{"id":289,"date":"2021-03-02T13:38:20","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T20:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0168\/?p=289"},"modified":"2021-03-02T13:39:27","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T20:39:27","slug":"unit-2-activity-1-managing-change-for-learning-in-digital-environments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0168\/unit-2-activity-1-managing-change-for-learning-in-digital-environments\/","title":{"rendered":"Unit 2, Activity 1: Managing Change for Learning in Digital Environments"},"content":{"rendered":"

I initially struggled with this blog post as I felt I did not have enough experience with change management. I only became familiar with the term seven years ago when a project manager I worked with indicated that she would handle the change management piece of our project. Change management was never mentioned again leading me to believe it was never addressed. However, upon further reflection though, I recognize I have been part of many changes, whether through writing a new policy or procedure or introducing a new software tool.<\/span><\/p>\n

Change management is an arduous undertaking given that success rates are less than 30 percent (Al-Haddad & Kotnour, 2015). While the early years of change management piggybacked off other disciplines, including psychology and sociology, it evolved in the 1990s with the emergence of several change management methods, including John Kotter\u2019s Leading Change method, which helped pave the way for change management to become its own discipline (Levine, 2016).<\/span><\/p>\n

With the onset of COVID-19 in the past year, change has become commonplace within learning environments. As stated by Harris and Jones (2020), learning has been redefined \u201cas a remote, screen-based activity limiting most learners to on-line teacher support\u201d (p.243). Unfortunately, the pandemic caused me to lose my last job, so I have not directly witnessed the change the organization has undergone. However, through conversations with former coworkers, there has been a lot. Specifically, in the training department, classroom training is now being run virtually through Microsoft Teams, and they have adopted some creative solutions including recording short videos of demonstrations to enhance instruction.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes to leading change in a digital learning environment, Kotter\u2019s Leading Change method would be useful as it is made up of eight steps that can be iteratively modified. Recently Weiss and Li’s (2020) study described how this method was used to address trainee’s well-being in healthcare, and it found that it allowed program leaders to reflect upon their training programs and take the opportunity to improve them\u201d (p.735).<\/span><\/p>\n

Weiss and Li (2020) also stated that modifying education to effectively respond to learners requires leadership.\u00a0Leadership is paramount during times of change. Al-Haddad and Kotnour (2015) state that \u201cacts of leadership enable the organization to respond to the changing environment by creating a vision and making prompt decisions in terms of resources and technologies (p.240). By having leadership involved in the change, leaders can promote confidence in those experiencing the change while providing clarity and cultivating a sense of community (Merrell, 2012).<\/span><\/p>\n

Harris and Jones (2020) suggest there is evidence supporting the importance of using context responsive leadership within education because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also suggested that it is imperative for leaders to put their own health and wellbeing first to better manage the emotional responses of others while leading the changes imposed by COVID-19 now and in the future. The impact of the pandemic has caused change management to become an essential skill of school leaders where they \u201cwill need to be engaged in constant crisis and change management which will require support and collaboration from all staff\u201d (p.246).<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

References<\/span><\/p>\n

Al-Haddad, S., & Kotnour, T. (2015). Integrating the organizational change literature: a model for successful change. Journal of Organizational Change Management<\/em>, 28<\/em>(2), 234\u2013262. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/JOCM-11-2013-0215<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Harris, A., & Jones, M. (2020). Covid 19 \u2013 school leadership in disruptive times.\u00a0School Leadership & Management, 40(4). https:\/\/doi-org.ezproxy.royalroads.ca\/10.1080\/13632434.2020.1811479<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Levine, S. R. (2016, April 18). What can we learn from the history of change management? Retrieved from https:\/\/www.cuinsight.com\/can-learn-history-change-management.html<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Merrell, P. (2012). Effective change management: The simple truth. Management Services, 56<\/em>(2), 20-23. https:\/\/ezproxy.royalroads.ca\/login?url=https:\/\/www-proquest-com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca\/trade-journals\/effective-change-management-simple-truth\/docview\/1027234230\/se-2?accountid=8056<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Weiss, P. G., & Li, S.-T. T. (2020). Leading change to address the needs and well-being of trainees during the covid-19 pandemic. Academic Pediatrics<\/em>,\u00a020<\/em>(6), 735\u2013741. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.acap.2020.06.001<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I initially struggled with this blog post as I felt I did not have enough experience with change management. I only became familiar with the term seven years ago when a project manager I worked with indicated that she would handle the change management piece of our project. Change management was never mentioned again leading […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":191,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lrnt525"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0168\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0168\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0168\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0168\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/191"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0168\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0168\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":296,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0168\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289\/revisions\/296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0168\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0168\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0168\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}