by: Erika Peña
EDLD 5303: Applying Educational-Technology: e-Portfolio
94/100
EDLD 5305: Disruptive Innovation in Technology
46/50
The Road that Led Me Here
As I come to the end of my first two courses of Grad School, I can’t help but reflect on the road that led me here. I have been an educator for 9 years. Learning, growing, and honing in my craft each year, but this past year something felt different. It could’ve been the world pandemic and the extra reflecting I did, but I realized that I just felt stuck. Not growing and not learning the way I needed to. The way I yearned to. You see, I am a life-long learner by heart. I LOVE to learn and grow and feel like I am constantly looking to improve myself and my craft. So, with a little help and nudge from my amazing co-workers/friends/classmates, I decided to start the Applied Digital Learning Masters program at Lamar University, and it has been one of the best decisions of my life. I feel reinvigorated! I am learning, growing, pushing myself out of my comfort zone, and owning it. I am not going to sugar coat it, it has been challenging and at times I’ve even been a little lost, but by collaborating with my core group and by joining a crew of students on GroupMe, I have been able to thrive. In order to continue to grow as a self-directed learner, I will reflect and assess my learning and contributions in both classes.
Self Assessment of 5303 and 5305
In EDLD 5303, Applying Educational-Technology: e-Portfolio, I attended all LIVE Zoom sessions and participated actively in the discussion boards by completing the readings, videos, and other supporting resources. I was also able to create and continuously refine my e-portfolio on the WIX platform that showcases my ongoing learning in the ADL program, as mentioned in my 5303 Reflection blog post. I spent hours adding blogs that reflected on my learning, while regularly adjusting my e-portfolio. With the help of my collaborative group, I was able to learn new navigational tools on the WIX platform that helped the flow of my e-portfolio. With self reflection and their advice, I constantly revised my page into the page I have now. I also contributed to my learning community by providing assistance and guidance to my collaborative core group via text, Teams, and in person, regularly. In addition to helping each other with our e-portfolios, we also had collaborative discussions about our COVA readings.
In EDLD 5305, Disruptive Innovation in Technology, I attended most of the LIVE Zoom sessions and participated actively in the breakout sessions. I also completed the majority of the readings, videos, and other supporting resources posted in class, and learned to narrow my focus to the readings, videos, and resources that were beneficial to my innovation project like Dr. Harapnuik suggested. On top of the readings posted in class, I also read, researched, and viewed many other sources that helped with my Literature Review.
I also contributed to my learning community by participating in all discussion board topics and helped my core collaborative group by giving feedback and feedforward to enhance their assignments. All my assignments such as, My Innovation Proposal, Literature Review, and Implementation Outline, were turned in by the deadlines indicated in the calendar and I reflected and revised each one of these assignments after internalizing the feedback given by Dr. Harapnuik. I also brought all the pieces together by creating a page that showcased my entire Innovation Plan, including my Call to Action Video and My Annotated Bibliography.
Collaboration Group
Although I am a part of a larger group of students on the GroupMe app, my core collaborative group consists of Veronica Balli and Ileana Reyna, because we currently work at the same school and are working on the same Innovation Project: Blended Learning: Personalizing the Future of Education. With Dr. Harapnuik's approval, we collaborated on every facet of our Innovation Project and even planned and created our Call to Action Video together as mentioned in my Capturing the Heart blog post. We collaborated on all of our activities via text, Teams, and/or in person a multitude of times and we all took on leadership roles at different stages of our assignments. From planning and creating to giving feedback, we all participated and contributed to our learning. I have learned so much in these two courses because of our collaboration.
The Road Ahead
Now as I look to the road ahead of me, I ask myself, “What can I do differently?” Well, I have already ordered the books for the following classes and plan to read them over the Christmas break, so that I can hit the ground running from day 1. I am also more aware of how to navigate blackboard, add to course discussion threads, connect my learning with my reflection blogs, and how turn in assignments correctly. Additionally, I have looked into the ADL Program Map so that I can learn with the end in mind. I look forward to progressing in the ADL Program by continuing to learn and grow from my professors and my collaborative group. This semester hasn’t been easy, but it definitely has been worth it.
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