{"id":649,"date":"2020-03-02T12:52:56","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T20:52:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0115\/?p=649"},"modified":"2020-03-05T10:44:41","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T18:44:41","slug":"roadmap-for-navigating-change-in-digital-learning-environment-external-scan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0115\/roadmap-for-navigating-change-in-digital-learning-environment-external-scan\/","title":{"rendered":"Roadmap for navigating change in digital learning environment: External scan [interactive infographic]"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Photo by\u00a0N.<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a>]\n

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Leading change successfully in digital learning environments is an essential skill in the current rapidly changing digital ecosystem. According to Al-Haddad & Kotnour (2015) \u201cchange has become the norm for organizations to sustain their success and existence\u201d (p. 234). Furthermore, for Udas and Masson (2008), online learning represents one of the most dynamic areas \u201cin a rapidly growing part (educational technology) of a changing sector (higher education)\u201d (para. 1).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, in order to embrace change in digital learning environments,\u00a0 I have created a roadmap for those, who would like to successfully navigate and lead change in Higher Education. In my interview with two experts, who are the professors in the School of Transformative Leadership, I have focused on how they navigated change from physical to digital classroom and their successes and challenges along the way as they have been leading change in their institution by adopting and developing online courses. <\/span>Following\u00a0 Al-Haddad and Kotnour (2015) change taxonomy, this assignment is focused on the institutional change (guided by the industry change) as implemented by individual professors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Based on their recommendations and experiences, as well as findings from the literature, this interactive roadmap<\/a> will focus on steps for successful implementation of change when moving to and adopting online and blended course model Higher Education. The following elements were strategically identified as the elements of the roadmap:\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

1. Needs assessment.<\/b> One of the important elements of needs assessment is\u00a0 \u201cunderstanding where your organization sits today and what processes it needs to improve, change or transform\u201d as an essential first step to implementing change (Moore, 2011,\u00a0 para. 6). According to Al-Haddad and Kotnour (2015), \u201cthe organization needs to identify the environmental conditions required for the change plan to succeed\u201d (p. 244), which also echoes one of the steps in the Kotter\u2019s Eight-Step Model: Anchor new approaches in the culture (Biech, 2007).\u00a0 Both experts have emphasized the need for knowing their students and understanding their needs. According to one of the experts, every form of leadership is about good relationship and understanding who is in the room with you and what are the needs of these individuals (M. Martin, personal communication, February 24, 2020). Another expert emphasized the importance of listening to what the students are saying and create an open environment for them to express their needs (L. Levesque, personal communication, February 25, 2020).<\/p>\n

2. Navigating challenges with integrity: <\/b>Both experts have shared their challenges in moving towards blended and online learning environments at the beginning, such as struggling to \u201creplicate a sense of community\u201d in a digital classroom, address the needs of students that might be less self-motivated when studying online (L. Levesque, personal communication, February 25, 2020), maintain open communication between the members of the group, and achieve \u201ctransformative learning\u201d online (M. Martin, personal communication, February 24, 2020).<\/p>\n

3. Harnessing technologies: <\/b>According to Fledstein (2017), \u201cwe now have many more discipline- and pedagogy-specific digital tools that can be incorporated into the learning environments\u201d (para 6). Knowing all the features and potential of the digital tools (such as current LMS) and being able to use them effectively was identified as an important element for leading successful change (L. Levesque, personal communication, February 25, 2020).\u00a0 Furthermore, both experts identified the importance of using expertise, available for them on campus (instructional designers, librarians, etc).\u00a0 (L. Levesque, personal communication, February 25, 2020; M. Martin, personal communication, February 24, 2020).<\/p>\n

4<\/b>. <\/span>Being an authentic leader.<\/b> Biech (2007) has emphasized the importance of authenticity in digital learning environments. One of the experts has emphasized the importance of critical self-reflexivity and the capacity of being in tune with the class and adapt accordingly, as well as an ability to be open to constructive criticism\u00a0 <\/span>(L.<\/span> Levesque, personal communication, February 25, 2020). The second expert has stated the importance of designated leadership,\u00a0 recognized authentically, through the qualities of the leader (M. Martin, personal communication, February 24, 2020). Furthermore, authenticity is demonstrated in the following advice from the expert: \u201cIf in the process of change, the goal of the change itself changes, be ready to go with it\u201d (M. Martin, personal communication, February 24, 2020). <\/span><\/p>\n

