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How I became an iMETer:

I was seduced by iMET while visiting CSUS for a CTAP meeting. I had no plans to seek an Internet Masters in Educational Technology. LIfe was already over-full with three kids (one a newborn) and a 60 hour a week staff development job. In the end, I couldn't resist the trio of Larry Hannah, Mike Menchaca, and Bruce McVicker. Problem-based learning (yes!), critical thinking (oohh!), seamless integration of technology tools (ahhh!), Vygotsky...Piaget ...Webquests....Jamie McKenzie.....

They had me at "hello".

I'd planned to go to the Intel "Teach to the Future" trainer-of-trainers conference but quickly gave it up to do the iMET 2 initial face-to-face. It was that important to me to join this life-changing program. We sang, we ate (sharing Buca garlic breath), we bonded as a cohort. The trio not only talked the talk, they walked the walk, modeling best practices in the ways they presented to us and engaged us. The work was challenging, thrilling, and inspiring.

What else could've made me stick with the program through illness, a move to God-forsaken Texas, and numerous other trials? I flew back to California three different times to stay with it! I worked with IMETs 1, 2, 4, and 5 over seven years to get this done. My love for the program and self-concept as an iMETer is a testimony to the trio. Thanks, guys.

My thoughts on different aspects of iMET:

Face-2-Face Meetings: Time to get reenergized by the cohort. Fun, sharing, laughing, and learning. Guitars and eating. Aha moments and sharing the pain of Roy Pea. Striving to be excellent in everything because you knew your peers would be showing something outstanding. Connecting the theoretical and the practical.

Email: Collaborating on projects, sharing frustrations and anxieties. Swapping ideas and perspectives. Getting things done. Getting personal attention from the professors. Giving and getting help.

Tapped In: Where else can you attend grad school in your pajamas while sipping a tasty merlot? Many a night my family thought I was a loon as I laughed at my computer screen or cursed the initial scariness of having to be the recorder for the session. Tapped in was a real place to me, just as surely as if it had four walls. I was fired up and endlessly amused by cow signs and the cabana boy in my office. The portals to other rooms were as cool as the secret passages out of Hogwarts, It was joyful to reconnect with the cohort, to pick their brains and to have them pick mine. It was eye-opening to see how easy it was to learn and work across distance. I use Tapped In all the time in my own work with students and teachers now.

Phorum: A very efficient way to think, share with, and respond to others. Unlike the other aspects of iMET, Phorum allowed for more thoughtful reflection and feedback. It was a great complement to the intensity of Tapped-In. Again, I've incorporated newsgroups into my current work. It is especially effective for the book study/book club projects with which I'm involved.

Favorite iMET "Aha!" momemts

• § Larry's database strategies and lesson ideas and how they connect to Taba's work on concept attainment. This became an important part of the Integration Academy staff development I designed.
• § Looking at the "digital divide" issues and realizing that I could do more to level the playing field for students and parents without technology access at home. I became involved in the City of Roseville's efforts to develop a community technology center and worked for the Educate the Children Foundation, becoming their national teacher of the year in 2000.

The iMET program has been of tremendous value to me both professionally and personally. I treasure the friendships I made and the learning experiences I enjoyed. My next challenge will be to earn a PhD from the University of North Texas in computer education and cognitive systems.