Education Media Project Development Discussion #1

The Full Sail University Education Media Design Technology graduate program has really been an earmark for a challenging stage within my life.  I learned more about myself, my community and my area of career throughout this program than I have in any other degree or training program. This has always been my niche, storytelling, facilitating and educating. Full Sail's Program has given me a more diverse way to express my thoughts and help others do the same. Also the program taught me how to take calculated risks while exploring new boundaries within the technology. The tools that we are exposed to from day one and the opportunities to excel in this field are everywhere. Collaboration is key in this environment. I found that the months I did the best work, on time and meeting within the rubric 100% were months when I engaged with others, sought out assistance and was online using our online tools to get feedback.

Month 1 with Dr.Deason was absolutely challenging and showed me that my ideas could be dead on but I really had to think about the audience which I was creating these tools for. Also, it taught me that I have to make sure that I translate my complete idea or thought for the team when I work with others. Again I really learned to fly again in his course. The idea for online network for veteran women was  "birthed" there.

Each class had with it another area where I learned to examine myself, what I could do and how I could expand or grow from and apply it to learning and facilitation. I can say that applying learning management systems and education theory did cause some challenges because the terminology was different from the focus I had in previous Health Psychology and Counseling classes.

Learning how to design and create a website, music, game, training class, film presentation from scratch properly and understanding the terminology was very difficult for me because of "cognitive dissonance" issues.  The work was not difficult mind you but I have to really understand how I "fit" within a process to gain within it.  This program does not have any time for hand holding but the facilitators do make themselves available and engage in many ways, of that I am appreciative.

There was not one class that I disliked. I had classes where my ideas about the work I had to do were exceptionally challenged, however, I found in every class I was able to complete and meet the requirements. My confidence with collaborating and working with peers in the education and social learning arena have quadrupled. I believe this helped me to get "boots on the ground" with my project a an earlier place in the program and have more experience with applying the tools in varying environments.

Two areas for further exploration with an ed tech degree;
The American Disabilities Amendment Act and how it relates to learning, facilitation and online education. How technological tools must meet the law requirements for students who have varying disabilities. (Possibly as a Certificate or extended learning opportunity.)
Retrofitting this program for trainers, educators and facilitators of adults in the vocational arena. There were areas which I had difficulty translating requirements into adult learning pedagogy because there were very few instances of these examples available. This was a barrier but by no means was it enough to diminish the overall value of the program.

I am appreciative that Full Sail has this program and I look forward to more opportunities for learning from Full Sail in the future.