In the Education sector, no days are ever the same, and yet somehow teachers, administrators and support staff globally manage to make their classrooms, and schools a safe space for learning for their students. When I began the Applied Digital Learning Program at Lamar University 11 months ago I entered into it assuming I’d learn how to better design curriculum through Learning Management Systems (LMS), but what I got has been so much more. This program gave me the opportunity to grow in my leadership skills, cultivate a true understanding and appreciation for effective digital learning, and, all while developing a growth mindset and instilling a passion for leading educational change. From the first courses taken in the program, I have been challenged to develop not just mastery of the subject matter, but intentional critical thinking skills that have helped improve my daily job functions, but most importantly help shape my mindset to make me better at what I do. 

 

Talking about having to grow in my mindset, reminds me of one of my first assignments in the program for the course 5302: Concepts of educational technology, where we designed a growth mindset plan. It was here that I realized the freedom and ownership that I would have in the program. To say that it was intimidating would be an understatement, especially coming from an Educator background where much of our practices are heavily structured and scripted. The irony is that in creating my plan for my organization, I exposed myself to the areas within myself that also needed change. Taking control of my own voice was certainly not an easy feat. As I worked towards developing my voice and taking ownership over my learning I utilized that growth mindset to help develop my initial proposal for my innovation plan, created in course 5305: Disruptive innovation in technology, to use in my organization. Naturally, when I began the assignment, I looked at it as just “something to complete,” but overtime as I learned more about learning philosophies, learning environments and the professional development needs, I began to realize what my innovation plan could provide to my organization. The support that teachers need to implement ePortfolios into their curriculum is the focus, and having an authentic grasp on their benefits helped give my innovation plan meaning and really helped to drive the organizational change that needed to happen. 

 

Working towards capturing my voice, began to make more sense as I learned the concepts of COVA.  COVA stands for the following:

• Choice: freedom to organize and present our evidence of learning as we see fit.

• Ownership: personal responsibility of our own learning

• Voice: opportunities to reflect learning and share knowledge publicly

• Authentic experiences: the ability to cause change in our own educational workplaces.

 

(Cummings, Harapnuik, & Thibodeaux, 2017, p. 6)

 

Throughout the process of designing and implementing my innovation plan, I have not only developed my leadership skills, but have taken a vested interest in promoting lasting change within my organization, not just behind the scenes, as I’ve done in the past, but out in the front, passionate about the future. It is neither an easy, nor solo process, it requires the support and assistance from others within your organization.  One of the most important things I can do in my role is attempt to spark change by modeling innovative strategies and significant learning environments, rather than preach and lecture about them to other staff members. This type of action will make what I am doing stand out among the routine. I recognize that I may get anxious about leading change, but my vision and the knowledge I’ve learned in the last year in this program are desperately needed in education, so I will continue to lead and model, no matter what position I am in.

Moving forward I will continue to create significant learning environments (CSLE) for both students and my colleagues, keeping the COVA approach at the forefront of that design. COVA is something I have always used, however, my understanding of how that plays a factor into the learning environment created, helps me understand why all of these components must work together for the betterment of the learners. Both the COVA and CSLE methods align with my learning philosophy and support what I work to achieve as an Educator. In fact, these methods have helped me develop a deeper understanding of my cognitive constructivist philosophy. Constructing meaning by having choice, ownership, voice, and authentic experiences and applications seems to be the foundation of creating significant learning environments. I believe that learning is not only an active process, but one that requires purpose, engagement, motivation, and a recognition of the validity of connectivism in today’s digital world. COVA considers the needs of the learner, something that is the foundation to producing not only lifelong learners, but lasting change within an organization.

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References

Harapnuik, D. (2017) CSLE+COVA. Retrieved from  http://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=6988​

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Harapnuik, D. K, Thibodeaux, T. N., & Cummings, C. D. (in press). Creating significant learning environments through choice,

     ownership, voice, and authenticity. Retrieved from http://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=7291

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