There are those that dream, and those who do not. If I dream, I am either unaware or unable to remember. When I came into the MAED program at Michigan State University, I had no dream; only the inspiration that comes with wanting to improve ones’ station in life. I was a non-creative individual, that saw no place as his home. Six years ago, I decided to move to China. I was knowledgeable of the culture, language, and people, yet I did not feel at home when I arrived. I longed for a return to America, but at the same time, saw no future for myself there. Unsure of my future, I decided that entering the MAED program would be the fastest way for me to reach my goal of becoming a principal. What never occurred to me, was that I would actually learn something that was both valuable and life-affirming along the way. Slowly, I learned to dream in new and exciting ways.​

Wormholes are theoretical, but distance learning is real; yet both can send you across space and time. I have always enjoyed the physical environment of a classroom. I am by nature a teacher. So when the opportunity came for me to enter the MAED program, I was initially out of my element. Distance learning can never duplicate the physical interaction of teacher and student. This interaction, something I wholeheartedly enjoy, is the fibre of what makes the classroom great for me. Not technology, or a whiteboard, or even books for that matter, are in my opinion, equal to this interaction. In entering this program, my traditional classroom enjoyment was replaced by a 1280 x 800 display, with no laugh lines or freckles. “How would I get on”, I asked myself.

Initially, the workload was tedious and bothersome. During this entire process, I had a very busy schedule. I averaged 20 classes a semester at my international high school, and at least two masters classes each semester. Remember, I got into the program to get a masters degree in the fastest way imaginable, so I put myself on a four semester schedule. This schedule nearly drove my fiancee and myself apart. Sacrifices were needed in order to maintain sanity in the process. I worked during all hours, didn’t allow myself to play video games for an entire year, and usually put my fiancee on the back burner. I will always be apologetic to her for this period in our life. However, we are still together and stronger than ever, and I feel for the most part, that the hectic schedule really made me concentrate more on the task at hand.

Over time, I really became accustomed to the style of distance learning. One thing that I highly enjoyed was being able to work on things while everyone else was asleep in America. China is twelve hours ahead of eastern standard time. That meant when a module was opened, it was usually during the middle of the day for me, which allowed me to get a head start on the work. Additionally, when others would respond to something, I usually benefitted from the fact that a significant amount of them had already responded. This allowed me to read everything thoroughly, and not worry about being the first to respond.

Another interesting part of online learning that I enjoyed, was the access to literature made possible by the program. While I did have some classes, that I needed to have the book sent from America; for most classes the literature was posted on the class website. This allowed me to easily print out the material, highlight it, and use it as a source on the many required essays. I read less overall in terms of the number of pages than for my history degree, but I had many more authors; thereby a great deal of synthesizing was necessary. This ability to synthesize details quickly and efficiently is a very valuable tool for the future.

Truthfully, my online learning experience varied from class to class. There were some classes in which I felt a real connection to the professor and other students in the class. CEP816 with Professor Rand Spiro was one of those classes that required us to interact daily with other students. These requirements never felt robotic, because the other students had passionate responses. Being the only student from China in the class at the time, I always took a Chinese perspective to the question, which allowed the other students to provide me with some interesting feedback. In other classes, however, I felt as if my soul was being slowly vaporized by the radiation of my display. While this might be over-dramatizing the sentiment; the online learning model of posting a module with twenty readings, that require a final synthesized essay, all while having no interaction between students, needs to die a slow death. When there is no human interaction, it really makes learning difficult.

I will never be the biggest proponent of online learning. However, I would be lying if I said this program did nothing for me. I have grown leaps and bounds both creatively and academically. In terms of creativity, it all started with my first class CEP882 with Professor David Wong. This class challenged me to think in ways that I had never tried before. I always had the mindset of the dumb jock in high school, because that was what my father promoted. I never played an instrument, drew pictures, or even read anything interesting in high school. With this class, I was challenged to find what made movies, music, pictures, among other things compelling. Then I had to apply all that I learned to my own creativity. At the end of the day, I realized that I was one of the most creative people in the class. Thus I was extremely proud of my accomplishments.

