Contribution to Learning and Learning Community

Carl Dickerson 

EDLD 5303 & EDLD 5305 Fall 2022

Lamar University

 

EDLD 5305 Score: 42

EDLD 5303 Score: 85

In such a short period of time, I was able to learn so much from both EDLD 5303 AND 5303. I have not taken a college course in more than 22 years and was immersed in the Masters program at Lamar University. Dr. Harapnuik’s many resources and thorough classroom modules helped me to gain the knowledge I need to be successful in my innovation project. 

Although I was not able to attend every single class online live due to my work schedule, I was able to follow along easily with the recordings when needed. When I was able to attend the live sessions, I enjoyed the many opportunities Dr. Harapnuik allowed us to collaborate and discuss various topics he had assigned. Breaking up into groups and reviewing our thoughts on the subject matter was a great way for us to get to know each other better, strengths and weaknesses and gave us a chance to find the perfect match for our collaboration groups. My group members were Stephanie Wells and Elizabeth Gorski. These ladies were very motivating and a pleasure to work with. We were able to share ideas, get feedback on assignments, and kept ourselves on track. I am looking forward to working with them in the future courses and expanding our collaborative group.

My contribution to learning through the classroom modules was pretty consistent. I not only posted my thoughts, but I would also go back and revisit the modules to read other students’ posts, giving feedback and creating cooperative relationships. I reflected on my assignments, took Dr. Harapnuik’s advice and revised all of them to try to make them as successful as possible. I completed all modules and oftentimes, revisited them to help me get through assignments. I did create my website early on, and slowly began to post on my blog, I just didn’t share it until I felt it was complete. Learning how to create this ePortfolio was almost a course of its own, but now that it’s up, I’m very proud of what is evolving.

Even though I kept up with all readings, videos and assignments, I feel next time I need to make sure all of our collaborative group communication is through Blackboard. We were comfortable enough with each other that we texted back and forth and through email but I should have taken leadership responsibility and moved it to the official area. I didn’t realize that the communication between us should have been recorded through Blackboard, that was my error. Another thing I believe would help me in the future is to revisit the modules’ response section more often. There were many additional responses that could have helped in my learning, if not, just to get other’s thoughts and new perspectives. I periodically checked the responses after posting mine and responding to others, but there were some that I missed that were posted later.  

Looking back at both courses, I believe my score should be a 42 for EDLD 5305 and 85 for EDLD 5303. I did meet all key contributions, but I feel I failed to meet 1 of the supporting contributions, which is taking leadership in my base group.