Synthesis of Digital Learning

The COVA framework with CSLE approach have aided me in my learning process in the accelerated Applied Digital Learning program as I experienced discomfort, embraced my passions with choice,ownership, and voice. Through authentic learning opportunities, I created meaningful connections that will directly effect my school district. I was encouraged to do self-reflection and self-assessment often, and this opportunity helped strengthen my growth and learners mindset along the entire journey. My journey at Lamar has impacted my perspective on learning and I plan to apply the COVA + CSLE approach to provide learners with choice, ownership, voice, and authentic learning opportunities through intentional planning to get my learners to own their learning, connect what they are doing to passion, and guide them to provide a safe space to take risks, learn from failure, and create the conditions for deeper learning.  

In the ADL program, it was very clear from the first course that I would have choice, ownership and voice through authentic assignments. Fortunately for me, this is a space I thrive in, but some of my peers were very uncomfortable in this space without clear directions to “check the box”. I have been searching and was hoping and dreaming for a program like this, and am so glad that I followed my gut to attend Lamar for the Applied Digital Learning Program because of the good reputation Lamar has with my fellow ADEs. The COVA + CSLE approach to learning didn’t take much adjustment for me, as it was perceived as more interesting and engaging to me then traditional models of learning. My brain thrives on creativity and thinking differently, so this program has been a beautiful experience, and one I feel was meaningful and valuable to me on my lifelong learning journey as an educator. I would’t change anything, and hope that the next phase of my learning at Lamar is intentionally planned to be as cognitively engaging and worthy of my productive struggle as this program. I am planning to continue on for a doctorate degree at Lamar.

As far as taking control of my own voice and focusing on my organization as an audience, it was an easy perspective to take. It truly tapped into my passion and it made the work worth the effort because I knew this would benefit my district. I have always been a systems thinker and have the ability to zoom in and out to see different perspectives and how the pieces fit together. I have realized over the past several years, that I am one of the crazy ones that believes I can change the world. I feel the structure of the ADL program and building out an ePortfolio truly helped me to organize and structure my ammunition to lead change in my district. This structure gave me a way to package my ideas, research, literature review and planning documents in one place, and this packaging has already proven to make me seem credible to decision makers in my district as well as around the state of Ohio. In June of 2023, I was asked to be the keynote speaker at the Lets-GoOHIO Summer symposium, where educational leaders and educators from around the state came together to share innovative learning with educational technology. This program has made me more confident on my journey as I spent time reading publications and understanding the research. I will utilize the skills and toolkit I have gained through the ADL program to be a change agent.

Positive change in a large urban district has the potential for huge ripple effects, as models that work are noticed, closely examined and replicated. My hope is that I can make the first drop in the water that ripples beyond my scope of vision, to create change in our country’s educational perception of success and what learning looks like. I am excited to purpose my innovation plan and am proud to have so many resources compiled and built out to promote my innovation plan, and will continue to build, capture, and reflect in my ePortfolio as the journey unfolds. The authenticity of my innovation plan has gained attention of my district level chiefs and is starting to initiate change in my large urban district. I love how authentic and part of my real world this program has made all of my time and effort come together to actually have a comprehensive plan with resources to lead innovative organizational change. 

The COVA approach and Creating Significant Learning Environments aligns to my learning philosophy and I definitely find myself more aware of relevance to learners, conditions for learning, and the need to provide real choice in the learning. My perspective on learning with the COVA approach has strengthened in the relevant experiential learning that the learner is passionate about and owns. I am still working on my skill level with creating CSLE and COVA learning experiences, but my lens and understanding the level of importance for intentional planning around them is prioritized and more focused. Facilitating COVA and CSLE is a journey, and I plan to utilize these as much as possible to provide learners with meaningful productive struggle that impacts the world around them through authentic learning opprotunities, while saturating my own level of comfort with these learning approaches. I have reflected on my journey and the work I currently do with school leaders to guide them while tapping into passions and learning goals to create plans specific to their schools and the people in them, while providing resources and some guardrails to ensure they get to their intended outcomes. I plan to continue this work and personalizing the journey for each school leader and teacher I get the privilege to work with.  

As I prepare to launch my innovation plan in schools, I have built out a course to intentionally expose learner to resources, have them own the learning through choice, voice, and the authentic opportunity to create a significant blended learning environment specific to their learning environments. I used the 3 Column table for the initial outline and now have a full course built out for outcomes based learning using the COVA +CSLE framework for the learners. This blended learning course will allow the learners to make authentic connections and will ensure the way they implement blended learning in their learning environments is intentionally planned for their community of learners. There are some authentic assignments, discussions, and an expectation for collaboration that will provide reassurance that the discomfort of this approach is worth it. I do see this approach getting pushback and causing a ton of discomfort to adults with fixed mindsets, but this is important work that will encourage people to begin a journey of growth and learners mindsets. Intentional planning around mindset and getting people to understand their mindsets, the impact they have, and how that directly correlates to the learning process will be included. There is discomfort in change and growth, but I believe this is healthy discomfort that is worthy of their productive struggle.