5. Commitment to the success: <\/b>One of the measurements of the organizational readiness for change, as outlined by Weiner (2009) is a feeling of commitment to \u201cimplementing an organizational change\u201d (p. 1). Both experts have expressed their initial reservations about teaching online, but have demonstrated commitment to adapting to this change and succeeding in navigating it with excellence. For example, L. Levesque has stated that her pedagogical stance is a participatory, discussion-based pedagogy, which she was able to successfully implement online by designing diversified forms of assignments and discussions (personal communication, February 25, 2020). Also, M. Martin has stated that her stance: \u201cTeacher is a lead learner\u201d has been applied by her with regards to the digital learning environment (personal communication, February 24, 2020).<\/p>\n

6. Leadership characteristics: <\/b>When asked a question \u201cWhat leadership qualities do you find most helpful when leading change towards digital learning environment?\u201d, both experts have strongly highlighted the role of adaptive leadership echoing Khan (2017). Other important characteristics of a leader were: openness, flexibility, clear communication, and critical self-reflexivity\u00a0 (L. Levesque, personal communication, February 25, 2020; M. Martin, personal communication, February 24, 2020). Some of the ways adaptive leadership can be manifested in an online learning environment through finding new ways of creating digital content (shorter videos, interviews instead of traditional lectures, reimagining assignments to optimize engagement in the classroom)\u00a0 (L. Levesque, personal communication, February 25, 2020).<\/p>\n

In conclusion, it is important to state that the experts I have interviewed have provided a strong example of authentic leadership and offered a critical reflection on their own experience of leading change towards the digital classroom. According to Udas and Masson (2008), \u201cchange never seems disruptive, jarring, or radical, instead seeming continuous \u2013 a natural progression down a path we discover as we walk it\u201d (para. 6). The experts have demonstrated commitment to the changes brought on by the demands of online teaching and demonstrated a remarkable example of adaptive leadership and navigating change gracefully. The roadmap generated as a result of the interviews with the experts and consultations with the literature on this topic is designed to help others navigate similar changes and inspire commitment and authenticity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Note: this roadmap was developed using genial.ly<\/a>. For the full interactive experience of this roadmap, please click on the image above or go to genial.ly<\/a><\/p>\n

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References:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Al-Haddad, S., & Kotnour, T. (2015). Integrating the organizational change literature: a model for successful change. <\/span>Journal of Organizational Change Management<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>28<\/span><\/i>(2), 234-262. doi: 10.1108\/JOCM-11-2013-0215<\/span><\/p>\n

Biech, E. (2007). <\/span>Thriving Through Change: A Leader\u2019s Practical Guide to Change Mastery<\/span><\/i>. Alexandria, VA: ASTD.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Khan, N. (2017). Adaptive or transactional leadership in current Higher Education: A brief comparison. <\/span>The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>18<\/span><\/i>(3). Retrieved from <\/span>http:\/\/www.irrodl.org\/index.php\/irrodl\/article\/view\/3294<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Moore, C. (2011). The path to business process transformation,<\/span> KM World, 20<\/span><\/i>(5), 6-7. Retrieved from <\/span>https:\/\/www.kmworld.com\/Articles\/Editorial\/Feature\/The-path-to-business-process-transformation-75124.aspx<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Udas, K. &\u00a0 Masson, P. (2008, June 30). Distributed learning environments and OER: the change management challenge. [Blog post]. Retrieved from <\/span>https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20160309200155\/http:\/\/mfeldstein.com\/distributed-learning-environments-and-oer-the-change-management-challenge\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Weiner, B. J. (2009). A theory of organizational readiness for change. <\/span>Implementation Science<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>4(67)<\/span><\/i>. doi: 10.1186\/1748-5908-4-67.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Photo by\u00a0N.\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash] \u00a0 Leading change successfully in digital learning environments is an essential skill in the current rapidly changing digital ecosystem. According to Al-Haddad & Kotnour (2015) \u201cchange has become the norm for organizations to sustain their success and existence\u201d (p. 234). Furthermore, for Udas and Masson (2008), online learning represents one of the most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":655,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lrnt525"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0115\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0115\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0115\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0115\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/145"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0115\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0115\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":680,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0115\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649\/revisions\/680"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0115\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0115\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0115\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0115\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}