In our final activity for LRNT 525, we have been asked three questions. This questions led me to reflect on leading change in DLEs including my perspective changes throughout the course, course unit lessons learned and future projects where I envision using these course learnings.
1) Has your perspective changed since your initial post on leadership?
When I re-read my leadership blog post to consider whether my perspective had changed since the beginning of this LRNT 525 course, my first inclination was to say no. To explore this more, I decided to summarize my original perspective as well as my key learnings by summarizing one for each unit.
To give you an idea of my original perspective, I’ve summarized my leadership post:
From my experience to date in leading change in digital learning environments (DLEs), I connect most with reflective leadership as an effective leadership approach. Reflective leadership is defined as including specific attributes of self-awareness, mindfulness and personal wisdom (Castelli, 2016). Reflective leadership is best for leading change in DLEs as it is the approach that best balances stakeholder needs with sustainable change that learners require.
To further reflect and evaluate on my perspective changes in this course, here are my overall ‘lesson learned’ by unit:
Unit 2: Leading Change – Change Management
- Since most changes are complex, understanding and defining the problem to solve is integral to implementing a successful DLE change (Cormier, 2017; Biech, 2007).
Unit 3: DLEs Implementation and Planning – Project Management
- Ensure that appropriate time is given for the defined DLE change through managing project elements through a planning process that aligns with your organizational and project goals (Al-Haddad & Kotnour, 2015; Moskal, Dzuiban & Hartman, 2013; University of Florida, n.d.).
Unit 4: Incorporating data in decision making – Learner Access to Data
For this unit, I learned most through reading and responding to peers’ comments in Unit 4 Activity 2. This activity involved a Google Doc where we shared questions about our data at Royal Roads as graduate students. Since I design learning for adult learners, this was useful for me to understand the mindset of multiple adult learner perspectives.
- A specific takeaway for me from this activity was that adult learners may value, and even expect, increased transparency and access to their own learner data (including analytics) to feel that their learning is being effectively supported given current technological capabilities. This is similiar to Zettelmeyer’s (2015) statement that leaders not understanding the analytics behind data is “no longer acceptable” in most organizations today (para. 17).
When I add these summarized learnings to my beginning perspective prior to these course units, I now can see that my perspective has altered. I now see the importance of building in a systems thinking mindset to work with a reflective leadership approach to enable sustainable change for learners. Systems theory implies that an organization is a complex system and that your leadership approach should always consider the multiple moving parts of an organization (Biech, 2007). This requires you to incorporate a ‘think like a system’ mindset to identify potential barriers to change during the diffusion of the change in your organization (Conway, Masters and Thorold, 2017).
2) In your current role, how can you help lead a change within your organization?
Taken from my above Unit 2 ‘lesson learned’, I can help lead a DLE change by:
- Understanding what needs to be changed and why.
- Identify key stakeholders early to on so I can ask them questions to better understand the problem before I determine a DLE change is required.
Resources: For questions, I can use the 5 Why method from our SystemsLens tool built by our team (Alastair, Chad, Theresa and I) for Assignment 3.
From my above Unit 3 ‘lesson learned’ , I can help lead a DLE change by:
- Planning out the change and ensuring the proper time is allowed for our client or our organization to successfully implement the change. This includes an evaluation of readiness for change
Resources: I can use resource management techniques, such as the ones defined in the third element of our team’s SystemsLens tool.
From my above Unit 4 ‘lesson learned’, I can help lead a DLE change by:
- Ensuring change allows opportunities for learners to evaluate their own learning and that learner data is as transparent is possible.
- Ensuring the learner data is as transparent as possible to learners to ensure sustainability in the change, especially if the change is a new learning management system (LMS) or implementing changes within a LMS.
Resources: I can consider using language from the Open University’s learning data ethical policies and FAQ documents that were part of Unit 4 readings.
3) What can you envision doing in the future?
