Synthesis eassy
Ancient and New: My Unlikely Journey Blending Yoga and Educational Technology
Phase 1: Stretching Forward
Ever since I began studying for my Masters in Educational Technology, I pushed myself as hard as I could to make sure that I would be successful in this program. To be honest, I was really anxious at first that my lack of technology knowledge and skills would be an embarrassment. Looking back, this was a major factor in my experience as I progressed through my degree. I knew online education would be a different experience for me because I feel like I am a very “people oriented” kind of person. I was used to the interactions that happen in a face-to-face class so I wasn’t sure I would do well when all the interactions are at a distance.
I was also unsure about the technology but that was one of the main reasons I wanted to enroll in the program. When I entered the program, I had some basic computer skills – I could use programs like Word and PowerPoint, and I knew how to use the Internet for basic searches. I was aware, however, that educational technology was advancing quickly, both inside and outside the classroom. My initial goal joining the program, therefore, was to improve my technological literacy so that I could efficiently and creatively use a variety of different programs.
Ever since I began studying for my Masters in Educational Technology, I pushed myself as hard as I could to make sure that I would be successful in this program. To be honest, I was really anxious at first that my lack of technology knowledge and skills would be an embarrassment. Looking back, this was a major factor in my experience as I progressed through my degree. I knew online education would be a different experience for me because I feel like I am a very “people oriented” kind of person. I was used to the interactions that happen in a face-to-face class so I wasn’t sure I would do well when all the interactions are at a distance.
I was also unsure about the technology but that was one of the main reasons I wanted to enroll in the program. When I entered the program, I had some basic computer skills – I could use programs like Word and PowerPoint, and I knew how to use the Internet for basic searches. I was aware, however, that educational technology was advancing quickly, both inside and outside the classroom. My initial goal joining the program, therefore, was to improve my technological literacy so that I could efficiently and creatively use a variety of different programs.
Click the image to view my first site!
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Phase 2: Developing Core Strength
Luckily, one of the very first courses I took was CEP 818: Creativity in Teaching and Learning taught by Punya Mishra and Kristen Kereluik. This course turned out to be foundational experience that helped me set my course through the MAET program. I found the course was extremely well organized and systematic so that was easy to engage with the concepts and activities. CEP 818 was also my first exposure to the concept of design thinking and helped me gain an understanding of how creativity and design can play an important role in learning and instruction. For example, as part of our activities, we studied the book Sparks of Genius (Root-Bernstein & Root-Bernstein, 2005). |
At that time, I was focused on second language acquisition as my main topic area and it wasn’t easy at first to see how creativity studies could help me teach students to learn a second language. Studying the book challenged me to consider new creative ways of thinking about language acquisition using the concepts of play, perception, modeling, thinking, patterns, and abstraction.
As result of my studies in CEP 818, I gained new perspectives on the ways people learn. Asian attitudes towards learning are very straightforward and focus most often on memorization and long hours of practice. CEP 818 introduced me to the idea that students can learn through combinations of play, perception, modeling, thinking, patterns, and abstractions. I feel this is an important aspect of curriculum development for instructors to have in their courses because helping students develop those skills, no matter what the content of the course is, can be an important part of learning how to learn. No matter what career path students choose, they will almost certainly need to use those skills to become better at what they do.
As result of my studies in CEP 818, I gained new perspectives on the ways people learn. Asian attitudes towards learning are very straightforward and focus most often on memorization and long hours of practice. CEP 818 introduced me to the idea that students can learn through combinations of play, perception, modeling, thinking, patterns, and abstractions. I feel this is an important aspect of curriculum development for instructors to have in their courses because helping students develop those skills, no matter what the content of the course is, can be an important part of learning how to learn. No matter what career path students choose, they will almost certainly need to use those skills to become better at what they do.
Phase 3: Managing a Transition
CEP 818 also gave me the opportunity to analyze multiple features of my interest area and evaluate where and what innovative technology could be useful in enhancing the quality of learning the quality of learning experiences. Activities in the course, like designing my first website, provided me with strong foundational knowledge in design and technology. CEP 818 also helped me re-evaluate my path in education. I started my MAET degree thinking I would focus on aspects of second language acquisition and using technology to help language learners. During the course, though, I became very attracted to the idea of kinesthetic ways of learning.
