Upon completing my master’s degree, I intend to continue my lifelong learning by participating in formal professional development, informal professional development, and activities related to my personal interests, many of which will involve self-directed-learning (SDL).

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Lifelong learning is a concept I have studied for the past five years. I originally learned about it during my studies at State University of New York, Empire state College (SUNY) and further explored it during my master’s degree at Michigan State University (MSU). There were two classes in which I learned a lot about lifelong learning the first was Human learning: a developmental approach (SUNY). In this class, I learned that in spite of Lifelong learning often being associated with adult education, the fact is that it covers the life span of a learner; from an infant learning by observation, all the way to an adult choosing to use reflective learning technique. The other influential class was Concepts of a learning society (MSU): This course shed new light on the contextual settings of lifelong learning. I got a better understanding of the learning that takes place outside of traditional education, which is often conducted by self-directed-learning and/or online learning. These classes, as well as my other master's courses, helped me become cognitively aware of my own learning. I believe I am better able to choose and appreciate the methods of learning I may use in the future.



My original intention to pursue a doctorate has changed. Nonetheless, after graduating, I intend to continue my formal professional development by studying about teaching and educational psychology. I will consider taking more Annenberg classes from Colorado State University online. I enjoy these courses because they offer high-quality videos on demand and lessons, which are specifically designed for teacher development. I also like the fact that these classes can be completed within a six-month period.



Outside of the formal educational environment, I will use SDL activities. I understand that this is an educational method where learners use their own methods and resources to learn within any setting they choose. I will mostly engage in reading and using technology to enhance my pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, and knowledge of technology in education.



As a member of the American Educational Studies Association, National Council of Social Studies, and the Association of Global Studies I would like to start reading their scholarly journals. Furthermore, I believe that the reading material and digital resources we were assigned in our classes are not meant to be stored away in a box or hidden in a computer folder, never to be seen. These items are also valuable resources that should be used for professional development. During my studies, I amassed a mini library of books and digital content related to education, psychology, philosophy and social studies. The first book on my reading list is Motivation in Education Theory research and application by Dale H. Schunk, Paul R. Pintrich, and Judith L. Meece.



In regard to technology, I will be testing and evaluating software and online applications that could be applicable to my specific teaching contexts. One of the first activities I will be involved in after I graduate is learning about and evaluating software that allows my students to create comic strip or voice enhanced animation. One specific product I am planning to research is CRAZY TALK 7; it is a program that allows students to record their voice and supposedly the rendered animation speaks and makes facial gestures in accordance to what was recorded. I think this program would be good for constructing dialogues in my conversational English classes. 



An important fact about lifelong learning is that we take part in it more often than we think; we do so by engaging in personal pursuits of knowledge that may have nothing to do with academics or work. After graduation, I plan to get back to my little hobby of investing in the stock market. I have designed my own learning activities in order to brush up on my investment skills and get-up-to date on the corporate and global economic landscape. The learning activities I plan to use are analyzing macro-economic events in relation to sectors and individual stocks, researching undervalued stocks and closed-end funds, Reading updated investing books, and watching CNBC and other media to get an idea of what the cheerleaders are touting, so I can do the opposite.

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In conclusion, it will be nice to slow the pace of my formal academic inquiry. However, it seems that I will be very busy with lifelong learning activities.