Prior to the ADL program at Lamar, I feel that I had been aware of and intentionally strengthening my growth mindset, but absolutely became more aware of mindset and the term “learners mindset” throughout the program. Feedforward is my new favorite term and helps build this “yet” mentality of there is always more to learn, evolve, and improve. I find more value in the collaboration with others component of learning after participating in this program, and value the perspectives and experiences that when collaborating help evolve and enrich the process. The growth mindset focus has definitely gained importance and priority in my personal lens onto the process of learning verses the product. In my organization, I have personally experienced a lack of adults with a growth or learners mindset. Many adults are stuck in a fixed mindset and are not ready to take risks and think differently. I am on a mission to change this through modeling joy in the journey and celebrating failures as a mode for learning. We learn by doing, experiencing, inquiring, and collaborating. We can continuously improve. Our world can be anything we dream it to be. We just need to be bold enough to think we can change it.

Reflection Update of Innovation Project

As I reflect on the development journey of my innovation project, I realize that many components have come together to strengthen, evolve, and actualize my plan. From the very beginning of reflecting on mindset to taking an idea and creating an intentional, structured, and timely plan to continuously reflecting to improve, the development of the planning stage of implantation has been a journey.

It’s incredible to see all of the components come together. I created a plan purposal letter, and pitch video that will come in handy very soon! I then created an implementation outline, that I am excited to use as a play book. Reading and vetting all of the literature and research on Blended learning taught me a ton about implications of blended learning, as well as writing a literature review to for others to peruse is a handy piece of learning evidence housed on my ePortfolio! Literally everything we did fits together like a puzzle that will be a beautiful and strong picture. 

Another component was the understanding of my “why” and tapping into that passion to do this work. I was able to reflect on my own why and learned how to influence change with the 4DX model. Creating a implementation outline and very intentionally planning out professional development has made this journey seem worth it because the components are in place to start the motion of change.

Developing an action research plan was also a very valuable component that will help me stay focused and collect data to tell our story. I did an outline first, then created a plan, and followed this up with a literature review. In teh ADL program, I was given the opportunity to create an action research design outline and then create the action research plan.   

My innovation project is almost ready to launch this fall. I still need to finish a few parts of the online module lessons, get clarity on legal guidelines fo action research, and solidify cohort and coaching dates with participants. These tasks need to get done by the first week of August. I have already solidified who the participants are, and while working in partnership with two of my schools, giving extra coaching for implementation supports to four first grade teachers (two from each school), and conducting research in their learning environments through a case study. The plan will officially launch in September 2023. 

As I analyze, assess, and reflect on the learning process thus far, I realize that my ideas and the continuous improvement process will forever evolve them. This is such a beautiful realization, as perfection is no longer my goal but rather growth and continuous improvement, through collaboration and reflection, is embedded in my intentionally practiced learners mindset. . It is quite funny looking back at how big I wanted to make this plan right out the gate, and was told time after time to start small. Originally I thought I would move my whole district at once, but now realize Dr. H was correct.  I need to start small and controlled and then evolve.  I am satisfied working very closely with four teachers in two of my schools to start, and doing action research on those more focused groups. 

It really helped me to listen to feedback/ feedforward to gain other perspectives and ideas to improve my plan, and this is a practice I am trying to make routine in my professional approach to everything. It takes some of the pressure off when you can be confidently comfortable in not knowing it all and modeling the learning through failure lens. I have found that so many educators connect to me with this imperfect, learn by doing, constructivist approach. 

If I could do this all over again, I would have found a peer in the program to build the innovation project with and launch in two different places and collect data and do action research in tandem. This would have given me a relevant and consistent thought pattern, grown our data collection, and made a strong story of impact to spread innovation in schools accross our country. In the future, I would like to find an implementation and research buddy to work alongside for the greater good. 

I plan to promote and communicate my innovation project to a few different audiences in different ways. Sharing my ePortfolio with district chiefs and decision makers is already in the works.  I also plan to share my innovation proposal with them. As for building leaders and teachers, I have already begun sharing through conversations as well as learning playgrounds and mini professional learning workshops and coaching cycles to get their feet wet and wheels turning. Formally, I have launched the first cohort with a hands-on immersion experience in station rotation with embedded curriculum components to get a feel for a different learning environment.  We plan to do another “model classroom” experience before teachers set up their classrooms for the start of the school year. 

Throughout the process, I plan to capture raw reflection from educators and students as well as candid photos and work samples to create celebration videos to share and gain momentum. I am also excited to see what implications station rotation blended learning has on the literacy block in first grade, and will share that story as well through visual story telling.  

I have learned valuable lessons along the way. Knowing what I know now, the key thing I would do differently is find a pal to collaborate in this work with. I think finding someone with a very closely aligned innovation idea to work together with, would be dynamic for so many reasons. I definitely value collaboration way more now, and understand the value of it. I will apply this idea of a collaboration buddy for my next innovation project. This program really walked me through the planning stage, and I will follow the structure the ADL program laid out for me to intentionally plan and ensure I don’t miss any key components. 

I will also apply the keep the focus very clear and measurable, as this helped me to clarify what. why, and how. Thankfully Dr. Padavon encouraged us early on to keep everything aligned, and reflecting back, I see how much that helped me. The learning target and the action research essential question, as well as the literature review help tie it all together and give credibility to the project.