During my 5318 and 5389 courses, I was a part of two groups and we communicated through GroupMe to collaborate and answer questions with one another.
Group Members:
Brian, Kathia, Kyna, Caitlyn, and Cicely
Hannah, Jessica B., John, Lisa, Amanda, Nyjah, and Allison
One of the greatest lessons I have learned throughout the ADL program at Lamar University is the importance of collaboration. Each semester I have worked closely with my peers and their support has been a vital role in my success with this program. Throughout the 5389 course, I was given the opportunity to develop a professional learning program that would benefit my organization. Throughout the course, I would read the required readings for each module, watch all videos, and post on each discussion board. I would make sure to go through each week and give a reply to help continue the collaborative conversations that were taking place. The discussion boards were a great place to also read the posts and responses of others that are not in my core group. It's a great place to see differing ideas! I would also talk with my group members each week and seek clarification and feedback on the weekly assignments/content. The feedback I received from my peers was a key part of the final products I posted to my ePortfolio. By sharing my professional learning videos and ePortfolio page with them, I was able to get an outsider's view on what I was creating. This helped me find areas of confusion that I would not have caught on my own since I had created the content. My professional learning course, Blended Learning Academy, was a product that was built on during each module of this course, so I was able to make adjustments throughout. By sharing work for feedback and asking clarifying questions with my group, I felt confident in my final product for Blended Learning Academy.
During this same semester, I was enrolled in 5318, which was an online design course. These two classes could not have fit together better. Since I was creating a professional learning course to teach educators in my organization how to implement blended learning into the classroom, I couldn’t help but think of one of the five principles of effective PD (Gulamhussein, 2013), which is modeling. The best way to make sure that my professional learning is effective is by creating an environment where blended learning is modeled and teachers are given the opportunity to create and implement their own plans. For this online course, I created five modules which ended with teachers implementing their lesson plan in their classrooms. These modules coincided with the professional learning sessions. Having both of these pieces working together only strengthened my innovation plan and will be a huge tool in getting others on board. This idea was born out of collaboration with my peers. I was originally going to create an online course for my students, but as I brainstormed with my group, the idea of tying it in with my professional development came up and I ran with it. Throughout the 8 weeks, I shared my work with my group, not only for feedback for myself but also to share what I had created in case it helped someone else develop a vision of how to present their information. We would use various ways to share information. Most communication took place through the GroupMe app and Google Docs. At the end of every semester, I reflect back on what I said I would work on from the previous course reflection and I feel like I can always improve and try to look at the course with a growth mindset. My goal from last semester was to reply in a more timely manner on the discussion boards and I feel as though I met this goal during this semester. For my goal going into next semester, I will strive to reply to more peers in the discussion boards so academic conversation can continue to take place. I truly enjoyed this course, and I am very excited to use what I developed in this course to help drive my innovation plan.
Reference:
Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the teachers effective professional development in an era of high stakes accountability. Center for Public Education. Retrieved from http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/system/files/2013-176_ProfessionalDevelopment.pdf
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