Category: ADL Program

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 

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

ADL Program, Evolution, Goals, Growth

What can I get from the ADL program…

The Advisor That Cares

The best way to succeed in the ADL program is to trust the process. I think that we all must accept that we will feel lost and confused for much of the program because that is where we will find the most learning and growth. I find it very helpful that we have been allowed to review the program map to try to grasp how our initial innovation proposal fits into the program as a whole. We will learn the most when presented with projects that are important to us. Our innovation proposal provided us with an authentic learning opportunity. Implementing it allows us to practice all the skills we will need to continue to be change agents within our organizations. Through our own uncomfortable experiences, we will better relate to and understand our learner’s experiences. The goal of our evolution will be to make better learning opportunities and experiences for our students.

ADL Program, Growth Mindset, Learning, Personal, Reflecting

Growth Mindset & Yet

The Advisor That Cares

I loved the closing statement in this video…

I have fought the ‘I can’t voice’ for so long, especially when faced with a learning challenge. There is a powerful shift when you add “yet” to that mindset. The growth mindset gives us permission to fail forward. We aren’t expected to be experts “yet.” We are striving to tap into our creative inquisitive thoughts, and try new things. We may not have made meaningful connections, “yet” but we will as we continue to reflect on our learning. Being open to failure frees us to experiment. Developing a growth mindset allows me to view a challenge as an exciting opportunity instead of a punishment. Learning from past attempts encourages me to create connections between concepts which deepens my learning so that I can develop higher order thinking/processing. 100%, I believe the growth mindset will help with the acceptance of feedback. With the growth mindset I realize feedback is an opportunity to correct faulty thinking, make improvements, assess bias, and think more deeply about the suggestions provided.

I am my own worst enemy when it comes to grades. Adopting a growth mindset can release students (myself included) from the perfectionist trap of all of nothing. I really dive head first into researching anything and everything I am interested in learning about. I was raised in a time before search engines so I’m always taking a question and plugging it in to either a search engine or google. So much of the growth mindset resonates with me personally, that I am looking forward to learning more about my own mindset. I learned from my Literature Review research in the innovation course of the ADL Program that using google scholar allows me to see others who have quoted a source and related articles. I think finding related sources or sited by sources would be an effective way to learn more about the growth mindset with relation an interest or innovation. 

Relating it all to life, we have an almost 12 acre property that we are trying to develop into a hobby farm. We don’t know anything about raising animals, building shelters, planning gardens, but we are willing to research (a lot of YouTube) and we use a lot of trial and error projects. I recognize that this growth mindset applies to all aspects of life and learning. 

ADL Program, Humor, Learning, Personal

Down the Rabbit Trail

The Advisor That Cares

I swear I get so lost along the way because I click, click, click, and go deeper down the rabbit trail. I’m struggling this week because I have followed so many links, watched content from this week’s posts/discussions, and prepared for next week’s content. Now I sit here with my notebook full of notes, and I cannot remember which content I am supposed to be posting about in my discussions and blogs. I guess I am missing the point since it all contributes to my learning.

ADL Program, Contributions, Growth, Learning, Learning Community, Reflecting

Contributions, 5305

The Advisor That Cares

Innovation Course

  • Spring 2022
  • Course Number: EDLD 5305
  • Course Title: Disruptive Innovation in Technology

Contributions to learning and learning community.

I am giving myself a score of 45 out of 50

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

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.   

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.

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

ADL Program, Growth, Innovation Plan, Personal, Professional, Reflecting

Communicating Vision

The Advisor That Cares

I think as a personality trait, I have always had a touch of an innovative spirit. I have often described myself as a bit of an efficiency expert. I always try to tweak systems and processes to be better, clearer, simpler, and more effective in every role I have held. I hope to become an innovative “educator” through my role as an academic advisor. I can confirm that my influence currently does not include meaningful or authentic learning opportunities. Often general information is sent out to students. However, the messaging is the same old, templated messages with very little valuable information.

