This course has challenged me to create an academic article with the intent to publish it. The article I created is about the power of implementing digital portfolios in all levels of education, which is directly tied to my innovation plan. Creating this article provided me the chance to organize all my ideas, recommendations, and concerns into one place. During this process, I interviewed teachers at my CTE campus to get their respective opinions on incorporating digital portfolios in their classrooms, and I got feedback from my group throughout the writing process.

At the beginning of this course, I questioned why I would ever want to submit an article to be reviewed for the possibility of being published. During the group discussions, I came to realize how being "published" and having a peer-reviewed article would legitimize my innovation plan and be taken by my principal and district administration if I were to actually get real and lasting buy-in from my district to implement digital portfolios.

This course allowed for collaboration between my Group 6 peers, who included Christopher Highberg, Adaliz Barroso-Torrado, and Paula Brasfield. They reviewed each step in the writing process and helped spur ideas via weekly discussion topics and I participated in reviewing their writing process and group discussion via google docs #1, #2, #3, #4, & #5. I started this course by creating a Publication Outline, which explained how I would implement portfolios that are appropriate and tailored to the students' needs, as well as the benefits of digital portfolios. This outline led to the creation of a Publication Rough Draft, which I was given feedback on by my group in a comined evaluation that produced my grade for that assignment in class. After a few minor tweaks I finished my final publication.

This course allowed me to create a media project that would show how teachers could benefit and the "real-world" application of my innovation plan and my article. I am a visual person, and this media project will grab the attention of my audience to create interest in reading my article. The media project was a fun way to be creative when trying to get someone to read my article. In creating this panel-style interview, I enlisted the help of the video teacher (Mr. Williams) at my CTE center. We searched around for a suitable backdrop that wouldn't be distracting, and after looking for an hour, we landed on the windows looking outside in his classroom. The only problem was that you could barely see through all the mud on the outside. So the day of the interview, I was out washing those huge windows on my lunch break. Also, the windows were huge and let in a lot of light, so we had to use Mr. Williams' professional lighting. It all helped to make the interview feel more professional. Many of the teachers even asked for a copy after I was done editing. In preparing for the interview, I had to email a few teachers and give them plenty of notice, and even had to find a replacement due to scheduling conflicts. I was probably bordering on being annoying due to emailing them reminders. To make sure they were prepared, I emailed them the 3 questions I asked in the interview and even printed out my cue card, which I barely followed during the interview. I even froze when I came across the word "continuity." Luckily, Mrs. Gray, sitting next to me, repeated the question so the viewer would understand. Creating this article and media project was very effective in sharing my ideas, resources, benefits, and anecdotal experiences with other educators, and it was something that I enjoyed creating.

During the discussion video with my group, I realized the importance of addressing the fact that using technology in an educational setting can be productive but I wanted to address the ugly side of technology as well. By reading the book: The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt, I was made aware of the harm that technology can cause. So I decided to add a section to the final draft of my article titled: Balancing Technology Use: Digital Portfolios in the Classroom, Not at Home. In this section, I tried to convey what Haidt had so eloquently put in his book. In reading this book, I realized how important it is to view things from all angles. I realize this is a master's in "applied digital learning" but looking at the pros and cons of all forms of technology just makes me more informed and prepared to address all concerns from administrators to parents when I am trying to implement a digital portfolio at all levels of education.