly, and
Powtoons were introduced.
Teamwork certainly makes the dream
work! This is where I learned even
more about the thorough importance
in working with a group to complete
technology course assignments such
as the school district technology plan.
I can DO ALL things through Christ
which strengthens me. This is where I
am pacing the final pieces together for
earning my Masters of Arts in
Educational Technology as well as
reflecting on personal, professional,
and technical growth.
MARP part 2! I also am digging deep
into John Medinas Brain Rules.

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3
Personal Growth

Notably, I always refer to myself as a work in progress because I consider

myself as a life long learner who is still on the rise to facing the challenges that life
brings my way. I believe that Jesus has given me a specific purpose and mission to
fulfill in life. I consider this my vocation. With this in mind, I have grown spiritually
within the body of Christ; I have had the opportunity to build on my passion of
changing the lives of students with disabilities; and lastly, I have grown personally
within my confidence to achieve my aspirations.
At the beginning of my journey in the Master of Arts in Educational
Technology, program (EDTC), Dr. Bacer had given me a Faith Action Study Bible
(Muck, 2005), and I have really been inspired, as I have reflected in this Bible on a
daily basis. With the faith reflections and forum post in class, I became really
privileged by having the opportunity to express my gratitude for Jesus. A verse from
my Faith Action Study Bible (2005) that has kept me going throughout my life and
the course of this program states, Show me your ways oh Lord, teach me your
paths, guide me in your truths and teach me (p. 836). This verse certainly has
supported me within my spiritual growth because it illustrates what I want Jesus to continue to
do for me on this journey with Him. Throughout my course here in the EDTC, I really
have been grateful for the weekly faith interactions. I am thrilled that I have been
apart of a community where I can express my love for Jesus.
Moving forward, I can definitely say that I have grown deeper into my passion
because I am taking the time to professionally develop who I am as a special
education teacher. I am keenly aware that the Lord has given me this passion and

GROWING INTO MY PASSION

placed this undying love within my heart for his children with disabilities. I certainly
believe that this specific aspect is so significant to me because I love what I do and I
definitely want to inspire children with disabilities all over the globe.
Equally important, is my growth in achieving my aspirations. There is
so much that I want to accomplish within my lifetime. One of the most
prominent goals is to achieve a doctorate in education with emphasis on the
teaching and learning aspects to later become a college professor. Continuing
my education will allow me to research current research based practices that
will impact the lives of students and increase the effectiveness of educational
practitioners in the field. My personal goals have definitely inspired me to
achieve all that I can and learn new knowledge to impact others within the
field of special education.
Above all, I am grateful for my personal growth spiritually, in building on my
passion as a special education teacher and my confidence to bring my aspirations
to fruition. My study here at Azusa Pacific University (APU) has never been one
that I have taken for granted. Yet, it has been one that I have been challenged,
times where I have had to really use my critical thinking skills, and times where I
have definitely had to go before the Jesus and ask for His continued guidance and
provision. Yet, I am grateful for my growth within these three sub-areas in my
life.
Professional Growth
My professional growth has progressed because my growth as a special education
teacher and how I have actually allowed this program to influence my overall learning by
placing everything into practice in the classroom as I gain knowledge from my course

GROWING INTO MY PASSION

lessons. I can definitely say that my journey here in the EDTC program has affected my
teaching career. I have had the opportunities to interact with numerous amounts of
individuals from APU that share the same passions that I have in life. In turn, this has
allowed me to grow and learn from others mistakes and journeys in a professional scope.
I believe that the Lord has allowed me to develop professionally as a special
education teacher due to my knowledge that I have gained here in the EDTC program.
Taking the time to allow the coursework and readings to build onto what I do on an
everyday basis has really helped me grow with implementing technology and creating
lesson plans that are suitable to the needs of my learners. I always feel that it is beneficial
to put what I have learned to use by actually implementing it on a regular basis. In fact, as
I have grown professionally, I can contribute this to pursing higher education degrees to
gain more knowledge to better support my learners with disabilities.
Without a doubt, this program is shaping me as a more precise professional.
I am certainly thankful for this because I have learned about creating a website,
putting together a global learning project, and learning about the importance
behind Major Applied Research Project (MARP). Secondly with the use of video
tutorials (MARPs), I have gained knowledge with implementing this resource in
the classroom as well as using this resource as a tool to help support students with
learning needs and disabilities.
In short, my professional growth has progressed because of development as a
special education teacher and how I have actually allowed course material to affect my
profession by allowing what I have learned to take full affect in the classroom. I believe
that my professional growth has supported me in gaining effective insight into designing

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effectual curriculum and modifying the outcomes. Within the text Philosophical
Documents In Education (Johnson, 2008), Dr. Nel Noddings, (educationalist), speaks
towards the importance in building on lifes needs. She proclaims, Speak to the
existential heart of lifethat draws attention to our passions, attitudes, connections,
concerns, and experienced responsibilities (p. 221). This specific quote simplifies that
I must continue to gain knowledge within my field, grow more effectively into my
passion, and make a connection from my heart with what I am engaging in.

