Digital Learning and Leading Synthesis
Image Source: Canva
“How can you know what you’re capable of if you don’t embrace the unknown?” –Esmerelda Santiago. Throughout my adult life, I have felt an internal struggle between making a living and following my heart. Most of the time, practicality has persevered over personal gratification; however, I am moving into a stage of life where the opportunities to explore and experience new beginnings are quickly dwindling. The time to act is now, or there may not be another chance. What was I meant to do? What should I take a chance on? Twenty months ago, this type of curiosity prompted me to enter the Digital Learning and Leading program through Lamar University.
I have always felt I could do more and be more, but I was never quite sure where to begin. As an educator browsing the internet and reading through different graduate school offerings, I considered programs such as counseling, administration, reading specialist, and even diagnostician work, but none of them stood out to me until I stumbled upon the details of my recent coursework. Digital Learning and Leading sounded like an area that would be in high demand, and the descriptions of the coursework seemed new and intriguing. I knew right away that this was the path I wanted to take. The info graphic below details the coursework I completed throughout my journey.
The first couple of classes, EDLD 5302-Concepts of Educational Technology and EDLD 5303-Applying Educational Technology Portfolio, were light and fun. I thoroughly enjoyed the way the program gave us time to explore various technology tools and applications before we dove into the true execution pieces of the program. Throughout those ten weeks, we assessed our current leadership abilities, expanded on our professional learning networks, created an authentic digital assessment tool, described our philosophies on learning, and selected a digital platform to showcase our completed work. At this point, the program shifted its focus to the areas we would need to master in order to evolve into digital leaders.
Once we entered specific content areas in connection with the program, it was time to get serious, and the rigor and expectations were not for the weak-minded. We worked ceaselessly to apply the readings and theories in connection with bigger plans and illustrated our ideas with technology tools. Keep in mind that we were never specifically told how to demonstrate our learning for each objective as the program was facilitated with the COVA approach (Harapnuik, 2018). Finally, we were required to post updates to our ePortfolios; essentially, each and every assignment required at least three steps every week. Each task was both a challenge and a struggle, but the end result has shaped us into the innovators we will need to be moving forward.
The first transformation course we encountered was EDLD 5305-Disruptive Innovation in Education. The focus of this course was the identification of a disruptive innovation to utilize as a vehicle to initiate change within our organization. My takeaways from the first two courses in the program directed me toward ePortfolios since I felt it was such a versatile tool and one that would help to build technology fluency in all the students that we serve. After selecting my topic and compiling an ample amount of research into a literature review, I drafted a proposal to guide me as I worked to implement this innovation within my District.
Since the implementation phase requires a person to be courageous and lead change initiatives even when it appears to be unpopular, the next course in the sequence was EDLD 5304-Leading Organizational Change. The objectives in this module took us through various readings and assessments that guided us through the process of establishing a Why for our innovation plan, the Influencer strategy (Grenny, 2013) for leading organizational change, and finally a 4DX presentation. By completing the readings and projects in connection with 5304, I learned that an effective leader is not afraid to stand alone when making organizational changes and remains emotionally controlled when a decision is deemed incorrect by members of their organization. Leaders such as this do not let the drama created by others in the workplace affect their chosen course of action. They stay the course and maintain boundaries to help remain focused on their goal. In addition to being strong through the storms of organizational change, it is important to make heart-to-heart connections with your staff. Learn about them, connect with them, and outwardly appreciate the work they do, so they will work for you rather than against you when the stakes are high. After acquiring a strong grasp of how to work with the adults in the building, it was time to figure out how I was going to package the plan for the students.
This led me to EDLD 5313-Creation of Significant Learning Environments (CSLE) and constructivist learning theories. The learning material I encountered here was by far the hardest course for me since I had to think about the implementation process of my innovation plan from a different or backward design method. Thankfully, our professor introduced us to Understanding by Design (UbD) (Wiggins & McTighe, 2015), and this along with Fink’s 3-Column Model helped us through the process of creating an outline to lay the groundwork for the implementation of our innovation plans. Although my plan seemed promising at this point, the studies I completed in the next course, proved otherwise.
The plan I initially crafted provided a solid rationale for the implementation of ePortfolios, but I quickly learned in EDLD 5314-Digital Learning in Local and Global Contexts that it takes more than an instructional plan to set change in motion. After reading through the documentation on the Eskwela Project (UNESCO, 2009), I came to the realization that I needed to address issues such as the technology provisions that will have to be in place to provide the access and connectivity necessary to support the initiative along with considering the technological fluency of the staff who will be facilitating the instruction to the students. Despite the fact that my plan seemed like a great one, I quickly realized that I “got the cart before the horse.” This prompted me to conduct further research and revise my initial writings to produce a second Literature Review. The diagram below was part of the inspiration that guided me as I modified my work.
