Key Contributions
Throughout the Resources Digital Environments course, I engaged in a highly collaborative environment in which I felt out of my comfort zone. The different assignments allowed me to dig deeper into the implementation process of my innovation plan.
The videos and readings of the course allowed me to push my thinking. As an educator, I have learned how to share what I do in my classroom with informal posts via Twitter or comments via Facebook groups and discussion boards in the course. I truly feel that I have grown tremendously in this area (discussion posts). The readings and videos gave me the context to make connections and share my thinking with my peers about the variety of ways technology can enhance learning, how my learning environment is changing and how I can share the changes I am making in my classroom. These discussions gave me the tools and experience to step out of my comfort zone and share what I do with a wider learning community.
Discussion Board – Examples
All the articles, videos, and discussion boards gave me a good foundation to think about writing an article to share my ideas with the learning community. I had read articles in Edutopia and We Are Teachers and admired the educators who were sharing their work. But, it never crossed my mind that I could do something like that. The discussion posts were done in a trusting environment, which is why I felt and still do completely comfortable doing it. But, writing an article pushed my thinking and I struggled with the idea at the beginning. Creating the publication outline helped me put my key ideas together. I went back and reviewed my blog posts and decided what I wanted to focus on. I embarked on the writing process and designed my first draft with lots of stumbling blocks. First, my draft was over a thousand words. But Edutopia’s guidelines only allowed 750 words. Second, I literally forgot my audience. In order to refine my work, I joined a Facebook group where I placed my draft for my colleagues to provide feedforward. Christine Glenn, Angie Ariza, and Jennifer Marlor were amazing at giving me comments that pushed my thinking and let me realize that I had to keep my audience in mind. The assessment rubric was designed in collaboration with other peers. Although I lost the focus of my audience during my first draft, I edited the document four times using the rubric the team created.
Assessment Rubric
As a learner, I have refined my writing skills and taken risks that helped me grow. I watched all the videos, read all the articles, and responded to each discussion board (and three or more peers) in a timely manner supporting my thinking with sound research. Such a collaboration process was key to my growth as a learner.
The reflection process and collaboration I engaged in this course also helped me grow as an educator. My next step is to publish the article. I will submit it in August to We Are Teachers.
Self-Assessment Marking: 92
Fernando Herrera 