Professional Statement

Amber Abel
Instructional Design and Technology
K 12 Education

Introduction

The intention of this professional statement is to attempt to describe

and define my career values, goals, and motivations. Through this
document, I hope to show my passion for education, my experience with
technology-based instruction, as well as my intent for the future of my
career. I will highlight my knowledge of the field of instructional design and
technology as well as my knowledge, skills, and abilities aligned with K-12
education in the 21st century. In general, I aim to provide a professional
definition of myself.

Teaching Philosophy

Teaching is a practice that requires content knowledge, organization,

understanding of learning theory, and heart. Teaching is a craft, an art of
sorts, which is created by thousands of hours of work and an endless skill
set. Teaching, therefore, is a challenge; and that is what drives me to
understand it more and to become more effective at increasing the
knowledge, skills, and abilities of my students.

Each day in my classroom, I strive to differentiate my instruction to

meet the needs of all students in a fair and ethical manner; while also
maintaining a grasp on the primary content of their course. My goal is to
incorporate technology and tools that afford my students the opportunity to
be 21st century learners and become the next generation of professionals.
Through my instruction, I hope to inspire creativity, allow flexibility of
thought, as well as cultivate motivation for learners to construct their own
knowledge through discovery and collaboration.

I incorporate three primary things in my classroom: learning

strategies, social citizenship, and ethical actions. My instruction of the
course content comes through this lens. I model for my students the best
practices of learning, and provide them the opportunity to use those skills
within their current content. I teach them social citizenship through
collaborative learning norms and supervised social interaction opportunities.
I teach ethical actions through classroom management and reflective
practices. When students leave my classroom, I hope they know they are
loved, they can learn any content, and that only they are responsible for
their success or failure in any situation.

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Beliefs about Learning

My personal beliefs and values about education, along with my natural

leadership skills and abilities, have guided me through my life and gradually
molded my educational career. I was a very successful student in a cognitive
driven system throughout my high school education. As an academic teen, I
took notes and used my graphic organizers. I reviewed my textbooks, and
studied project objectives all to prepare for my assessments. Then, after the
test, I moved on to the next section. Rarely, did I need to deviate from this
system of listen, write, practice, reproduce. I began my education at the
post-secondary level and realized quickly my constructivist skills were low;
while I was book smart I had rarely been challenged to construct my own
reasoning in a complex manner. Due to a sense of failure, I dropped out of
college and spent several years in entry-level business management.
Eventually, I returned to school to fulfill my dream of becoming a teacher. I
spent these early college years learning how to apply my thoughts on a
deeper level, and how to solve real life problems through my own
experiences and collaborations with others.

After my B. Ed degree was completed, I became a mother and

developed a new value for play-based education for children. I sought
Montessori based care for my daughter at a young age, and engaged in a
variety of discovery based learning activities with my daughter for sensory
development. My personal education and parenting experiences allowed me
to develop an understanding that education doesnt have to come in the
form of a textbook; and that it should take many forms to meet the needs of
more learners. My formal education of learning theory and educational
psychology has greatly impacted my teaching style and pedagogy choices. I
transformed my original views of how education worked for me to also
include how it may work for others.

Professional Teaching History

I have taught more than 2500 students over the last seven years, and
each one of them was different from the others. I have taught math ranging
from sixth through tenth grade, high school computer applications, as well
as finance, and economics. I take my personal experiences and stories into
my classroom daily and use them to understand the super-organized A
student; as well as to have patience with the student who doesnt seem to
care. My stories of my life make me real to my students; my stories also
help me show them how the content they are learning applies to the real
world. I have spent many years in the K-12 classroom improving my
understanding of how humans think and learn.

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 Throughout my career, I have participated in curriculum development,
content alignment, resource selection, and assessment creation. I have seen
great lessons fail, and weak lessons ignite a fire in a student who seemed
dim to the content the day before. Teaching is not about knowing what you
are going to do every day and always being successful. Teaching is about
knowing what you need to do every day, and going to the depth of your skill
tool box to make it happen. Instructional Design and Technology, IDT, is the
next layer in my toolbox, and the next step in my educational career.

Instructional Design and Technology Field of Study

The two primary practices within the field of IDT currently include: the
use of media for instructional purposes and the use of systematic design
procedures (Reiser, 2011). In todays society, most American schools have
tablets, laptops, computers, and even robotic learning tools. Technology, of
all sorts, fuels learning and instruction. Both cognitivism and constructivism
show us that a learner needs exposure to information or experiences as well
as their own prior knowledge before they can expand their understanding;
and that this learning takes place differently for different people, contexts,
or situations.

IDT has changed as technology has become more integrated into our
daily society. One of the earliest examples of media integration into learning
was the use of teaching machines by the behavioral learning expert Skinner
(Reiser, 2011). Over time we have seen other types of video and audio
integration as well as the expanded use of the internet to facilitate learning.
Typically, we see the integration of the ADDIE model being applied to IDT
programs of study. ADDIE is a design principal that is used as a systemic
and reflective practice to analyze, design, develop, implement, and evaluate
instructional technology content (Branch & Merrill, 2011). This process is
iterative, reflective, and evaluative in nature.

