Contributing To Learning

As I have begun my journey in the Digital Learning and Leading program I have had to ask myself more than once now, what does it mean to contribute? Specifically, what does it mean to contribute to my community and to myself.

Throughout this process of reflection and being asked how well I contributed to my own learning and to the community as a whole I have come to conclude that contribution may not always mean giving to others, but also supporting them when things become difficult and encouraging them to push themselves and try harder than they are. This view of contribution is accurate to how I viewed my contribution through the 5303 and 5305 courses in the DLL program.

As a new student in the DLL program it was quite nerve racking to begin by taking two graduate level courses together, but I was confident in my abilities to stay organized and on top of my work. To say this confidence grew as I began to know my core learning community would be an understatement.

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Self-Assessing Score: 45 | 90

Core Group: Alicia, Nahaira, Leonor, & Carolina

Link to E-Portfolio: https://llovedallison.wixsite.com/portfolio

Link to Course Calendar: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12c_63djnO_ONkR7iw1u8TK-qJLKuuPC3xAPAuO5Pe_o/edit?usp=sharing

As the first week of classes began I was nervous and excited to meet the other students and begin my journey to further my knowledge. Due to this excitement and nervousness I was one of the first students to post my introduction discussion and this discussion is were everything changed. In my discussion I talked about my enjoyment of a new Netflix show called "Bridgerton". Little did I know at the time that many of my classmates where also very interested in this show and by the first virtual Zoom session I had already found a group of like minded people to join forces with. By the end of this first meeting I had put my number in the chat and received messages from about five people who were ready and eager to work together. I created a group message for all of us to communicate together and also set up a weekly Zoom meeting for Thursday afternoons so we could go through things we were having trouble with each week.

This core group consisted of five people who were enrolled in both the 5303 and 5305 classes. By all of our group members being in both classes it made it very easy to transition from discussing one class and then the other. To me, and I assume the rest of my group members these two courses became one for us. We saw the information we were learning in our Disruptive Innovation (5305) class as the "why" behind everything we were discussing Applied Technology (5303). This seamless transition and connection between the classes and my core group made the seemingly terrifying notion of taking two graduate classes nothing more than a little extra work on the side.

This core group of women was soon riddled down to just three as two of our members had to leave the program. This may seem like a setback, but the three of us left were determined to do well in the courses and learn as much as we could in the time we had.

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I believe I demonstrated leadership in my group through my take charge attitude of creating the group meeting and discussion places as well as bringing our group together over shared interests in the first place. I also took a calendar created by another member of my group and altered it into a checklist format to help organize and streamline the two courses turn-in dates and assignments. This document was shared within my group as well as with those in the class that liked to meet separately each Wednesday. It is my belief that this document helped keep many of us on track and and not lose site of the various courses deadlines.

My group, although we consistently messaged and communicated through our group messages also messaged through the discussion boards located on blackboard as well as through out google documents where we provided each other with feedback through the form of comments and highlights. By using these avenues for communication and still meeting during Live class meetings and our weekly Zoom sessions we were always in contact and able to hold each other accountable for every assignment and blog post throughout the two classes.

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Aside from my core learning group I myself made sure I was prepared by completely all readings and watching all of the videos provided by Dr. H. In doing this I made sure I understood the topics to be discussed fully enough to contribute to my community and class as a whole. I also discussed these topics with my colleagues thus expanding my own learning community to include those in my work place as well. By expanding my community I was able to receive feedback from those actively involved in both of the courses I was in as well as from the people who have distance from this DLL world. This feedback provided me with the best opportunities to revise and edit my work as I received multiple opinions and point of views. I have also made it a point to complete assignments and discussions as early as possible so there is plenty of time to receive feedback and to provide feedback to others.

Throughout this spring semester as I have grown to learn not only about disruptive innovations and e-portfolios, but about myself as a learner, a leader, and an educator. My group has decided together that we will continue to enroll in two courses at a time as we work well together and will be more successful together than we will be apart. I look forward to where this team and this program will take me in the future as I continue to reshape my ideas of the world.