CEP 818 also gave me the opportunity to analyze multiple features of my interest area and evaluate where and what innovative technology could be useful in enhancing the quality of learning the quality of learning experiences. Activities in the course, like designing my first website, provided me with strong foundational knowledge in design and technology. CEP 818 also helped me re-evaluate my path in education. I started my MAET degree thinking I would focus on aspects of second language acquisition and using technology to help language learners. During the course, though, I became very attracted to the idea of kinesthetic ways of learning.
The idea that people are physically involved in the process of learning is an idea that really resonated with me. It may or may not be a coincidence that soon after taking CEP 818, I started to practice yoga. I started as a student, practicing several times a week but I soon became interested in doing more. I wanted to become an instructor, learning as much as I could about yoga so that I could teach others.
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I was mid-way through my 500-hour yoga teacher training when I took CEP 820: Teaching and Learning Online taught by Dr. Leigh Wolf. Suddenly, I was in a situation where my interests in educational technology and yoga seemed to come together. CEP 820 is a course that deals with the basic principles and tools of teaching online. Students in the course are first asked to explore and become familiar with different web authoring tools and content management systems. They are then asked to select a particular web authoring platform and design a website or series of web pages that could be used to teach a particular lesson. Most of the other students in my course were practicing teachers who already had lessons they wanted teach in an online format. At first I was worried because I didn’t have any lessons in mind but then I realized that this was my opportunity to try to design a course for yoga instruction.
At first, this seemed like a huge challenge. Yoga is generally taught and practiced in a studio – how was I going to design an online course for a physical activity like yoga. After some research, however, I discovered a number of ways I could approach this challenge. For one, I noticed that there are quite a few videos on YouTube and other web services that feature videos of people teaching yoga. The idea is that students can practice the lessons in the videos at home. I realized that the videos online were a good place to start but they lacked a key element of the educational experience: feedback and assessment.
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My goal at that point became simple: to design an online experience for teaching people yoga that also provided a way to give them feedback on their progress. In the end, I designed a WordPress website – youngjin-park.com - that featured a lesson on how to perform and move through a sequence of postures. My key educational technology innovation for this course was to use a digital assessment tool called Coach’s Eye for feedback and assessment. The idea was simple: have students video record themselves performing the postures in the lesson, have them send me the video, use Coach’s Eye to analyze the video and then send the analyzed video back to the students with comments and graphics on what they were doing well and where they could improve. I feel this was an evolution in my thinking about educational technology. I began to think about other tools I could use to make the learning experience more interactive. I also began to seriously think about the particular nature of assessing physical activity and development for students. This, along with the fact that I was nearing the completion of my yoga teacher-training program, led me to think about which elective courses would be most appropriate as I began to reach the end of my program.
Phase 4: Learning a New Posture
One of the final courses I took in the MAET program was KIN 856: Psychosocial Bases of Learning. This course examined the different ways that coaches can help their students and athletes learn and develop habits and skills to achieve higher and higher levels of performance. KIN 855 looked at a variety of core concepts, such as motivation, phases of skill acquisition, and the development of mental habits and skills. The course also examined the role of the coach in helping athletes and students develop their own methods and habits of training, and how coaches can lead groups of athletes while still focusing on the needs of the individuals in their charge. These concepts resonated strongly with me because I was starting to teach yoga classes to a variety of students at different levels of motivation and skill. KIN 855 gave me the theoretical and practical tools to help me understand some of the processes of motivation and the dynamics of working with groups of students who are engaged in physical activity.
Phase 4: Learning a New Posture
One of the final courses I took in the MAET program was KIN 856: Psychosocial Bases of Learning. This course examined the different ways that coaches can help their students and athletes learn and develop habits and skills to achieve higher and higher levels of performance. KIN 855 looked at a variety of core concepts, such as motivation, phases of skill acquisition, and the development of mental habits and skills. The course also examined the role of the coach in helping athletes and students develop their own methods and habits of training, and how coaches can lead groups of athletes while still focusing on the needs of the individuals in their charge. These concepts resonated strongly with me because I was starting to teach yoga classes to a variety of students at different levels of motivation and skill. KIN 855 gave me the theoretical and practical tools to help me understand some of the processes of motivation and the dynamics of working with groups of students who are engaged in physical activity.