Through the use of multi-media and hardware, as well as the study of

learning theories and systemic design, current professionals in the field aim
to be creators of quality instruction that leads to enhanced learning (AECT,
2008). IDT is currently viewed as a field that targets instructional problems
and the reduction of learning barriers. There is a heavy emphasis from
professional organizations to use a reflective and iterative process; that
improves performance goals, by bringing about more effective learning using
technology along with learning theories (AECT, 2008). This is done through
comprehensive design and integration of instructional media to facilitate
learning in a reactive and adaptive process based on the needs of the
learning audience. Through this systemic application of design, professionals

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in the IDT field implement creative problem-solving to address current
learning deficits.

Desired Role and Professional Goals

Through the development of my masters degree in Instructional

Design and Technology, I plan to continue my career in K-12 education. I
would like to use my degree to advance towards a district-wide
administrative level position that manages IDT within a K-12 school district.
In my current position of Educational Technology Specialist, I spend part of
my week as an administrator and part as a teacher. In this position, I
oversee technology implementation of fifty-six devices in a brick and mortar
setting of a K-8 elementary school. I desire to advance my position to
further assist in teacher professional development and training; that would
increase the use of online learning platforms within standard K-12 learning
environments. I plan to use the skills learned through my past work
experience and education to assist in the training and development of other
instructors as well as in the design of technology-based instruction. I am
hoping, through the use of my masters portfolio, I can convince my system
to continue to modify my current position. My primary goal is to oversee the
implementation of district-wide technology resources, district-wide online
learning environments, district-wide online classes, teacher skill
development programs, and evaluation of instructional design used within
our classrooms as a full-time administrator. My previous experience with
curriculum development, technology integration, and organizational
management will facilitate this leadership role. In order to obtain this
leadership role, I have developed the following goals:

o I will continue to gain proficiency in technology and leadership

areas that support curriculum development and instruction by
obtaining my graduate degree in Instructional Technology from
the University of Tennessee by summer 2017.
o I will actively participate as a member of my current school
system to identify instructional problems and provide solutions
to them through our current meetings and trainings as the
Educational Technology Specialist.
o I will develop a professional portfolio to showcase the types of
instructional design and technology I believe are important to
implement within the K-12 environment.
o After the completion of my degree coursework, I will discuss with
the board of directors the ability to move into a full-time
administrative role managing system-wide educational
technology including professional development, device
integration, as well as online instructional design and evaluation.

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Knowledge, Skill, and Abilities of IDT

The Instructional Design and Technology program at my University

requires that our professional online portfolio be aligned with the Association
for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) standards.
However, my career path and goals align closer with the International
Society for Technology Education (ISTE) standards. Below I have assessed
my competencies as applied to ISTE standards. My knowledge, skills, and
abilities cross over both standard sets. My professional statement displays
my alignment with ISTE, and my portfolio artifacts show my knowledge,
skill, and ability alignment with AECT.

Current Competencies
Per ISTE, technology coaches should have professional competencies
based on several main ideas such as visionary leadership,
teaching/learning/assessments, digital environments, professional
development/evaluation, digital citizenship, and content knowledge (ISTE,
2011). Through my previous experience as a teacher and a leader of
technology-based programs, I have gained several skills and abilities in
terms of being a visionary leader. As a leader, I have used these skills to
contribute to the development and implementation of technology-based
instruction as well as program evaluation. I have advocated for policies and
procedures to be funded and supported that increased online learning in the
public-school setting which aligns to visionary leadership skills of ISTE (ISTE,
2011). Much of this knowledge, skills, and abilities come from my two-year
involvement managing and guiding an innovation team of ten mathematics
educators. Through this program at a previous district my seven co-workers
and I wrote the proposal, received funding, and worked endless hours to
bring in two-hundred-and-seventy iPads and an online curriculum to support
a blended-learning environment in a high school setting.

This experience also allowed me to increase my skills and content

knowledge in digital-age learning environments. I completed over one-
hundred-and-fifty hours of training to develop the digital skills that allowed
me to model effective classroom instruction using iPads, maintain a variety
of technological resources, troubleshoot basic software, and improve my
digital communication and collaboration skills. ISTE feels all of these skills
are important for technology coaches to master (ISTE, 2011). Prior to
managing the innovation team mentioned, I taught computer application
career-and-technical-education (CTE) in a public-school computer lab. I have
four total years of CTE experience in addition to my three years of
technology-infused mathematics experience, through this I have created a
large understanding of both K-12 digital citizenship and a variety of content
knowledge.

