I used to think that Ed Tech technology tools would help me provide training opportunities to adults with ed tech tools popular in the adult learning field like Captivate and Articulate and maybe even basics of learning management systems and some html. When I first started my doctoral program in Instructional Design and Technology, the Ed Tech track wasn’t branded as a K-12 certificate the way it is now. As a result, I joined the Ed Tech track and thought I was going to be learning the tools I mentioned above. I have now gone through three of the Ed Tech courses, and I’m practicing with tools that appear to be developed primarily for K-12 users. However, I am also practicing good learning design.

Now I think that there is much about assessment & analysis, learning objectives, and lesson plan development that I can apply to developing trainings for adult learners (primarily faculty in higher education), and I’ve been introduced to some ed tech tools I can use in my own trainings and other ed tech tools I can recommend to faculty who may be working with audiences closer to the “12” in K-12.

I also used to think that there weren't learning objectives for adult learners in the workplace, like the faculty I work with. But I'm so happy to find out I was wrong! Now I know that there are ISTE standards for teachers, and while my impression is that they may be primarily for K-12 teachers, they definitely apply to faculty in higher education. If anyone asked me, I'd recommend that they be part of yearly professional development goals for faculty. For example, if myself and the faculty I work with didn't actively pursue ISTE*E.1, Learner, we would fail our students because we would still be teaching with chalkboards, overhead projectors, pencils, and paper and would have missed online learning entirely. 

In fact, the ISTEs E.1 through E.7 represent and reflect my understanding of what it means to be an effective staff member at a community college that is trying to become more and more student-centered and student-ready. Again, I think from the information at iste.org that membership is primarily for K-12, but college faculty and instructional designers like me can definitely benefit from the standards. 

My first ed tech certificate course was IDT 7063, and it was almost unbearable, but I was able to survive through prior knowledge about lesson design and just pure grit. It was in a seven-week format, and, again, it was my first ed tech certificate course. All of the assignments referenced the edTPA/MTVT lesson plan, and I had no idea what that was. There was information in our course on how to get help through a Help Session, so I made the appointment and no one showed. To this day, I’ve never heard from anyone that was supposed to be related to the Help Sessions and I’ve never tried them again. I had a similar experience this semester when I reached out to our class for help via the discussion tool and to this day no one has answered.

A takeaway is that, with the Ed Tech certificate, you really need to go straight to the instructor of the course when you need assistance, and this is a takeaway that I can use in my work life as well. Sometimes you have to use prior knowledge and gut through an assignment or activity, but sometimes you have to be brave and ask for help from someone who is an authority or who holds the information you need.