*Image Source: ICT and Innovative Schools
After going back to the drawing board and documenting the enhancements that needed to be made to the plan, it was time to move forward and create a measurement strategy in EDLD 5315-Assessing Digital Learning and Instruction to help me to gage the success of my innovation plan. After reading through The Digital Writing Workshop (Hicks, 2009), and Action Research: Improving Schools and Empowering Educators (Mertler, 2016). I decided that conducting yearly pre and post assessments would be the best way to measure the impact of a digital writing initiative. I compiled my research into a third literature review, and an action research plan. Even though the course concepts were rather difficult at the time, I was excited to discover new literature to utilize as I implemented my innovation plan.
The next stop in my digital learning adventure was one that is necessary for ALL stakeholders in a school district to consider as they work and play online, digital citizenship. After completing the readings in connection within EDLD 5316-Digital Citizenship, I discovered there are many dangers and legal concerns that most people are unaware of as they work and play on the internet. This elevated sense of awareness prompted me to create an educational booklet for the students on my campus in hopes that they will be more cautious with their internet activity and monitor their digital footprint more closely.
The final three course in the rotation EDLD 5317, 5318, and 5388 revolved around designing instruction and sharing my learning with other educators. In EDLD 5317-Resources for Digital Environments, I worked to draft an article in hopes of having it published on the TCEA website. Due to the private nature of writing for publishing, I have not posted my article on my site, and I am still waiting for a response from the company. Fingers crossed. Even though I can’t share the entire article, you may view a glimpse of my article trailer which provides an overview of the nuts and bolts of my writing.
In 5318-Instructional Design in Online Learning, I utilized some of the same foundations I learned in 5313 to design an online writing course for students to work through in connection with their ePortfolios. The unit contains a series of writing prompts that can be used in connection with the reading of any novel, and chose Schoology as a learning management system to organize the assignments, videos, and reading assignments for the students. Recently, I have discovered that online instructional design skills are in demand, and I am thankful to have experience in this area to add to my resume.
The last piece of the puzzle came into play during EDLD 5388-Effective Professional Learning. I have to say this course completely changed my world. I never knew that professional learning could be facilitated in a format other than a “sit and get” with a boring PowerPoint presentation. My exposure to the “Go and Show” method of PL prompted me to create an extensive professional development plan in connection with my innovation plan, and I was so excited about it that I shared it with the training staff at my central office. I haven’t been to many trainings this year since I have accumulated most of my PD credits through graduate coursework, but it is my hope that my plan is beneficial to other teachers in my District who dread PD due to the boredom that is often associated with it.
Now that I am in the last week of the capstone course, EDLD 5320, it doesn’t feel real that my journey is ending. I have gone through so many emotions this week such as stress, frustration, feeling hopeless, and excitement when my graduation robe came in the mail. I’m pretty sure my family thinks I am silly for wanting to drive to Beaumont and walk the stage at my age, but I don’t feel my journey will be complete until I shake the hands of those who have guided me along this path to my Master’s Degree in Digital Learning and Leading. I hope to finally meet Dr. Harapnuik, Dr. Thibodeaux, Dr. Ibarra, Dr. Meeuwse, and others I know I’m forgetting, so that I may thank them for helping me achieve my goal and for inspiring me along the way.
References
Grenny, J. (2013). Influencer: The new science of leading change. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
Harapnuik, D. (2018, March 22). COVA model. Retrieved from http://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=6615http://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=6615
Hicks, T. (2009). The digital writing workshop. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Lamar University. (2018). Online M.Ed. in Digital Learning and Leading. Retrieved from https://degree.lamar.edu/programs/master-of-education-in-digital-learning-and-leading.aspxhttps://degree.lamar.edu/programs/master-of-education-in-digital-learning-and-leading.aspx
McChesney, C., Covey, S., & Huling, J. (2016). The 4 disciplines of execution achieving your wildly important goals. New York: Free Press.
Mertler, C. A. (2017). Action research: Improving schools and empowering educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
UNESCO. (2009). ESkwela: Community-based E-learning centers for out-of-school youths and adults, philippines. Retrieved from https://luonline.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-5512422-dt-message-rid-21792752_1/xid-21792752_1