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 Developing Competencies
Since I have been in the classroom for many years, I understand in
depth teaching, learning, and assessment. However, I acknowledge my
coaching and mentoring skills in this area need improvement due to my
limited experience in leading other teachers. Considering that ISTE places a
heavy emphasis on this area with over eight specific standards, I have
selected this area for one of my two developing competencies. According to
ISTE, technology coaches should assist teachers by using technology
effectively for assessing student learning, differentiating instruction, and
providing quality learning experiences for all students (ISTE, 2011).
Specifically, I need to gain more understanding in coaching teachers on how
to engage students in local and global interdisciplinary units, where
technology will help students simulate professional roles, complete research,
and solve real-world problems (ISTE, 2011). My current position allows me
to work on this skill in action. I recently guided some elementary educators
to develop QR codes for research stations, and to incorporate google
documents for reflective writing of learning. In order to be an effective
technology coach, I should also develop the ability to guide teachers in
research-based best practices in instructional design when planning their
technology-enhanced lessons (ISTE, 2011).

In addition to these improvements, I plan to further develop my

content knowledge and professional growth competencies. A professional in
technology-based teacher training should demonstrate professional
dispositions in content, pedagogical and technological areas, as well as in
adult learning and leadership experience (ISTE, 2011). I have a degree in
pedagogy, and I have several years experience in secondary education; my
weaknesses fall within the ability to regularly evaluate and reflect on my
professional practices, and the ability to effectively model and facilitate
technology-enhanced learning experiences (ISTE, 2011). By improving my
abilities to integrate technology into instruction, assess the effectiveness of
this type of instruction, and to reflect on the process of integration to
facilitate change that improves learning; I will be a more successful
educational technology specialist and an instructional designer.

Future Competencies
In the future, I will need to work the most on ISTE standard number
four: professional development and program evaluation. This standard
focuses on conducting needs assessments, developing technology-related
learning programs, and evaluating their impact on instruction and learning
(ISTE, 2011). First, I will develop my ability to conduct needs assessments.
This skill will allow me to learn about learners and the content needs in
regard to each learning context. I practiced this skill during a course recently

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where I assessed the needs of a local learning community to change a
course from face-to-face to online. I hope to have work related opportunities
for needs assessment in the future. I will develop the knowledge and skills
needed to design, develop, and implement technology-rich learning
environments; which I hope to then apply to adult learning in my school
district. I aim to promote best practices within my school district as a
teacher mentor and administrator by implementing digital-age practices as
well as instructional assessment which will assist me in meeting ISTE
standard four (ISTE, 2011). Through my professional experiences, I will be
able to practice evaluating my designs and be able to reflect on the process.
This will aid me in becoming more effective at IDT by taking actions based
on my reflections.
In addition to developing these professional development and
evaluation skills, I also hope to increase my content knowledge and
professional knowledge in technology-based pedagogy. ISTE believes that
technology coaches should demonstrate professional competencies in
continual learning to deepen their own knowledge in technology integration,
as well as to engage in continuous learning of leadership and project
management (ISTE, 2011). After graduation with my Masters of Science in
Instructional Design and Technology, I plan to gain more skills through
state-wide CTE training offered to teachers, as well as through the
completion of independent study and online training courses. In addition to
increasing these knowledge, skills, and abilities, I will also continue to
develop a reflective practice in which I will notate, review, and evaluate my
content growth and experiences. Reflection is an important practice because
it will allow me to make appropriate changes to my designs and learning.

Conclusion

Instructional design and technology holds great implications for the

future in the field of K-12 education. Through the understanding of learning
theories and learning styles, we must realize and understand that a one-size
fits all learning environment is not the most effective. As educators, we must
move beyond the idea that if we teach them, they will learn. We must begin
to look closer at the design of our instruction and the use of our technology
resources. We must design effective content that incorporates a larger focus
on the appropriate use and integration of technological resources. It is
important that students are engaged, focused, and motivated to learn; if not
we will risk failure. To keep the students in the K-12 environment engaged
in learning, they must see the value in the content; and they must be
provided with many opportunities to work with the material at a
differentiated level so they may develop their own understandings. I am
confident that this masters program will allow me to combine my years of
experiences in both the business industry and the educational environment

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to create authentic and effective instruction for students. I will then take this
practice and share my skills with my co-workers through quality teacher
training programs that will also be facilitated with the principles of IDT.
Ultimately, I want to be a well-known leader in the field of K-12 instructional
technology that not only trains and mentors others, but also designs content
for instruction all while engaging in learning theory application and reflective
practice.

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References

AECT. (2008). Definition. In A. Januszewski, & M. Molenda, Educational

Technology: A Definition with Commentary (pp. 1-14). Lawrence Erlbaum.

Branch, R. M., & Merrill, D. M. (2011). Characteristcs of instructional design and

models. In R. A. Reiser, & J. V. Dempsey, Trends and Issues in Instructional

Design and Technology (3rd ed.) (pp. 8-16). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2011). ISTE Standards

for Coaches. Retrieved from ISTE: http://www.iste.org/standards/iste-

standards/standards-for-coaches

Reiser, R. A. (2011). A history of instructional design and technology. In R. A.

Reiser, & J. V. Dempsey, Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and

Technology (3rd ed.) (pp. 17-34). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.