Month: July 2022

ADL Program, Advising, Collective, Professional, Reflecting

Consortiums – Networks?

The Advisor That Cares

Collectives! Ah ha!

I was trying to figure out what exactly I would call my core group of colleagues from across the institution. When I have a question about a Graduate Studies policy, I have a person I can call. When I have a Records retention or release question, I have a person I can call. There are advisors that I provided on-board training to as they began their advising career at our institution, that I can still call and who still call me. I learn more as a result of every inquiry, question, or conversation related to my role. I have friends and colleagues at all levels of the university structure who simply care about students and all want to help one another serve them better. I absolutely love that I can be a resource to them and that they are to me.

This collective is so valuable to me. Thank you to each and every one of you!

ADL Program, Contributions, ePortfolios, Growth Mindset, Growth Mindset Plan, Learner's Mindset, Learning, Learning Community, Learning Manifesto, Professional, Reflecting

Contributions, 5302

The Advisor That Cares

Concepts of Ed Tech Course

  • Summer 2022
  • Course Number: EDLD 5302
  • Course Title: Concepts of Educational Technology

Contributions to learning and learning community.

I am giving myself a score of 95 out of 100

Crediting Group Members: Bethany Eisele, Lera Longbottom, Nastarja Tyler, Rachael Lancon, and Stacey Powell

Key and Supporting Contributions

Reflecting on my third course in the ADL Program, I have to say that I am finally feeling more confident about the COVA approach to this program and learning in general. This is not to say that it is always comfortable working this way, but I can see how much in-depth knowledge is gained through this approach. I actively seek information and teach myself more than just the minimum required readings/videos in search of greater understanding. I am constantly working to see if there is more information that I can add to my knowledge base. I think about my thinking through reflections and revisit assignments on an ongoing basis to continue making connections. 

The part I feel I could do better is finding value and making deeper connections from the discussion posts. There is too much of a status quo learning (regurgitation) aspect to the post and comment expectation which always seems to lack the intended connection between students. Initially, the discussions provide a way to find people with common interests or goals. Still, once our communities are formed, they seem to lack substance since it can be several weeks before someone sees comments thereby lacking engagement in meaningful dialogs. While keeping up with the posts and comments, I feel something more valuable could be discovered or utilized to increase that aspect of the program. 

I actively contributed and took on a leadership role wherever possible within my core collaboration group. I continued the shared google drive from last semester, purchasing additional storage space, and creating weekly to-do lists, discussion prompts, and video/reading notes for continued shared collaboration. Utilizing a group chat and google docs/drive, our core learning community maintained a collaborative group that welcomed new members (Nastaja and Stacey) and continually provided feedforward on all assignments. While discussing questions about previous experience in the program, we revisit our previous projects and make continuous improvements on past coursework. 

As I embrace ownership of this Portfolio, I strive toward an ownership perspective to my innovation. As I experience the freedom of choice that promotes this portfolio ownership, I am inspired to provide my students with options along their academic paths. As I revise and review my content, I realize that I can further improve my message and model that through as many interactions as possible. I can apply the knowledge obtained this semester (growth mindset, learning manifesto, feedforward, learning networks) to strengthen my voice. This improves the communication, information, and resources I provide through my synchronous (phone/virtual) and asynchronous (email/portfolio) interactions, which helps to build trusted advisor-advisee relationships. From a technical skills perspective, it has also been rewarding to continue improving the aesthetic and function of the Portfolio with my intended audience in mind. I started updating past and current learning network opportunities to my Portfolio, which has allowed me to reflect upon the benefits of these collaborative/professional networks and makes me want to strive to do better in my contributions to these networks.   

I completed all of the course readings, videos, and additional resources. I often researched other content for topics that interested me in more detail, such as Universal Learning Design, the ISTE standards, and everything I could get my hands on about the Growth Mindset. This self-driven desire to learn and understand helped me meet the deadlines for all projects, assignments, and posts, further providing the opportunity for more collaboration, mentorship, and reflection. 

Learning Community Key and Supporting Contributions

In addition to meeting all of the support contributions and taking a leadership role in my core learning group, I have found a new role as a facilitator for our learning cohort. I have always considered myself helpful, but now I have found a way to gain even more insight and understanding by helping others. My learning community has expanded to every classmate that joined the ADL 2021-2023 GroupMe. I created this group and posted an open invitation to the student lounge after being inspired by a similar DLL group last semester made up of those more advanced in the program. I knew I wanted to help create a culture that encouraged and supported one another throughout the program. Since I am not pursuing the accelerated option, I hoped for a group of positive collaborators from all levels to facilitate mentorship and mentoring opportunities. I found a wonderful sense of purpose through this course and by taking accountability for myself and my learning community through this expanded collaboration. I have encouraged my classmates via this group, and I modeled feedforward behavior with all the group members, hoping they would do the same. I hosted multiple zoom sessions for this course, upgraded to zoom pro to host longer sessions, and began hosting other sessions for those in the Innovation Course. I helped connect students who had not yet identified their core learning community with others in the same situation. The most exciting time came when members began hosting sessions for one another, providing the type of encouragement I hoped to foster.  

ADL Program, Advising, ePortfolios, Evolution, Growth, Growth Mindset, Learning Community, Personal, Professional, Reflecting

Reflecting

The Advisor That Cares

I came to the ADL Program hoping to understand better what my students experience in online graduate programs at LU. I assumed that I might pick up a few technology skills here and there, but my primary focus was on having a first-person experience so that I could better relate. I have been blown away by the relevance and value that just these first three classes have provided to my daily job duties as an advisor. The most valuable aspect of this program has been finding creative ways to meet my students’ needs 24/7 via my Portfolio. I have developed my Portfolio as questions arise or when different semester times come near (i.e., final grades, graduation, etc.). The ability to make my projects authentic and valuable has been an unexpected and highly appreciated aspect of the program. The shift from regurgitation to real-life projects was not one I expected when beginning this academic journey. The COVA model has been the educational experience I did not know I was missing, yet one I have longed for my whole life. The ownership that comes from this real-life need, the choice in how I will present my information and learning, and the incredible personal voice that is developing through the process of reflection are not things I expected to find while working on a graduate degree.

This program taught me more about collaboration and mentoring, in just these first three courses, than I ever expected (or honestly wanted) to learn. I am finding that by helping others, I can help myself. I am learning to stop being the stubborn silent student who only focuses on getting their work done to be a valuable member of a learning community and class cohort. I have thoroughly enjoyed this aspect of the program.

The most significant aspect of the COVA Model I hope to incorporate into my ePortfolio is the ownership and choice aspects that allow my advisees to have their authentic path to degree completion. I want to develop resources that give students a choice on their preferred delivery method and equip them with information to make informed decisions along their academic path.

I can see that creating a Portfolio sheerly to meet this program’s requirements would lead to a lack of persistence. Reading the studies on Portfolio persistence makes me strive to keep this an authentic part of my personal and professional life so that my Portfolio can continue to grow and evolve to serve those I serve. I am lucky that our program allows us to use real-world learning situations to create a Portfolio that will help us for years to come, should we embrace it.

I think the most valuable personal lesson that I am carrying with me is the one of a growth mindset. I can learn to do anything I put my mind to if I remember that I don’t need to be perfect or know everything. There are so many opportunities that become available once the message of yet is accepted.

I look forward to my continued evolution as a learner, and I’m excited to see how that will impact my advisees.

Harapnuik, D., Thibodeaux, T., & Cummings, C. (2018). Choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning. Creative Common License.