Here is the link to my case study that follows Roberta as she takes on a new job and learning new skills. I have presented her feedback and my analysis of the course "Creating a Business Plan", in the following link:
https://northeastern.digication.com/case_study_online_learning/Welcome/
- My Professional Landscape and Goals
My particular field, adult developmental studies, provides me with a great opportunity to use the skills I am acquiring in the eLID program. I am able, through my job as a Program Head, to guide the development and delivery of online courses. My aspirations, at this time, are to continue in my current position, as it allows me to grow in the field of elearning and instructional design. I hope, in a few years, to be able to set out on my own and start a small, northern e-learning production company. This is only a distant idea right now, but it sits firmly in my future plans.
My other goal, as I gain more knowledge and more credibility in this field, is to help set up an online learning team within the college I work for. At present, we have a scattered approach to online learning, with no real guiding principles. For the future of elearning within the college, if I am to be involved, it will be essential that I look at what other provinces are doing. Ontario, the most populous province in Canada has taken a lead in the development of an online learning portal that allows learners from all over the province to access courses from a variety of post-secondary institutions. If I am able to spear-head a team to develop online learning for adult learners, I will be looking at already existing models of delivery.
The system in the Northwest Territories is very policy driven, and as the college moves forward with becoming a polytechnical institution and moves away from government administrative processes, it will become necessary to change the policies that currently guide our thinking. I hope to be involved at some level in shaping more equitable policies to online course delivery. I envision policies that are not number driven, as our small population base in the Northwest Territories does not support this model. We need a more equitable system for small communities with limited access to post-secondary learning. Subjects that communities currently have little access to, that require specialty knowledge, such as physics and advanced math can be piped in via online learning platforms. I am a Freirian educator at heart, and I can separate technology in learning from larger societal change.
(Harrison, L, 2016) notes that there are “inequities in participation” in remote communities, with a lack of resources, budget and instructor capacity that prevent these post-secondary institutions form “leveraging this opportunity to provide value in underserved regions” (p. 178). We are stuck in the numbers game in the Northwest Territories. Budgets are tied to participation and retention levels. This makes sense for urban areas, but not for communities with populations of five hundred or less. If and when I become in the larger developmental phase of online learning at the college, I will use a strong research base to underscore the need for a different approach to elearning delivery in the Northwest Territories.
Wherever I am, I see myself as leading a team, as I do now. A final thought from E.M Johnson (2010); for educators involved in new ideas and new ways of doing things, it was"the presence and encouragement of the larger group that … encouraged them to persevere” (Johnson, M.E, 2010, p. 49)
References
Harrison. L. (2016). eLearning in Ontario: Responding to the Winds of Change (Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario)Retrieved from https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/75572
Johnson, E. Marcia. (2011). A Team Approach to Supporting Pedagogical Change in University Elearning Environments. Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching, 4, 46-51.
Kitchenham, A. (2017). Indigenous Learning Preferences and Interactive Technologies. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 46(1), 71-79. doi:10.1017/jie.2016.12
My Competency Model and Current Levels of Expertise
Katie MacRae’s Personal Competency Model
ELID COMPETENCIES | Rating |
Professional Expertise |
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Contribute to the design of learning experiences that are rigorous, grounded in evidence-based pedagogical theory, and informed by the science of learning. | 7 |
Gather and assess evidence of effectiveness for the purpose of improved learning. | 7 |
Create engaging environments that involve learners in the construction of knowledge through images, words, videos, and animations. | 7 |
Serve as a consultant on learning design and connected learning. | 8 |
Manage the development of projects related to learning design. | 8 |
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Contextual Cognizance |
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Conduct environmental scans to identify needs and resources, analyze gaps and strengths, and discover partners and opportunities. | 6 |
Demonstrate responsiveness to organizational culture, including the capacity to negotiate with others and manage change. | 6 |
Understand the expertise and perspectives of participants in the design process (e.g., discipline specialists, educators, learning scientists, media designers, and technologists), in order to forge respectful and constructive working relationships. | 6 |
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Leadership and Vision |
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Seek out and analyze the pedagogical potential of new models, strategies and tools. | 7 |
Respond innovatively to societal and institutional changes that impact the field of education. | 7 |
Anticipate and help shape the future of education, particularly next generation learning in mobile and online environments. | 6 |
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|
ADDITIONAL COMPETENCIES |
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My Personal Competencies |
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Use holistic culturally appropriate curriculum and resources within the instructional design of online courses | 5 |
Seek opportunities to learn and use current course design and development software | 5 |
Advocate for the transfer of Adult Basic Education Courses to an online learning platform | 6 |
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Best Practices for Indigenous Education
In terms of using my professional skills in elearning and instructional design within my current position, I will need to add some outcomes written by the Council of Ministers of Education Canada (CMEC) as part of their Aboriginal Education Action Plan, developed in collaboration with educators and local aboriginal community groups. Any and all skills that I intend to use must be in line with outcomes similar to those presented here. Canada has no federal jurisdiction over education, so a collaborative approach such as the one CMEC has put together is helpful.
Council of Ministers of Education Canada Secretariat (2015) CMEC Aboriginal Education Action Plan 2015-2017. Toront, ON Retrieved from https://www.cmec.ca/57/Indigenous_Best_Practices.html
Indigenous Learning Outcomes
Choose methods and designs that will lead to improved academic outcome |
Integrate increased community wellness into existing learning outcomes
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Partner with local jurisdiction(s) and aboriginal stakeholders
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Ensure all learning designs are responsive to increased student well-being, self-confidence, identity, values, pride, personal development, or competence
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Seek out indigenous materials and resources and engage community members in the process of sharing materials
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Design learning experiences that contain a positive link to employment
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Ensure the inclusion of Aboriginal content or perspective
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Create learning opportunities that increase participation in the education system
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Promote active participation of learners in community life |
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Assessment of my own level of knowledge:
Contextual Cognizance - Novice/Proficient
Professional Expertise - Proficient
Leadership and Vision - Proficient
Indigenous Best Practices - Novice
Personal Competencies - Novice/Proficient
- Summary
Overall, I need to develop my skills in contextual cognizance as I am at the lower end of proficient. This, I feel is my developing area, in terms of any foray I make into the world of elearning. I filled in the Personal Competency Model twice over a period of time and the results differed. I think I was more realistic the second time. The context within which I work is currently one of rather chaotic change. My post-secondary institution is going through some growing pains and is struggling to figure out the 5W’s + 1H of delivering relevant programming in an enormous territory with a diverse range of cultures, languages and environments.
Oil and gas, mining, resource development has been our mainstay, but by focusing exclusively on it are we ignoring the technological twenty-first century skills that are so essential in our changing world. I think, in my own region, I am able to adapt to the requirements of modern learning delivery, but I often feel alone in this endeavor. For me, it is always a challenge to adapt programs to the unique requirements of our region. Self-government has come to the Northwest Territories and this will play a huge roll in the context in which I work and learn. Inter-generational trauma must be part of the discourse and language and cultural revival is at the forefront of all efforts at educational renewal.
In terms of Professional Expertise, I am at the higher end of proficient, expert in overall project management as I have a lot of experience in educational management and, though I lack all of the “nuts and bolts” of the technical side of elearning and instructional design, I feel that I will be able to take what I learn in the ELID and perhaps the Masters and put it to good use in this remote environment. Technology could become part of the great resurgence of the people of the north. I will only be a technician in the larger picture, as anything that is going to succeed in the field of education in the Northwest Territories must be accepted by and attuned to the indigenous communities.