My innovation proposal seeks to make the information more meaningful for students than generic copy/paste notifications. I also aim to provide a resource that will allow students ownership over locating the information they will need along their academic journey. The programs I advise for have specific paths to program completion, course offerings, and more. However, I believe students often go along with the flow and do not stop to ask essential questions until a substantial investment of time, money, and energy has been spent (or worse, wasted) if they are not on the path they intended. 

Regarding under communication, I agree that because we live in the planning, preparing, researching, meeting, and are party to endless discussions of our innovation/implementation plans, we can make faulty assumptions about how much communication has been shared with our constituents.

The above video makes a good point when it pointed out that we need to remember that sometimes the people we hope to influence are a few steps down the hierarchy. We have to remember that they may not be aware of all the information that has been shared in the prior planning stages. The video made an excellent point that we should all try to keep in mind when communicating about our innovation plan and implementation strategy. We must remember that we are competing with the day-to-day business in their workday. We must constantly send out updates and find other ways to communicate excitement and a sense of urgency about our plan. 

ADL Program, Growth, Reflecting

I am Change

The Advisor That Cares

In the above video, we see a person panhandling with a sign that reads, “I’m blind, please help” Power of Words (2010). We see a few passersby drop some change here and there. Then a woman comes by who creates a shift in perspective by updating the sign to ready “It’s a beautiful day, and I can’t see it,” and suddenly, everyone is dropping change for the gentleman Power of Words (2010). By the end of the video, our level of compassion changes, although nothing about the man’s situation has changed. The fact of a man who is begging on the street stays the same. The fact of a man who is blind remains the same. However, a simple change in presenting the facts resulted in more donations for the gentleman. 

I did find the fact that the video contained minimal dialog impactful. I am not sure about the focus of my video creation as I do not have a clear understanding of the project yet, but I would like my video creation to have a similar impact on the viewer.

I appreciated the point made by this second video when we learned that slamming our viewers/audience with more information is not the way to win them over to our cause. The Behavioral Science Guys propose that instead, we approach our audience with “influential questions” Crucial Learning (2015). They explain that this shift allows the audience to leave a place of defensiveness so that they can approach your topic with more receptivity.

I want to affect the heart of my audience by sharing my heart for people and my desire to make a difference. 

I am currently attempting to wrap my mind around the concept of digital storytelling. However, I hope to incorporate Nancy Duarte’s advice on using rising and falling within the storytelling to draw the audience into my innovation proposal TEDx Talks (2010). I love the way she recommends comparing what is against what could be and the beautiful utopian vision she recommends as the final call to action TEDx Talks (2010). Similarly, I would love to utilize the “angel cocktail” described by David JP Phillips (TEDx Talks, 2017). However, I feel that practice makes perfect, and my first attempt may lack the ability to create a sense of expectation, gain sympathy, and create a sense of amusement TEDx Talks (2017). However, I see the benefit of these disarming and engaging techniques. I especially connected with Tom Asacker’s identity point as this is what has driven me to this program, my innovation proposal, and ultimately my profession TEDx Talks (2014). 

My video will attempt to create a sense of urgency by appealing to my audience’s heart instead of their head. 

References

Crucial Learning. (2015, January 5). How to Change People Who Don’t Want to Change | The Behavioral Science Guys [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ACi-D5DI6A

Power of Words. (2010, February 20). The Power of Words [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU

TEDx Talks. (2010, December 10). TEDxEast – Nancy Duarte uncovers common structure of greatest communicators 11/11/2010 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nYFpuc2Umk&t=594s

TEDx Talks. (2014, June 30). Why TED Talks don’t change people’s behaviors: Tom Asacker at TEDxCambridge 2014 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0jTZ-GP0N4&t=1s

TEDx Talks. (2017, March 16). The magical science of storytelling | David JP Phillips | TEDxStockholm [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj-hdQMa3uA&t=862s