Contributions, 5305

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Innovation Course

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Contributions to learning and learning community.

I am giving myself a score of 45 out of 50

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Crediting Group Members: Deena B., Lorena R., and , Jose V.

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Key and Supporting Contributions

Reflecting on my first course in the Applied Digital Learning program makes me realize how far I have come since those first painful weeks. I sincerely hate to admit it, but the painful process of learning how to do new things is indeed working. I cannot accurately describe how many times I would start a new assignment and think there is no way. I have figured out to do so many new things (like the Innovation Proposal, Literature Review, Implementation Outline, and Digital Story). I learned so much by fighting my way through it. Reading and watching YouTube videos on how to use a new technology or write in a new way paid off.

I do not generally submit assignments against a deadline for fear of technology failure or other interruptions. I posted all of my discussions and feed-forward projects by their posted deadlines to allow enough time for group mates and classmates to respond so that I could make revisions and edits in time for the final deadline. Through this opportunity for reflection, I realized that I tended only to share where there are required feedback obligations. Still, if I was less insecure about feeling lost, I may have had earlier opportunities for clarity.

I wish the discussion thread were instead a group chat to share our ideas and understandings in a single location verse trying to scroll through posts repeatedly. Most of the discussions seem to remain somewhat surface level when I know there is more depth we would find through the back and forth more real-time conversations. 

I completed every course reading, video, and supportive resource throughout the semester. Often I wondered exactly how far down the rabbit trail I could fall following links. Sometimes I wondered if that was the real test to see how far and deep we would travel. I have attempted to absorb and synthesize every piece of information provided to help alleviate my insecurity with these new topics and tasks. I return to previous sources and discover a new meaning or more profound understanding each time I rewatch/review them. I have found new content, followed new links and information, and re-watched so much content throughout the semester. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to watch until I finally understood. The whole concept of flipped learning has become an interest of mine to provide solutions to my advising unit, colleagues, and, most importantly, to my advisees due to my own experience learning by doing.   

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I was a late bloomer, finally having an epiphany moment with how everything ties together and how the all the revisions along the way provided the foundation for learning and growth. There were so many revisions of the components that led to this innovation proposal compilation. Undoubtedly, there will be more revisions as I learn more and accumulate more skills to create more dynamic and engaging content. 

While I was not citing APA correctly in my initial discussion posts, I have learned so much about proper citations since. I am sure that I still make citation errors, but I have learned so much through the weekly posts and the assignments throughout this initial course. When classmates had questions, I made additional supportive postings in the student lounge and student/faculty lounge.

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Learning Community Key and Supporting Contributions

I participated in all activities this semester. I would have attended more because every meeting provided clarity and community. I took a leadership role and sent multiple email correspondences to potential group members on time, delivery, and frequency of group meetings and attended every online or phone meeting scheduled to provide feedback on projects as updated throughout the semester. I sent emails to classmates whose “Introduce Yourself” posts resonated with me.

Group members completed discussions using conference calling and GroupMe chat. The group faced challenges throughout the semester as group members stopped responding. Thankfully a core group made feed-forward helpful. I made sure that my submissions were made by each posted deadline so that my group-mates would have time to review drafts. I provided feedback to my classmates through discussions and my group mates through meet-ups. We utilized the screen sharing capability of meet.goto.com. I received feedback from my group-mates through those same discussions and screen sharing means. I valued the input from both classmates and instructor to help me improve upon my ideas and think more creatively as they evolved. Additionally, I cannot express how helpful the instructor’s video feedback was for each assignment. I often hit submit, hoping that I understood the assignment/goal correctly and submitted the intended document.

While I contributed to every classmate’s experience, after reviewing each discussion post, I found two discussions in which I did not engage with my classmates. I now see that there is room for improvement to find a system to go back and review threads for new posts.

Originally posted March 11, 2022