As an established educator, Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) candidate Elicia Bullock brings 16 years of professional experience to her studies and intentional research at the MSU College of Education. Though her career in education draws on a love of science and chemistry, and an undergraduate degree in education, Bullock’s path to the MAET program is a nonlinear one.
Raised in northern British Columbia, Bullock traveled abroad to earn a B.Sc. in Forensic Science at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. Returning to Canada, she earned a B.A. in Education from Simon Fraser University, at which point she began her career as an international educator. After spending two years in Canada following graduation, Bullock went abroad to Kazakhstan and China, where she served in various instructional roles: science and chemistry educator and instructional coach. Currently, Bullock is the Ed Tech and Innovation Coach at the Saltus Grammar School in Bermuda, drawing on her experience as a science educator to bridge the gap between instruction and digital innovation.
With her wealth of instructional experiences and opportunities abroad, why choose MSU for her continued education?
“When it came time to specialize in ed tech, MSU was the clear choice,” Bullock shared. “While the program’s reputation is highly regarded, it was the curricular flexibility that sealed the deal. The ability to choose from a diverse range of courses allowed me to tailor my learning to my personal interests and the specific, evolving needs of international schooling.”
Exploration and application
As an educational technology professional, it is fitting that Bullock’s interest in education grew out of experiences in the lab.
“While serving as a teaching assistant for upper-level science courses during my undergrad,” she reflected, “I realized I enjoyed sparking a love for exploration just as much as the science itself.”
Within the MAET program, Bullock follows her foundational passion for exploration by working on design processes to solve problems.
She shared that “learning to empathize, define the problem and iterate solutions has helped me think more deeply about how others might see a problem, giving me respect for being able to see multiple solutions to work through.”
From classroom to classroom
The Educational Technology graduate certification she’s earned through the MAET program and her current educational technology coaching position have given Bullock the opportunity to implement her studies in real time in her current classroom environments.
In their use of technology, Bullock is intentionally guiding educators to think beyond “substitution,” challenging them to consider “redefinition.” Rather than simply substituting paper for a screen, Bullock empowers educators to instruct students to use technology in a globally collaborative way, solving complex problems.
“My work,” she says, “ensures that our students aren't just consumers of tech, but creators prepared for an increasingly digital workforce.”
To prepare this future workforce and those training them, Bullock challenges the notion of students as “digital natives” – experts in technology, having been raised surrounded by it – simply because they are social media users. She identifies this discrepancy as a distinction between digital literacy and digital fluency, where students often lack the necessary skills to critically evaluate information or use technology for complex problem-solving.
Yet, she is determined to solve the problem, drawing on her studies at the college.
“My MSU experience is preparing me by providing a research-based foundation in how people actually learn with media, giving me the tools to design curricula that build true digital resilience in students.”
Bullock celebrates the opportunity to share her work and the importance of studying educational technology.
To someone outside of education, this work might look like 'playing with gadgets,' but it is actually about future-proofing the next generation. We are living in an era where information is infinite, but the ability to apply it creatively is rare. My work matters because we aren't just teaching kids how to use software; we are teaching them how to think critically and creatively in a digital landscape. We are giving them the agency to not just live in the future, but to actively build it.
To learn more about ways to support future-proofers and innovators like Bullock, please contact Senior Director of Development Tonya Frisbey at 517-432-0417 or frisbey2@msu.edu.