Technical Growth
Technology has always been a field that I have been intrigued by since I was in
elementary school. Perhaps, this was behind the influence in choosing to join the
program here at APU as well as learning new ways to integrating this resource to
facilitate learning in the classroom for children with disabilities. Two key areas of
technical growth for me in the EDTC program were developing confidence to delve
deeper into resources implemented in the course and technical research that is helping me
build onto my knowledge as well as others around me.
As I began my journey within my courses, I knew that I wanted to gain all the
knowledge possible to build my confidence with implementing technology. This aspect
has certainly occurred because I have developed more confidence to delve deeper into
using resources that I learned about in EDTC 521 taught by Professor Potter (2014). Two
of the resources that I learned about were Adobe Premiere and Photoshop Elements.
These resources in turn helped to build my knowledge in creating activities for student
with disabilities. I can also say that technology has put me in charge of my own learning

GROWING INTO MY PASSION

within the EDTC program.

In a like manner, another highlight within this program has been my technical
growth in researching new technology resources that will in turn enrich my life and the
individuals surrounding me. In EDTC 523, Professor Silva (2014), taught on the
importance of building a website that would be user friendly and easy to navigate through
for my viewers and participants for my global learning project. In turn, I was able to put
this knowledge to use and showcase my websites to my colleagues and discuss with them
my growth within the EDTC program. I certainly never thought that I could ever do
anything like this before. This entire class really illustrated that I could accomplish
something that I would have never thought of doing! Creating a website for a specific
cause taught me that I could construct something enjoyable with the implementation of
technology and innovative resources such as Kidblog, Google Blogger, and Glogster.
By the way of increasing the use of technology in the classroom, I can certainly
say that my journey here in the EDTC program has supported my technical growth in the
areas of developing the confidence to delve deeper into using resources such as Adobe
Premiere and Photoshop Elements. Secondly, with technical research, I believe that I am
growing because I am actually using resources that I have learned within my courses
(creating a website) to help my colleagues gain new skills. This in turn allows me to
really grasp what I am learning by using it to influence the lives of others.

Life Long Learning Plan

Wow! I honestly want to continue to learn ALL that I can. I am forever going to
be a life long learner so I most certainly am going to keep learning by reaching out to

GROWING INTO MY PASSION

other schools across the globe to see how their learners are progressing and continue to
work on a reading program. Although my time within the Master of Arts in Educational
Technology program is slowly coming to an end, I am going to continue to strive to
integrate technology in my classroom. This was such a big part of the program and I am
grateful that I am learning how to use technology to build on student strengths and
weaknesses.
Finally, I will continue to strive to build my knowledge by attending more
conferences that will in turn allow me to build on the lives of students with disabilities in
the classroom. I also will continue to incorporate the use of social media (Twitter,
Pinterest, and Facebook) in order to expand my Personal Learning Network for my own
learning of what is occurring within the field of education.
Conclusion
As a final point, my journey here within the Master of Arts in Educational
Technology program, has caused me to want to continue to grow and develop into the
woman that Jesus has called me to become. There is so much more to learn and I
definitely want to dig deeper and gain a more knowledge into the needs of youth with
disabilities. In addition, I would love to use my technical growth to continue to build
new pathways for learning for youth that have never experienced the enthusiasm that
technology can cause within their lives.

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9
References

City of Jefferson Online. (n.d). Watermark map. [image]. Retrieved from:

http://www.jeffcitymo.org/pps/planning/longrangetransplan.html

Johnson, T. (2008). Philosophical Documents in Education. Princeton, N.J.:

Pearson Education, Inc.

Muck, T. C. (2005). Faith in Action Study Bible; Living Gods Word in a Changing
World. (Ed). Grand Rapids, MI.
Potter, D. (2014). EDTC521: Digital Imagery for Learning Environments. Online
Masters of Arts in Educational Technology. Azusa Pacific University.
Azusa, Ca.
Silva, L. (2014). EDTC523: Educational Applications of Information Design and
Hypermedia. Online Masters of Arts in Educational Technology. Azusa
Pacific University. Azusa, Ca.