Month: April 2022

ADL Program, Evolution, Learning, Learning Community

Interesting observation

The Advisor That Cares

I put out a post at the start of this session asking for mentorship and offering mentoring. I have had a few correspondences with classmates but little ongoing collaboration outside weekly module discussions.

However, through my learning communities, I am finding a mentorship role. I really appreciate that I can share findings and tips from my own experience with the Innovation course. I don’t understand why (yet), but I can guide my group mates in finding their assertive voices. I can only assume because I struggle with writing in a passive voice. Even when I recognize my error, I can get stuck trying to reword the sentences or clarify the meaning.

I am very grateful that I have found an opportunity to glean the benefit of this program component.

Harapnuik, D. (2021, August 16). Assessment OF/FOR/AS Learning. Harapnuik.org. Retrieved April 8, 2022, from https://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=8900

Harapnuik, D. (2021, October 9). ADL/EDLD 5305 Tips & Perspectives. https://www.Harapnuik.Org/. Retrieved April 8, 2022, from https://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=8553

Stanford Alumni. (2014, October 9). Developing a Growth Mindset with Carol Dweck [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiiEeMN7vbQ

ADL Program, ePortfolios, Reflecting

Mine!

The Advisor That Cares

Having ownership of my ePortfolio allows me to become the visionary and voice for my ideas. Through the full ownership of my creation, I can experiment with what I want my digital identity to say about me. I am empowered to explore and experiment through the creation of my ePortfolio—both in form and function. I ultimately control the visual aesthetic, and the tone of the information shared because I own my ePortfolio. Because I own my ePortfolio, the knowledge and information I post is mine to take with me no matter where I work, present, or promote myself. By owning my ePortfolio, I am the “system administrator for [my] digital [life] (Campbell, 2009) and the IT department of my institution is not “the steward for [my] work (Watters, 2015). 

References

Gardner, W. G. (2009, September 4). A personal cyberinfrastructure. EDUCAUSE Review. Retrieved April 7, 2022, from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2009/9/a-personal-cyberinfrastructure  

Watters, A. (2015, July 15). The web we need to give students. Medium. Retrieved April 7, 2022, from https://medium.com/bright/the-web-we-need-to-give-students-311d97713713 

Advising, Goals, Growth, Professional

Reading emails, a thing of the past?

The Advisor That Cares
On a background of a global map is a graphic of a laptop. There is a cell phone pictured to the right of the laptop. Both devices have black screens with lines to represent illegible text. Across the map are multiple yellow envelopes represent incoming email messages with an open envelope on top of the laptop screen.

Doesn’t anyone read emails anymore?

I am going to have to find a way to relay information to my students so that they actual take the time to read and absorb what they need to know. I am amazed by the number of students who enter graduate school without researching the requirements of their chosen program. I think that we all get so busy in our day to day lives that we take for granted the information that the recruiter gives to us when they are enticing us to begin a given program.

Since I can be quite long-winded in my emails, I would like to utilize my e-portfolio as a place to outline all of the requirements of which students need to be aware. Ideally, this information will be made more relevant or accessible through digital storytelling or other multimedia formats, since I’m really starting to feel that reading and attention to detail is becoming a thing of the past.

To help improve myself as a communicator, I decided to do a quick internet search for ways to get through to my students. Forbes writes in Why No One Reads Your Email And How To Fix That recommends that I make my email scannable by:

  1. Write two to three sentences that introduces the topic and what’s in it for the recipient to read the email.
  2. Chunk information into bulleted categories, ideally no more than three categories. You can always put sub bullets in each category.
  3. Close out the email with a sentence or two clearly requesting the action you want the participant to take next.

MacArthur, H. V. (2019, July 9). Why no one reads your emails and how to fix that. Forbes. Retrieved April 5, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/hvmacarthur/2019/07/08/why-no-one-reads-your-emails-and-how-to-fix-that/

ADL Program, ePortfolios

Why ePortfolio?

The Advisor That Cares
Pictured are layered colorful question marks.

I am building an ePortfolio to compile all of the repetitive questions and information I attempt to provide during my interactions with students. My goal is to empower and inform my students.

The more I listen to Dr. Harapnuik and Dr. Thibodeaux the more I’m seeing that this will also be an excellent resource for me professionally. Now I will have a centralized location where I can keep a continual list of the webinars and professional development I participate with through my professional organizations. Dr. Thibodeaux has inspired me to utilize my e-portfolio to find my voice as I reflect on my learning journey throughout the creation process. 

By utilizing my e-portfolio as a living resume or CV, I can use it to invest in myself professionally because it is often very hard to remember all of the professional development opportunities and experiences I have participated in. After reading and watching the items in this week’s modules, I am beginning to understand that creating and maintaining an e-portfolio allows me to become an active participant in my learning. The Reflection4Learning really helps me understand that I am just “storytelling” or using “narrative inquiry” to “search for connections” which helps me overcome my own sense of writer’s block for my own reflection blogs.

I am also currently lamenting and reflecting on the two faces of the e-portfolios as I attempt to navigate my own process and product; professional and personal; and my growth and learning. 

After reviewing Dr. Harapnuik and Dr. Thibodeaux’s e-portfolios I see that they incorporate many aspects of their professional and personal lives into their posts and discussions. Utilizing real life experiences from their personal life to provide examples and stories to make learning real. I am going to try and use my e-portfolio to connect with other academic advisors, my students, and my administration. I can see how linking my e-portfolio can be an asset at professional conferences and could be the beginning of much larger discussions about how to effectively reach students, improve outreach efforts, and continue improvement for all personally as well as professionally. 

I would like my passion to show through my e-portfolio. My goal is to empower students and to act as an advocate until they learn enough to advocate for themselves. I sincerely care about people and I want my kindness and caring to show through the resources and information I share throughout my e-portfolio. I also want to open myself to being vulnerable throughout my own learning journey. This is an area I struggle with since it is difficult to not feel judged or insecure, but I’m learning through the many resources and links. Specifically, Seth Godin’s advice in “Blogging Changes your Life” encourages me to, “do it for myself.” I feel more encouraged to stop worrying about how to blog correctly but instead just write to explore “how I explain myself” and reflect on my own thinking, regardless of whether or not anyone is going to read it.

I think that it will be valuable to use e-portfolios for active learning, professional development, formative and summative assessments of our own learning and the learning of our students. I am highly encouraged by the “Know Thyself” benefits provided through e-portfolio development and as I progress through the benefits I began to see the purposeful design of the activities we are doing in the ADL Program. I continually remind myself to trust the process.

ADL Program, Humor, Learning

Collecting Knowledge vs. Learning

The Advisor That Cares

“Now What” from Ryan George reminded me of the topics we have been exploring through the ADL program. We are talking about how accumulating knowledge (collecting dots) is not at all the same thing as learning (connecting dots). Evaluation of the education systems as a whole shows that obtainment of a degree does not necessarily lead to guaranteed employment as painfully illustrated by generation jobless.

References

Bazzi Bazzi. (2022, January 12). Doc Zone Generation Jobless [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq4xoYmgatQ

Harapnuik, D. (2021a, January 18). Collecting dots vs connecting dots. https://www.harapnuik.org/?p=8672In-text citation

Harapnuik, D. (2021b, January 28). Applied Digital Learning. https://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=8517

Learners Mindset. (2021, January 18). Collecting dots vs connecting dots [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7o3Jh1KZLw