As a teacher, I always felt that learning needed to have real world connections. In my Learning Philosophy I discussed real world simulations that I did at the end of each of my business courses in high school. This was one way I could integrate everything I had learned and see how it applied in the real world. In the Business Computer Information Systems (BCIS) courses I taught, my students created our campus yearbook and also had the opportunity to experience a real world simulation as the owner of a sports franchise. This allowed the students to see how they could use the skills they had learned outside of the classroom.
From my first exposure to the Digital Learning and Leading (DLL) M.Ed. I knew it would be different from other programs I had looked into. My initial exposure to the program and Choice, Ownership, Voice and Authenticity (COVA) was at an Apple Coding Teacher Academy where Dr. Thibodeaux discussed setting up our ePortfolios. I was at the academy to learn more about coding for a summer coding camp that my district was hosting. While at the academy, my educational journey was changed in ways I could not imagine when I was told I would be able to join a program, with other teachers from my district, in learning from both Apple and Lamar.
From that initial exposure to the DLL program, through ePortfolios, I understood that I had a genuine choice in my learning. I was not told what platform to use for the ePortfolio, however a few were suggested. This way of learning was a little frustrating and I would have been more comfortable if I was told, “use this program to create an ePortfolio and set it up like this”. However, I was given full ownership in the design and the content of my ePortfolio (though examples were provided) and it has become a true reflection of my learning. The layout of my ePortfolio changed multiple times throughout the program; in the beginning it was after helpful feedback. Then, as I progressed through the program, I made changes because it made the ePortfolio more usable. In fact, as I view my ePortfolio in the eyes of a student in the capstone class of the DLL program, I see the need to make additional changes. I will be making these changes as I work through my reflections. The ePortfolio was my first experience in taking ownership of my learning, and though it frustrated me at times, I have taken ownership of my learning through my ePortfolio and feel comfortable making changes as I see fit.
While working on the innovation plan, I learned to fully embrace all the aspects of COVA. As I mentioned earlier, I was lucky enough to have others from my district going through the Lamar and Apple program with me. As a team, we collaborated on a district wide innovation plan. This project gave me a full understanding of the COVA approach as we worked together to decide how WE could make a change in OUR district. As a group, we were given full choice, ownership and voice as we developed our plan for innovation (our authentic learning opportunity).
Our situation in collaborating and creating our innovation plan was unique because we had at least one member of our team from each campus in the district. As a team we decided that we could make a positive impact in our district by giving our students more authentic learning experiences, via project based learning. In addition, we asked the district to support additional opportunities to use computational thinking through expanded coding opportunities for students in the district.
Creating Significant Learning Environments (CSLE) “is an integrated approach to create flexible, engaging, and effective digital learning environments where educators consider all aspects of the entire learning environment” (Cummings, et al., 2017, p. 7). As I learned, it is important to remember that CSLE is a backward design process that, at its core, is student-centered. As I have progressed through the DLL program, I can see how the whole program was designed with COVA + CLSE. The whole program is an example of how I can implement COVA + CSLE in professional learning for my staff. I was able to use choice, ownership, and voice as I created authentic projects in each course.
The projects in each course could tie back to the plan for innovation and helped me to better understand how to implement the plan. There were, however, courses, where I chose to create authentic projects with a different focus, one that would also have a lasting impact on my organization.
In EDLD 5389, Developing Effective Professional Learning, I created a plan to overhaul the professional development program in my school and make it a professional learning program with a badging system. Unfortunately, due to the world-wide pandemic we currently face and the restriction my principal put on professional learning this school year, I was not able to implement this badging system. I will be implementing this learning opportunity when I am again able to offer professional learning opportunities to my staff.
In EDLD 5318 (Instructional Design Online Learning) The course I created focused on tools teachers can use to allow student creativity in their classrooms. In this course teachers create exemplars for their classes and then update lesson plans to give students choice, ownership, voice and authentic assignments. Though the work I did in these two courses does not directly apply to the innovation plan, I can take the skills I learned and apply it to any situation.
In my role, as an instructional technology specialist, I work with the instructional specialists on my campus to provide professional development opportunities for my staff during the school year. I also work with the digital learning team to offer training in the summer. A side note: the coordinator for digital learning in my district has already gone through the DLL program so we now speak a common language.
Moving forward, I will work with my team to implement the COVA + CSLE approach as we plan and coordinate professional learning opportunities for the staff. As a team, we will be restructuring professional development to professional learning. We will use what I learned in EDLD 5389 that learning must be ongoing, supported, active, modeled, and specific (Gulamhussein, 2013). As the new school year begins, I plan on moving forward with the professional learning I developed and give my teachers an opportunity to personalize their learning via the badging system that I developed.
As I begin to implement this professional learning, I will take the time to explain COVA + CSLE to my teachers. Then, as learning continues, I will revisit the COVA + CSLE model. I understand this will take time for the staff to see the big picture, but I believe that it is important for them to see the “why and what” behind the change we will be making. This will help them to see the benefits of COVA + CSLE and why they should use this approach in their own classrooms. I truly believe that as they experience the power of creating significant learning environments that give students choice, ownership, voice, through authenticity they will come to understand the power this approach can have with their own students and they prepare them for the future in a world that does not yet exist.
References:
Cummings, C D., Thibodeaux, T. N., & Harapnuik, D. K. (2017). Using the COVA learning approach to create active and significant learning environments. In Keengwe, J. S. (Eds.). Handbook of research on digital content, mobile learning, and technology integration models in teacher education. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Submitted for Publication. – Using the COVA Approach to Promote Active Learning-Chapter Draft.pdf
Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the teachers effective professional development in an era of high stakes accountability. Center for Public Education. Retrieved March 18, 2021 from http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/system/files/2013-176_ProfessionalDevelopment.pdf
Sandra Negro 