I was unsure what to expect when I first entered the virtual classroom for EDLD 5317 (digital resources). Although I am an English teacher and have been writing since my bachelor’s degree, I have never attempted to publish anything. The constant repetition of “you don’t have to be an expert to publish in a subject” was a relief. One of the reasons I wanted to pursue my master’s degree was because I felt as though I needed to know everything. However, I have slowly embraced the learners’ mindset and the online culture of a learners’ community. Once I began to write my rough draft, I couldn’t wait to receive feedback to continue writing my final draft. Interestingly enough, I always tell my students that when they think they’re done with their writing, they are halfway done. I was finally able to take my own advice for the first time since graduating with my bachelor’s of English in 2018.

Once I received my classmates’ feedback within EDLD 5317, I made the necessary adjustments to submit my article for publication. So far, I have received a rejection from education weekly; however, I will continue to take the feedback I receive to improve my article. AI integration in the classroom is a topic that I find interesting, and I feel the need to research to create professional development for educators who don’t have the time to take a deep dive into how AI can be integrated into the classroom. Considering my first rejection from a publication website, I used AI to create a full-length interview to attach to the article and images for the article to make it more appealing to a reader. Until my final draft is picked up by a formal publication site, I made the necessary adjustments to make it grammatically correct and visually appealing.

When creating a media project that engaged my audience, I wanted to create something that would tell a story. However, the struggle of integrating new technology is a story that is not exclusive to me, so I wanted to include other educators in my project. Doing so would demonstrate that this problem plagues every area of the education system while simultaneously demonstrating how AI could pose a solution for educators. The media project gives a five-minute preview that directs the audience to the full publication article if they would like to watch the full 20-minute interview. I used this strategy to drive the audience to read the full final draft of my article.

As I embraced a learner’s mindset, I also embraced my learning community. From the initial draft to the media project, I had numerous opportunities to learn from my peers and support them in their learning journey. One aspect that initially worried me but that I eventually came to appreciate was the online program’s learning community. Technology enabled me to learn from individuals who weren’t physically close to me and to seek assistance in gaining new perspectives that I might not have otherwise encountered. The idea of self-assessment was also new to me when I first began the program in January of 2024, but have embraced it as a part of my learning journey.