Conclusion

The goals I listed in the Introduction section were copied from my Letter of Intent I wrote in early 2017 for my M.Ed. program application. Now, almost three years later, looking at these goals again make me believe I have achieved even more than planned.

Provided the character of the program I work for, I was able to suggest some enhancements to it throughout the years. I also believe that it made our students’ experience more enjoyable and improved overall customer service. There are still multiple changes to the program, and it feels like it will be an ongoing process, so I am excited to keep contributing more to it.

I used my practical experience and referred to the CPA programs in almost all of my course assignments, trying to apply all the skills I have. This perfectly fit the M.Ed. program directions, as the program I work for has a distance delivery option. For over these three years I have also been seeing a notable reduction in the in-class enrollment numbers, which made me believe that I had made the right educational choice and no other curriculum could have been better.

This strategic decision will also let me see the forthcoming directions in distance education, the trends and tendencies which will allow me to make the right career choices in the future. I strongly believe that all perspectives of education are developing towards online learning, and I feel I am just in the right stream.

I also believe I have met my networking goal throughout taking the courses in the M.Ed. program and significantly developed my communication skills; however, it will always be work in progress. I have learnt to speak up more and realized the necessity of being more assertive. This will remain my personal improvement focus.                                                                  

Below are my initial goals and achievements.

• Obtain the skills and theoretical knowledge that would allow me to further improve the program I coordinate. The program I work for has always been changing and improving its processes. As it turns out, obtaining this goal is just an ongoing progress, which does not seem to have a final point. I can say that this goal has been achieved, as I have been part of the program improvement process, and, at the same time, it will be accomplishing in the future, because change never comes to an end in my field. I like looking at this dichotomous achievement because it perfectly reflects my Non progredi est regredi belief I talked about in the Introduction part.
• Use the practical experience from work towards my studies (and vise versa). Almost every major assignment I had was related to my work experience and the program I coordinate. It let me see the improvement areas and come up with the initiatives to develop the program further.
• Gain better knowledge of the most recent technological advancements in the area of distance education. The DE technology courses I have taken definitely provided this knowledge. However, I have not been able to take all of the courses I had considered (such as Mobile Learning or Educational Technology Applications). My plan is to enroll in those courses outside of the program, as part of my further professional development.
• Be able to evaluate the trends in distance education and identify the strongest tendencies. The last course I have completed this semester, Openness in Distance Education, helped me see the picture much more clear. There is a lot of evolution in the area of open educational resources, and I believe that the movement towards openness is one of the major directions that education is shifting towards.
• Improve my communication and research skills and get academic writing experience. Throughout the assignments in the course I established some great relationships with my peers and professors; being able to use AU writing support was very helpful.
• Be part of collaborative projects and develop my networking skills. Every course I took had at least one group assignment. I am excited to be part of the AU community and have those connections now.
• Obtain a Canadian degree from a well-established university. Technically, this goal has not been achieved yet, but I am looking forward to the convocation in May and walking up the stage!

Looking at these passages, I now realize that all of these goals (except for the last one, perhaps) are work in progress. Development does not stop at this point, and I will keep doing my best to keep completing these in the future.

My plan is to use my M.Ed. degree to further my career development. I am currently on maternity leave, but once I am back to the workforce, I hope to take the full advantage of my education.

Writing this reflective piece just made me see what directions my educational life will take going forward. Lifelong learning has always been my goal and, as I mentioned in the portfolio introduction section, I have spent over 20 years being a student. Graduation is not going to put a full stop on my studies. Within the program I have not taken all the M.Ed. electives that I wanted to complete. My company supports professional development, and this is going to be my action plan for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

Another field of potential development I would like to pursue is graduate research at Athabasca. I have not had a chance to explore this area while being in the program, trying to focus on my studies, but it has always been one of my interests. As a graduate student, I hope to be able to get involved in the distance education research much more now. 

My plan now is to take a break after the convocation, and start enrolling in the remaining M.Ed. courses outside of the program. This will let keep on my toes, see the trends in the theory of distance education, and fulfill my learning aspirations.

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