With the conclusion of LRNT 527 I am reflecting on the process of creating a digital learning resource (DLR) and what I have learned along the way: what was my goal and what went well, what not so well; what knowledge did I gain and what will inform me the next time I create a DLR; what are my next steps and would I do anything differently next time?
I started out wanting to create a DLR for mentors of early childhood educators “ in answer to a widening gap of quality between field settings for our students” (Fahrenbruch, 2019, para. 1). Following the human centred approach to design thinking (IDEO, 2015), I formulated a survey to gain feedback from current mentors in the field. And even though I received input from all participants, the survey did not give me enough detail. I found myself wanting to ask more questions to find out the underlying reasons for given answers. Heck (2019) stated, “a written exercise does not provide the same feedback as an in-person conversation” (Heck, 2019, comment section). Personal conversations offer the ability to gain different perspectives with the opportunity to clarify answers (Sharpe, 2019; Warman, 2015; Wimmer, 2019) and would have provided more insight.
During the define phase of the design process, I created point of view (POV) statements that focused on the needs of the user, in my DLR, this would be the mentors. During the process of creating POV statements, I experienced a significant shift from wanting to educate mentors about good mentorship to wanting to support mentors in the development of new perspectives and the building of relationships with students and the instructor. This motivation to support mentors “to increase student/mentor/instructor connection and collaboration to facilitate relationship building that will result in the development of empathy, patience and support” (Fahrenbruch, 2019, para. 1) created a shift away from the institutional focus of using intellectual content to educate. Following input from mentors, I stepped away from teaching and found myself in the role of facilitator. This shift in focus created the idea of a community of practice, which is defined by Wenger-Trayner (2015) as “[m]embers of a community of practice [who] develop a shared repertoire of resources: experiences, stories, tools, ways of addressing recurring problems“ ( p. 2). The difficulties I am experiencing with this type of DLR is the measurable outcome. Within an institutional setting learning goals need to be measurable (Christie, 2019) yet Wenger-Trayner (2015) are clear in their conviction that communities of practice develop over a long period of time and are difficult to measure. They suggest “to measure different types of value created by the community and trace how members are changing their practice and improving performance as a result” (Wenger-Trayner, 2015, p. 6). How do you measure value, and how do you measure an improvement of performance over time without the use of traditional assessment tools? An empathetic DLR does not always fit within the confinements of a traditional post secondary institution. It is a tension I encounter when I engage in an empathetic approach to teaching.
In the final phase of creating a prototype of the proposed DLR, I used the SECTIONS model by Bates (2015) to use as a guiding tool. I still feel that Bates offers me the best tools towards the creation of a digital community of practice that fulfills most post secondary institutional wants and at the same time follows the principles of a human centred and empathetic approach. I will need to define my learning goals to fit the institutional focus to be measurable, and I will need to think about what tools I would use to collect data so I can make informed decisions when moving forward (Stokes-Beare, 2019; Wilkes, 2019). Corso and Ciacobbe (2004) provide insight with their statement “ [a]lthough communities of practice continually evolve, it is possible to observe five stages of community development: potential, coalescing, maturing, stewardship and transformation” (p. 4). These stages will give me a starting point for assessment as the DLR is used.
I am planning to use many of the resources I received during this course and share them with my colleagues as we are creating more and more online courses for our program. The DLR I created will be shared with other institutions who are seeking to support mentorship within their practice of early childhood education.
References
Bates, A. W. (2015). Chapters 6-8. In Teaching in a digital age: Guidelines for designing teaching and learning. Vancouver BC: Tony Bates Associates Ltd. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/part/9-pedagogical-differences-between-media/
Christie, J. (2019). Re: Digital Learning Resource [Comment]. Unpublished manuscript, LRNT 527 Creating digital resources, Royal Roads University, Canada.
Corso, M., & Giacobbe, A. (2005). Building communities of practice that work: A case study based research. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228822218_Building_Communities_of_Practice_that_work_a_case_study_based_research
Fahrenbruch, A. (2019). Toward effective mentorship. Unpublished manuscript, LRNT 527 Creating digital resources, Royal Roads University, Canada.
Heck, T. (2019, July 29) Re: Creating effective mentorship [Blog comment]. Retrieved from https://malat-webspace.royalroads.ca/rru0053/creating-effective-mentorship/
IDEO (2015). Design Kit – Methods. Retrieved from http://www.designkit.org/methods
Wenger-Trayner, B. & Wenger-Trayner, E. (2015). Introduction to communities of practice: A brief overview of the concept of its uses. Retrieved from https://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/
Sharpe, M. (2019, June 30). Re: Creating effective mentorship [Blog comment]. Retrieved from https://malat-webspace.royalroads.ca/rru0053/creating-effective-mentorship/
Stokes-Beare, D. & Wilkes, P. (2019, August 14). ECCE Mentorship Community of Practice- Anita Fahrenbruch – Critical Analysis and Feedback. Unpublished manuscript, LRNT 527 Creating digital resources, Royal Roads University, Canada.
Warman, G. (2015). Using design thinking in higher education. EDUCAUSE Review. Retrieved from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2015/1/using-design-thinking-in-higher-education
Wimmer, J. (2019, July 2). Re: Creating effective mentorship [Blog comment]. Retrieved from https://malat-webspace.royalroads.ca/rru0053/creating-effective-mentorship/