In truth, after CEP 882, I became determined to apply creativity to everything I do. It most likely affected me greater than any class that I have had prior or since. My thinking changed in one simple way. While before, I might think about what is the most efficient way of accomplishing task, now I think about how I can prioritize creativity. And it extends outside of the classroom as well. For example, I am determined to begin writing things. Everyday I am jotting down ideas for books and screenplays. I began this program to become a principal, and in the end it has made me more determined to be a writer. I would determine any educational experience that increases intrinsic motivation in a student to be successful.

Another class in which I extended my creativity further, and combined it with my teaching curriculum was CEP818 with Professor Punya Mishra. This class was done in combination with the book Sparks of Genius: The Thirteen Thinking Tools of the World's Most Creative People, which was easily my most favorite book or reading that I had over the course of the program. It detailed many of the most creative people in the history of the world, and the unique things they did with their creativity. In addition to the book, the class was set up in modules based around concepts in the book such as abstracting or synthesizing that are important aspects to creativity. For the class project, I decided to create a creativity curriculum for Chinese students going abroad. My principal was kind enough to allow me to put the curriculum into practice and it has been a smashing success so far. The students have enjoyed the modules, because they are so different from the typical learning that takes place in the Chinese education system. All in all, I found this class immensely enjoyable.

As much as creativity is important to my future, as well as the future of my students, it is nothing without the academic prowess to put it all together. My writing, vocabulary, and comprehension of academic concepts have improved dramatically. I think my writing has really improved, specifically in terms on making my ideas concise. Both ED800 with Professor Steve Weiland and EAD860 with Professor Riyad Shahjahan had a great influence on this. Coming from a history background, in which you might have 30 sources and be required to write a 40 page paper, it was a real shock writing the concise papers required in both of these classes. And while I believe that word count limits do in fact limit creativity and ultimately box people in, they really do force you to stay on task. Moreover, both classes required reading sometimes up to 15 sources per module, thereby making synthesizing information in a concise manner also extremely valuable. So for our modern internet world, with short attention spans, these classes were very important.

One major change that distinguishes me now from when I was in high school, is the simple fact that I read everything given to me. In fact, I don’t actually remember finishing a book in high school. I estimate that I have read 4000 pages over the course of this program. That means I have read over 1.5 million words in that timeframe! Therefore, I have no doubt that my vocabulary and concept comprehension have improved. I would say that in some of my classes, especially the ones with high amounts of required readings and little student to student interaction, the literature was my real teacher. In truth, this is how it should be, although it does call into question the need for a teacher at all. After all, Benjamin Franklin and Leonardo da Vinci were autodidacts, and they turned out ok.

Last but not least, I have highly enjoyed making the website for ED 870 with Professor Mathew Koehler. While I have always been good at technology, all of the tinkering and learning new techniques have really gave me confidence in working with technology. I have really come away with two common understandings. First, technology comes in many different formats, and there is no single format that is best; only the one that you are most comfortable with. For example, some in my group liked using Google to make their website, even though I found it to be much more complicated. Second, while I might believe something looks good, others might not have the same opinion, and vice versa. Additionally, having someone in my group who is color blind has made me cognizant of the fact. I have very good eyes, which I depend on a lot, so I have a difficult time putting myself into his shoes. Either way, his perspective had tremendous impact on me.

In a little over a year and a half, I have traversed space and time. It feels to be about the same distance to Mars. Of course, this is just hyperbole. But is it really? Through distance learning, I was able to do all of things that I accomplished this year from China. The space is indeed different, but technology is making it less and less each day. And while time is just representative of where you are at any given point, it really comes down to the difference between blue skies and moonlight. One day that journey will take only a couple of hours. In my opinion, distance learning is the future of learning. While I much prefer the interaction of a brick and mortar classrooms, there is no denying the ease and accessibility of distance learning. But even this interaction that I so craved during these four semesters, through soon to be released technology, is right around the corner. We already have Skype. The next step is to have every member in the class connected to a video monitor. This will provide a more humanistic interaction.

I am very grateful for being allowed to enter the MAED program. It has changed my very core, and influenced my outlook on life. My only regret is that I wish I would have done it sooner. Maybe I would have been sitting on a beach somewhere writing a book now instead. That is highly unlikely. I very much enjoy being a teacher, and I truly believe this program made me a better one. Hopeful, I can take the life lessons learned from the program and apply it to my future career as an administrator.