(Bowness, 2019)
How can I complete a true and fair personal reflection?
I know that it is important to take time to understand how we (as both teachers and learners during these courses) have absorbed class materials and key information from these Master's Degree classes.
Lamar University has continued my learning with two courses as I have worked through the "Applied Digital Learning" graduate program. One is entitled "EDLD 5313 - Creating Significant Learning Environments" and that other is appropriately named "EDLD 5303 - Applying Educational Technology: ePortfolio." Combined, both of these courses have continuously reminded me of the focus, dedication, research, and reading it takes to complete my best work.
I am reminded that true growth and professional development is a constant cycle, and I seek to continue learning and growing throughout the remaining Lamar University graduate courses and beyond.
Here is a further breakdown of the ways in which I have supported my own learning as well as positively contributed to the learning of my peers:
Key Contributions
Contributed to and helped build your core collaboration group.
During the last set of classes, I reached out to several classmates to form a core team of eight members on GroupMe. Our members include: Amanda B, Edward S, Jess E, Jessica B, John B, Lisa W, Nyjah J, and myself.
Thankfully, this team is still going strong, despite the fact that a couple members have choses to take one-class-at-a-time instead of two. I'm so glad we have maintained and continued our group since it was so smooth and HELPFUL for the previous two courses. It has again proved to be a bountiful resource for asking questions and supporting each other.
2. Provided peer feedback to your core group members.
Helping my GroupMe friends (and beyond) was a blast during these two new courses. It's been so fun to witness the progression of their ePortfolio and blog creations as well as to hear about their thoughts concerning the importance of creating significant learning environments.
Specifically, I can recall the "New Culture of Learning" class discussion in which there were eight post replies to my thread, which contributed to a wonderful string of questions, answers, prompts, and responses by many students in EDLD 5313. It's been great to both give and receive specific feedback on our learning and overall thoughts to the materials presented.
3. Revised all assignments and reflected on revisions in this contribution to learning activity.
Revision can be fun, especially when focusing on having a growth mindset and reminding myself that relevancy is key too success too. I recall some feedback that the TA Creighton gave me about restructuring my ePortfolio blog so that it was continuously updated without me having to worry about the "home" page layout.
I definitely took this advice to heart and figured out how to add a "blog" section to the landing page of my ePortfolio! It looks and feels so much better now that each new posts is showing on the main page and I don't have to lift a finger to update it myself. Gotta love good suggestions and good technology. :)
4. Completed ALL of the course readings, videos, and supporting resources.
Occasionally, these courses can be overwhelming with the amount of readings, videos, and links provided. But in all honesty, when I begin to feel overwhelmed I simply start reading, watching, and visiting the links! Slowly but surely, the information I was confused about melts away into clarity. It's great that so many resources are provided so that I can make connections to my own life and classroom, focusing on the parts that can benefit my own personal learning journey. John B even made a really neat research document so that we could all collaborate with research for our Learning Philosophy assignment. Cool!
Thankfully, the course navigation has even gotten significantly easier as well! Which has helped my understanding of course expectations. When we still have questions, it's easy to find answers within our GroupMe chat!
5. Met the various course activity deadlines indicated in the calendar.
When it comes to turning in homework, thankfully (just like last semester) I was able to turn everything in on time! Because of this, I was able to receive a grade and feedback promptly allowing me to reflect and make edits as necessary before getting too far into the next upcoming assignment. Jessica B even made a wonderful spreadsheet for us to track our homework completion. Hooray!
6. Accelerated ADL reflection.
When it comes to both classes, I have been able to connect them to each other through the medium of technology. For example, I was composing and posting a variety of educational learnings from EDLD 5313 to my ePortfolio which is the focus on EDLD 5303. I was also able to add information to several previous posts and edit along the way too, creating a stronger connection to cross-class content learning. Thankfully, I have been able to take a step back and see how the classes have correlated to one another, connecting continuously to the Innovation Plan I have created at the start of the courses. How neat!
Supporting Contributions
7. Took leadership responsibility in your base group and the course.
Within our GroupMe team, several members have stood out for strong work ethic and I believe deserve substantial group recognition.
Among them include strong communicators like Jess E, Lisa W, and Jessica B (not in the screenshot) who always help when questions are posed within the chat. They are very timely with responses and willing to provide thoughts and clarifications!
8. Contributed to your learning and the learning of your colleagues by participating in ALL activities.
Despite the fact that these courses were SHORTER than the previous classes, it's been thrilling to turn around some great content in a condensed timeframe. I completed relevant readings, viewed the videos, clicked links, completed all weekly discussions, complete my homework assignments on time, and also participated in our own peer group communication. I am proud of the work I accomplished this summer semester.
9. Active contributions in the various course forums.
I made SURE to post each week in the discussion sections. I was even posting regularly and promptly until the end of the classes in which I wish I could have posted a bit earlier. I also made sure to reply to each and every comment left on my post or as comments were made in reply to my own reflections on other people's posts. This created a great gateway into easy communication and the questions I posed allowed for the conversations to continue! I also posted extra blogs onto my ePortfolio beyond the bottomline requirements and made sure to reply to AT LEAST three classmates' discussion prompts online.
Something I can continue to work on is to always check my APA formatting. This is a goal I have set for myself with the next set of upcoming courses!
In Conclusion
For both classes, I would grade myself a combined score of 194/200 points since I still have goals for myself to accomplish! I have worked very hard to try my best within each learning contribution category, and I know that I am looking forward to the next part of the ADL program where I can continue to learn and grow!
Thanks for listening,
~Hannah
References
Bowness, S. (2019, January 10). Living-Learning Communities Connect Like-Minded
Students. University Affairs. https://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-
article/living-learning-communities-connect-like-minded-students-in-residence/
Comments