by: Erika Peña
EDLD 5318: Instructional Design
Dr. Q. Bellard
90/100
EDLD 5320: Synthesizing Digital Learning
Dr. S. Bedard
90/100
The End of My Road in the ADL Program
The time has come! I am at the end of my ADL Journey, and what a journey it has been. As I come to the end of my Applied Digital Learning masters program at Lamar University, I continue to reflect on the road that led me here, the road that continued, my road to Creating Significant Learning Environments and Professional Learning, and my road to digital learning, resources, and assessment.
I recently started my 10th year as an educator in south Texas. As I have previously mentioned, these past couple of years have been some of the toughest ones in my educational career. Not only do students have large academic gaps due to COVID, lack motivation, and are exhibiting tough behaviors, but our state is completely changing the STAAR, the Texas state standardized test, making it harder for students and teachers. Because of this and so many more reasons, I wholeheartedly believe that we need to DISRUPT the current educational model and make impactful and long-lasting changes.
At the beginning of our ADL journey, my coworkers, Veronica Balli, Ileana Reyna, and I created an innovation plan to initiate the change we seek in our classrooms and hopefully on our campus. Our innovation plan, Blended Learning: Personalizing the Future of Education, focused on creating significant learning environments that personalize and tailor learning to meet the needs of each unique student. We believe that by giving students choice, ownership, and voice through authentic blended learning opportunities, we will accomplish our goals of personalizing education and motivating students while closing educational gaps in the process. Every course along the way added another level of depth to our innovation plan making it what it is now.
Throughout the ADL Program, I have felt a wide range of emotions. From worry and fear at the beginning of the program to near burnout towards the end of it, along with joy, excitement, and accomplishment throughout.
I also learned so much as a student and as an educator. I learned how to learn by growing and pushing myself beyond what I thought I could accomplish. I took the feedforward given in my discussions and assignments and continued to refine and adjust my assignments along the way. I became an agent of change, and almost immediately began to implement my Innovation Project in my classroom and witnessed huge gains and motivation.
As I have in my past courses, I will reflect on and assess my learning and contributions in both classes I am currently in, in order to continue to grow as a self-directed learner.
Self Assessment of 5318 and 5320
Due to family commitments, work, and trainings, I was unable to attend most live classes, but I watched the recorded videos and participated in active discussions with my classmates while giving and receiving feedforward. I also completed readings, videos, and other supporting resources, while meeting with my core group several times a week to discuss the content of the LIVE classes, discussions, readings, and assignments, cementing our new learning even further. Additionally, all my assignments were turned in by the deadlines and I was able to continuously add to and refine my e-portfolio on the WIX platform. I spent hours reflecting on my learning by adding blogs, pages that reflected my work in each course, and an ADL Pathway page that showcased all of my courses in one single area.
EDLD 5318: Instructional Design
In EDLD 5318: Instructional Design, I was able to learn about and create a 5-week online course that showcased my knowledge of Blended Learning, COVA, and CSLE. My first major assignment was my Instructional Design Overview, where I created a video and supporting documents that discussed my instructional format, design, support, the infrastructure needed for this course, and the 3-Column Table that aligns my goal, activities, and assessments. Next, I recorded a video discussing how I implemented my Instructional Design Course by creating an Introduction and Course Material section as well as two full weeks of assignments and activities that aligned with my 3-Column Table. Lastly, I completed my third assignment, which tests the usability of my instructional design course and encompasses my reflection on the instructional design course, as well as a final compilation page for the course in my e-portfolio.
EDLD 5320:
In EDLD 5320, Synthesis of Digital Learning, I continuously reflected, updated, and implemented all the learning I have done this year. First, I reflected on CSLE + COVA and how it tied into my learning process throughout the ADL program. Next, I reflected on my innovation project, Blended Learning: Personalizing the Future of Education in my blog post The Evolution of my Innovation Project. Lastly, I reflected on my ENTIRE ADL journey, and WOW, what a journey it has been! I reminisced on where I started, my people, my highs and lows, my feelings, my evidence of learning, my goals, glows and grows, the lessons learned, and what my plan for the future is.
Collaboration Group
Our first day in the ADL Program.
My core collaborative group consists of Veronica Balli and Ileana Reyna. We currently work in the same school and are working on a shared vision, our Innovation Project: Blended Learning: Personalizing the Future of Education. We collaborate and offer feedforward via text, Teams, and in-person regularly and we all take on leadership roles at different stages of our assignments. I have learned so much since beginning the ADL program and continue to do so because of our synergistic collaboration. I am also a part of a larger group of students on the GroupMe app, where we pose questions, offer feedback, and support each other.
The Road that Continues Ahead
As I complete my final 2 courses in the
ADL program, I have grown to see and appreciate how each course connects and builds upon each other, making the creation, implementation, and publication of our innovation project a reality.
Although our vision of implementing blended learning campus wide has not come to fruition yet, I will continue to be an agent of change in my classroom, organization, and beyond, by spreading my newfound knowledge to anyone who will listen. I also look forward to making long-lasting change in the future on a grander scale.
Thank You, ADL professors and Lamar University for all the knowledge you have imparted to me.
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