In the unwritten chapters of this session, I embarked on two courses: “Assessing Digital Learning” (5315) and “Sharing Resources for Digital Environments” (5317). It felt like flipping through blank pages just waiting to be filled! Balancing my roles as an educator and a student made diving into the pages of these courses quite an adventure. I was unsure if I was capable of the amount of writing that these courses demanded, but in the whirlwind of it all, I discovered that our abilities extend far beyond what we believe. Standing here now, I can't help but think of how far I've come in the past year, especially considering the doubts that I had at the start of this journey.
Being part of a collaborative group during the course of this program has proven instrumental in my progress throughout but especially during this session. Ashley Lee, Amanda Mask, and Hillary Turnage are and have been my core collaborative crew from the beginning of this program. Throughout this journey, they have offered invaluable support and friendships. This session, Katie Beauchene joined our group and has been such a wonderful asset in this short time with us. I am so glad she agreed to join us and hope we all continue to collaborate in our final courses. We still use our collaborative document, which we created during the summer session as a compilation of all our assignments. We create a rubric to provide feedback for our publications. With Docs, Canva, and Zoom, we crafted and fine-tuned our media project. We collaborated and left comments in Word docs to refine our literature reviews and action research plans. Our text group became a lifeline, and a place of support, encouragement, and friendship. I was lucky enough to attend the same conference as Katie and Amanda and we were able to meet finally and attend sessions together.
Throughout the session, I actively engaged in Zoom classes and discussions, responding to Blackboard posts and offering feedback to my peers. I embraced "feedforward" from peers and instructors and reflected on my assignments based on their insights. Post-feedback, I revisited my assignments and revised them accordingly.
I made sure to read all the required materials, watch the assigned videos, and explore the provided links. Meeting assignment deadlines was a top priority, and I went the extra mile to learn more beyond what was required. I found the examples shared by other students to be very helpful. I rely heavily on Dr. Harapnuik's eportfolio and utilize the examples he has linked. I submitted a publication and am patiently awaiting news if it was accepted.
In my core group, I assumed an active leadership role and made contributions to the Blackboard forums in both courses. I engaged in discussions, shared valuable resources, and provided constructive feedback on numerous posts. I made it a point to post my initial responses within the assigned week to allow ample time for others to respond, and I actively participated in discussions with my peers. When it came to research, adhering to proper APA citing was important, and I sought assistance from the Lamar Writing Center. Furthermore, I contributed extra posts to enrich my learning experience.
Simultaneously navigating both courses has always been the right decision. I am grateful that my collaborative group can continue and complete this journey through the program together. The courses also went hand in hand. I was able to reflect on assignments from each course that would help guide me in other assignments and discussion posts. I plan to continue on the accelerated path for the remainder of the program.
As this session draws to a close, I reflect on the lessons learned realizing that there are still many blank pages to be written. Both these courses have given me a voice and a purpose through writing. With self-assessments in mind, I propose a grade of 97/100 for "Assessing Digital Learning" and a grade of 98/100 for "Resources for Digital Environments." Looking ahead, I plan to continue my growth mindset, mindful that growth is a never-ending journey in both life and learning.
“Today is where your book begins...
The rest is still unwritten”
References:
Bedingfield, Natasha. (2004). Unwritten [song]. On Unwritten. Phonogenic Records, Sony
BMG.
ADL/EDLD 5320 Examples. (n.d.). It's About Learning. Retrieved February 29, 2024, from
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