ED5302 - 95/100 ED5305 - 45/50
ED5302 and ED5305 are the first two courses I have taken in the ADL program, and while at times the workload was challenging I am glad that these two courses were paired together. This is not the first graduate level program I have taken, so the rigor of graduate level work did not come as a surprise, but the structure of this program seems unlike any other I have taken before! Whether a student opts for the traditional route of 1 class at a time or the accelerated track of 2 courses at a time, the courses seem to build off of each other beautifully. This structure is exactly what made taking both courses together so beneficial, the overlap. At times when I found myself a bit unclear on a concept, the other course seemed to provide the answers, and when it did not, the collaboration from my classmates helped fill in the gaps.
Starting the course, I quickly gravitated towards individuals who were on the accelerated track along with me and created a GroupMe for us to communicate as a group. With GroupMe, we exchanged ideas, had regular check-ins and discussed progress on current or upcoming assignments. We would collaborate on assignments to exchange feedback and work together to make corrections. In addition to the GroupMe, we held weekly Zoom sessions to discuss assignments, brainstorm ideas, discuss feedback given from the Professors and offer genuine encouragement to one another. The group collaboration becomes a life line, especially when you work full time and balance other life responsibilities. Each of my group members, Angela Upshaw, Herman Bibbs and Rajalique Mccowin work in different aspects of education, which helped pull in different perspectives. An added benefit is that Rajalique has already taken 5302, so she held a depth of knowledge and advice to give the group, not to mention best practices and ideas for assignments.
In ED5302, Concepts of Educational Technology, the foundation of the course is built around the concept of understanding growth versus fixed mindsets, beginning with the creation of a Growth Mindset Plan to implement with our students. With that implementation we also reflected on what we found important in our own learning journey and created a Learning Manifesto and were able to share some of that knowledge with other individuals in our field or with similar interests through the Learning Networks we joined. Towards the end of the course we worked on creating our own ePortfolios, which will continue to grow and evolve throughout this program.
In ED5305, Disruptive Technology in Education, the foundation of the course centers around our Innovation Plan. With the innovation plan we looked at areas within our current organization that we believe would benefit from a disruptive form of innovation and created an Innovation Proposal to share with colleagues and employers. To support our plan we looked at the research and composed a Literature Review that serves as evidence for the necessity and purpose behind our proposal. Lastly, we created an Implementation Outline as a timeline that serves as a road map for our Innovation Plan.
Throughout both courses, the videos and articles assigned within the modules by Dr. Harapnuik and Dr. Bedard are crucial to understanding the material and being efficient in implementing these components yourself. In addition to the weekly readings and videos I watched for each course, I also read the required book for 5305, Blended, and used the discussion questions in the back of the book to deepen my understanding in what I read. For 5302, I read Mindset, and was able to refresh my understanding of growth mindsets. To stay on top of assignments and ensure authentic engagement, I completed all assignments before the due dates, and participated in every discussion board post for both classes. I also attended all live Zoom sessions with both Dr. Harapnuik and Dr. Bedard.
Reflecting on these past 8 weeks, I can honestly say that I gave each assignment and discussion my best effort, being open and receptive to feedback and was comfortable with making mistakes. As I move through the program I will work on not over analyzing the instructions for assignments, and allow myself more creative expression. I am excited to see what is ahead in the next set of classes and how each class comes together to connect everything in this program!
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