Before taking this course (and this program), I believed that anyone working in education could take a leadership role in digital learning.  All it would take is a passion for learning, some hard work, and anyone could lead the path to digital change.  While passion for learning is important, I now think it takes more than hard work to create a successful digital environment (which is a very different place than a seated environment).  One must understand the inner workings of digital learning and the theories behind the environment.

As I complete courses in MALAT, I realize more and more that this is a specialized field for which we are training.  It is complex since we must learn to navigate technical issues and personnel issues.  Education is never only about the content it is also about the people in, either the physical or electronic, room.  The care for the people portion does not diminish in the digital environment, if anything the need is greater.  The leader plays a larger role in this segment of learning than I initially realized.  As stated by Castelli (2016), “sharing experiences and admitting mistakes shows the human side of leaders” (p.223).  If the leader can show his/her human side to the team members they might show their human side to the students.  In my first blog post for this course, I discussed the idea of an adopting a reflective practice (Moore, 2020, para. 4).  Now that I am near the completion of the course, I believe even more in that practice.  As the implementation of changes occurs, it is critical to look back and see what worked well and what needs improvement.  Without that reflective piece, it would be too easy to repeat errors and miss repeating the positive actions.  No one wants to do that!

At this time, I am not in a leadership role; as a result, it is a challenge for me to lead digital change.  A practice I have adopted is to make changes in my own responsibilities, ensuring that I am making the changes for the right reasons (based on data, need, organizational goal, etc.).  When the time arises that I am in a leadership role, I plan on looking back to the information in this course to help me make the best decisions possible.  I hope to use an adaptive leadership style, as described by Khan (2017), as it is a flexible style.  Motivating the team is as important as understanding the technology and the data.  A strong piece of adaptive leadership is remembering to inspire the team.

Given the circumstances that we are facing, I find it noteworthy that many people who do not speak highly of online learning are facing learning and/or teach digitally.  This course has supplied us with many tools to navigate this complicated realm.  I feel fortunate that I now have those tools and I will reach out to anyone I see struggling.  I may not be in a leadership role, but that does not mean that I cannot take what I have learned and help those around me.

Resources

Castelli, P. (2016). Reflective leadership review: a framework for improving organisational performance. Journal of Management Development, 35(2), 217-236.  Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/docview/1767544220?accountid=8056

Khan, N. (2017). Adaptive or Transactional Leadership in Current Higher Education: A Brief Comparison. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(3).  Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/3294

Moore, K. (2020). Attributes of a Leader [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://malat-webspace.royalroads.ca/rru0108/attributes-of-a-leader/

Please see our team assignment here.

Thank you Jeff, Laren, and Eunice!

I work in a portfolio of a school within a post-secondary institution.  Often those of us at the portfolio level get an edict from management announcing new policies and it is up to us to find ways to implement them, making them work for our situation.  An example of this happened recently.  As a result of a safety audit, the decision came to implement a visitor sign-in procedure.  Until this time this was not part of the process when guests came to the classroom or to an event.  The problem in this situation was that there was not any communication about how to implement this change, the rational behind it, or any beneficial details.  The lack of shared information created a large barrier to implementing the change.  No one knew the expectations or the parameters, therefore people were creating their own systems and not sharing them with the other groups.  In this situation, the goal of the project caused many of the barriers.  Conway, Masters, and Thorold (2017) state “innovators should not just focus on user needs … they must also comprehensively map the system which they hope to change, employing a range of techniques to appreciate the complex dynamics at play” (p. 14).  The originators of this change did not follow this concept.

Without a map to follow, the type of system created was guests signing-in on paper.  Given the size of campus and the frequency of guests, I felt that a paper system was not an ideal solution and I suggested a digital option.  The barriers in this option, that I did not see when I brought the idea forward, included that many people felt the paper system would work perfectly adequately and we should take the easier path in order to accept the new procedure.  I have limited experience in leading change, and I felt that the digital system was clearly the correct option.  After going through the readings, I discovered that the lack of planning for this project contributed to the results.  The key players in the implementation did not know who the stakeholders were, or who was responsible for the process (i.e., who to go to with questions).  In order to overcome this barrier, I think the process would have benefitted from closer analysis.  I do not believe there was any data collected regarding the best method to use to implement the process.  Sclater, Peasgood, and Mullan (2016) present three elements of organising learning analytics, which are “the availability of data, the analysis and creation of insight, and processes that impact upon student success” (p. 34).  These components can apply to projects outside of the classroom environment as well and would have changed the outcome in this situation.

For this project, I received instructions on what needed to happen.  Should I ever be on a team who is rolling out a change similar to this one, I would like to take the time to have conversations with those involved (or a representation of the entire group) to ensure the solution fits the goal of the new process.  I think ensuring that step is complete will help those involve accept the new system and it will better function for the goal.

Cormier (2017) states “when you pull one string on that system to try and fix it, you tend to tear the sweater somewhere else” (para. 2).  In the situation I described here, I believe I may have torn the sweater elsewhere when I presented my digital solution.  I now know that in future situations I need to be more careful and take the time to get buy-in from the team, when presenting an idea with which they may not be comfortable.

References

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. 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-arent-broken-theyre-hard/

Sclater, N., Peasgood, A, & Mullan, J. (2016). Learning analytics in higher education: A review of UK and international practice. Jisc. Retrieved from https://www.jisc.ac.uk/sites/default/files/learning-analytics-in-he-v3.pdf