Johnathon Shaw

Technology reflection

Technology is ever changing, and so I would place myself in the foundational element of

this competency. I have experience with Microsoft Office as well as Google, but I know that I do

not utilize either to their fullest potential. I know that technology is an integral part of the

workplace and it is a cornerstone of the modern student’s education. Even as a secondary

education major in undergrad, I knew that I had a lot to learn about technology and how to use it

effectively.

I would place myself at the purely foundational level. However, through my graduate

assistantship I am gaining more experience with spreadsheets, social media communications,

data entry, and other technological skills. I have already become more knowledgeable with

technology and will continue to learn a lot from my job in the Leadership and Involvement

Center. One particular area I am learning in is the UGetConnected platform, which is a platform

for students to volunteer with various agencies who post needs. This platform is a partnership

between UW-La Crosse, Viterbo University, Western Technical College, and the United Way.

This platform allows me, as an agency manager, to track students’ volunteer hours, post needs,

assign students to those needs, and a wide range of other interesting abilities I am just now

learning about. This opportunity has greatly benefitted me, as I now can retrieve quantitative

data for various student outreach programs and other volunteer opportunities.

Over the two years of this program my tech competency has increased through the

usage of the UGetConnected platform, Qualtrics, and the use of Canvas. I have learned how to

operate these systems through my assistantship in the Leadership and Involvement Center, and

as a TA for the First Year Experience program here at UWL. I have learned how to create

volunteer needs and pull the responses on UGetConnected, allowing me to see how many

students attended a specific event. This ties in with my assessment reflection in that this data
Johnathon Shaw

allowed me to use the data to create more intentional programing experiences by refining what

the student population responded to. Additionally, I learned how to populate surveys in Qualtrics

and read and understand the data while providing an assessment of the REC center. These

technology skills have not come naturally to me, and they are something I had to spend

additional hours learning and developing. Finally, over the Fall of 2020 semester, I was a TA for

the First Year Experience course. Early on in the semester the professor sadly and

unexpectedly passed away, and while she was replaced fairly quickly, it feel to me to become

the primary point of contact for a short period of time and to catch the professor up. This was my

first experience using the back end of Canvas, looking at things from the perspective of the

instructor. I had to learn how to upload and unlock various modules, to import and export

documents, and to make sure that items were properly formatted so that when students viewed

them, the documents were actually readable. This was a very powerful experience for me, as it

was a “sink or swim” moment. I would say that my skill in technology has increased. You will be

able to find the Qualtrics survey and a copy of a UGetConnected Report under the artifacts

section.