I envision multiple future DLE changes where I can incorporate the above ways that I can help lead change as well as the course unit lessons I’ve summarized. These include:
- Creating a new e-learning course or making changes to a face-to-face, online or blended course to incorporate new design for increased learner benefits
- Implementing a new LMS for a client
- Supporting and creating a decision-making process for a client to purchase a new LMS (including performing systems analysis and using existing learner data)
- Developing a learning strategy for a client facing a DLE change
References
Al-Haddad, S., & Kotnour, T. (2015). Integrating the organizational change literature: A model for successful change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 28(2), 234-262. doi:10.1108/JOCM-11-2013-0215
Biech, E. (2007). Chapter 3: Models of change. In C. Russo (Ed.), Thriving Through Change: A Leader’s Practical Guide to Change Mastery (pp. 21-32). Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training & Development.
Castelli, P. A. (2016). Reflective leadership review: A framework for improving organisational performance. Journal of Management Development, 35(2), 217-236. doi:10.1108/JMD-08-2015-0112
Conway, R., Masters, J., & Thorold, J., (2017). From design thinking to systems change: How to invest in innovation for social impact. Royal Society of Arts, Action and Research Centre (London, UK). Retrieved from https://www.thersa.org/globalassets/pdfs/reports/rsa_from- design-thinking-to-system-change-report.pdf
Cormier, D. (2017, December 8). Our schools aren’t broken, they’re hard. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://davecormier.com/edblog/2017/12/08/our-schools-aren’t-broken-they’re-hard/
Moskal, P., Dziuban, C., & Hartman, J. (2013). Blended learning: A dangerous idea? The Internet and Higher Education, 18, 15–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2012.12.001
University of Central Florida. (n.d.) Institutional capacity and readiness. Retrieved from https://blended.online.ucf.edu/2011/06/07/institutional-capacity-and-readiness/
Zettelmeyer, F. (2015, May 1) A leader’s guide to data analytics. Retrieved from https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/a-leaders-guide-to-data-analytics
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March 31, 2019 at 11:29 am
Hi Nicolette I really enjoyed your summary of all units and how your views on leadership have evolved. What resonated with me the most was your suggestions towards moving forward.
“Ensuring change allows opportunities for learners to evaluate their own learning and that learner data is as transparent is possible.
Ensuring the learner data is as transparent as possible to learners to ensure sustainability in the change, especially if the change is a new learning management system (LMS) or implementing changes within an LMS.” (Young, 2019).
As it is critical to give learners the opportunity to assess their own learning proving access to their learner data. I came to the realization that as a student, I value having access to my data to knowing my performance. Moreover, having had the opportunity to suggest guidelines for data collection within our course and reading our colleagues suggestion has given me better insight as to how to incorporate data into decision making. This is one aspect of data integration I have interest in.
March 31, 2019 at 11:52 am
Thank you Phyz. You have a great point – in allowing us to ask questions in the Google Doc, we now have a great vantage point to start to create our own data guidelines for our learners, especially if our learners are adults (but likely for other types of learners too, it may be a good start). Appreciate your insights, all the best.
March 31, 2019 at 11:59 am
Hi Nicolette –
I forgot to click the “I am not a robot” box, so my second time responding…LOL! Hopefully, I will be more succint! I really enjoyed reading your post and appreciate how you broke down your learnings and insights in response to the questions we were asked. Very effective. Like you, I felt like the readings, activities and assignments helped me to deepen my understanding of key areas in leadership change in a DLE. One of your takeaways mentioned was the importance of a systems thinking mindset coupled with a reflective leadership approach in leading effective change. Like you, I really resonated with both concepts and am beginning to learn how interconnected people, processes and information are in a systems. Therefore implementing change with a systems mindset encourages looking at a problem from a more holistic perspective. I feel like I am just beginning to really grasp these concepts and look forward to deepening my learning further! Thank you for sharing all your insights in this post!