I was hooked into teaching after being involved with students as a coach for five years. The things that make you a successful coach are many of the same things that make you a successful teacher. Trusting, believing in, and encouraging the students to learn all they can for whatever future they may choose - as a lifelong process.

At the front of the classroom was that same girl - asking question after question: "How would you use that if you were an electrician? If you were a coach? When do you use it?"

Most times, being that girl made me feel engaged with the person sharing the knowledge - those questions often sparked enlightening discussions that involved the entire room; other times I felt the presence of many who wanted my questions to stop. But didn't everyone need to know how, why, what, where and when?!

Learning and education has always been an interactive and personalized experience for me. Sometimes my teachers and professors made it happen, but if they didn't, I related the information that way myself. Real world scenarios and authenticity was (and is) important to my learning, and it is important in my teaching.

As a transplant from the business world into the field of education, I am a very strong proponent of a vocational philosophy. I am all about authentic learning. If you can simulate an authentic situation, it makes the learning more meaningful. Even better, tie the learning to something personal like future plans of the students. Not only are they more likely to see the need to learn it, but they will have a better chance of remembering it when they need it.

"Stephanie, I think that I might be a computer geek." (1998) "Jan, you have always been a computer geek. It's just that most of the time you didn't have a computer!"

Computers have always intrigued me - even when studying about ENIAC! Sometimes I see adults shying away from new releases of software, or trying something completely new and different. Students on the other hand are willing to dig right in - I guess I'm still a kid at heart because I do too. Keeping up with the lastest and greatest technological developments and their uses means that the I will be able to share that information with my students and colleagues. Integrating these new technologies into simulations for the students means that they will have some exposure to industry standard software, and an idea of how it can be used - hopefully they will see the possibilities.

Technology for its own sake has no real value - but the value that it can provide is priceless

My willingness to take on computer tasks as part of a job helped me get many jobs. Things employers wanted to accomplish could be facillitated by using computer technology - they knew it was needed, and so was someone to figure out how to make it work.

The students that come through my classroom are not likely to all become programmers, stenographers, multimedia production technologists, or commercial web designers. Learning these skills, and how they are applied to authentic career situations will give them an opportunity to learn how to get a desired output from any software. Software they learn now, will be outdated soon - it is not the knowledge of the program that I want them leave with, it is learning to triumph over the technology; not to know all of the answers, but to know where to go, and how to find those answers. I want them to feel the joy of making technology dance for them - when they need it to.

Brody: You're gonna need a bigger boat. (Jaws)

At the rate that technology moves, we are all going to need bigger boats! On this voyage through the Information and Learning Technologies program, I have learned so very much from everyone! On my first day I was so worried that I would be "out-geeked" by all of the others in the group. They would laugh at that statement because I was the geek - and proud of it! It has been an incredible ride with all of the professors and cohort members alike. It has been a focus on great learning experiences, and making good ones even better. Working with others of all disciplines has given me insights that I can certainly use in my new position next year of part time building technology support.

I have been enrolled in classes continuously since I began my career as a professional educator, and I so enjoy the teaching and the learning, and now I'm now wondering - what will I get myself into next?!

Jan L. Hulstrom