KIN 855 introduced me to a very different perspective on the union of mind and body in disciplined physical activities provided me valuable insights into my practice as a yoga practitioner and teacher. The concepts of competition, goals, and benchmarks are not really present in traditional yoga practice so at first I struggled to see the connection between athletics and yoga. When we began to cover mental skills, however, I could see how athletics and yoga share much in common. I learned about the connections that exist between mind and body and how I can use this knowledge to help my students and myself become better yogis and lead fuller lives.
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KIN 855 gave me new insights into the psychological connections between body and mind, and how these connections can play an important role in teaching and learning. KIN 855 was also the first course I had taken in the MAET program that did not have an explicit educational technology component but I still managed to use some of the tools I had learned (like website design) to aid me in my course activities. In a way, I feel that taking this course near the end of my degree program represented a new beginning in my journey to blend my interests in learning, technology, and yoga.
Phase 5: Breathe, Regroup, and Reset
As I end my journey in the Masters in Educational Technology program, I can reflect on just how far I’ve come. The different courses introduced me to many different concepts and concepts that I was unfamiliar with and yet they have played an important role in my evolution as an educator. For one thing, I am much more comfortable with technology. I feel like I am now comfortable not only with different types of technologies, like web authoring tools, but with the idea of using technology to problem-solve issues of teaching and learning.
I also discovered that online education could be just as “people oriented” as face-to-face education. Courses like CEP 818 and CEP 820 were very important in helping me realize the role instructional and technology design principles can play in helping students learn no matter where the learning takes place. When I finally started my CEP 807: Proseminar in educational technology-Capstone course in the spring of 2016, it was interesting for me to see how much my knowledge of educational technology has changed. Aspects from all of my previous MAET courses were used: learning theory, design, project management, creative problem solving, and more. I realized, however, that it was also possible for me now to develop a website that could serve as a central resource for helping my students and my community to better understand who I am, what I can do, and what I believe in terms of education, technology, and life. I want people who come to my website to see me clearly for who I am, and to trust me as someone who has knowledge and experience, both as a teacher and a learner. Finally, I want to work to become a teacher who inspires students to have closer connections between their activities and their thinking.
Thinking about where I started almost five years ago and where I am today is a great feeling. I now have the foundational knowledge and skills to evaluate, learn and integrate new approaches (using technology) into the teaching and learning yoga as mind, body and health. It’s not always the beginning or the end, but the journey and the lesson learned along the way that counts. I will always value my time in the Master of Arts in Educational Technology program – it was a learning experience that changed my life in the most unexpected and amazing ways.
Namaste to you all.
Shanti/Peace
Phase 5: Breathe, Regroup, and Reset
As I end my journey in the Masters in Educational Technology program, I can reflect on just how far I’ve come. The different courses introduced me to many different concepts and concepts that I was unfamiliar with and yet they have played an important role in my evolution as an educator. For one thing, I am much more comfortable with technology. I feel like I am now comfortable not only with different types of technologies, like web authoring tools, but with the idea of using technology to problem-solve issues of teaching and learning.
I also discovered that online education could be just as “people oriented” as face-to-face education. Courses like CEP 818 and CEP 820 were very important in helping me realize the role instructional and technology design principles can play in helping students learn no matter where the learning takes place. When I finally started my CEP 807: Proseminar in educational technology-Capstone course in the spring of 2016, it was interesting for me to see how much my knowledge of educational technology has changed. Aspects from all of my previous MAET courses were used: learning theory, design, project management, creative problem solving, and more. I realized, however, that it was also possible for me now to develop a website that could serve as a central resource for helping my students and my community to better understand who I am, what I can do, and what I believe in terms of education, technology, and life. I want people who come to my website to see me clearly for who I am, and to trust me as someone who has knowledge and experience, both as a teacher and a learner. Finally, I want to work to become a teacher who inspires students to have closer connections between their activities and their thinking.
Thinking about where I started almost five years ago and where I am today is a great feeling. I now have the foundational knowledge and skills to evaluate, learn and integrate new approaches (using technology) into the teaching and learning yoga as mind, body and health. It’s not always the beginning or the end, but the journey and the lesson learned along the way that counts. I will always value my time in the Master of Arts in Educational Technology program – it was a learning experience that changed my life in the most unexpected and amazing ways.
Namaste to you all.
Shanti/Peace