Through the ADL journey, my learning experiences were in a student-centered environment where I had choice, ownership, and voice while working on authentic projects. The first time I genuinely realized that I had agency in my learning was when Dr. Harapnuik asked me to find an opportunity or problem in my workplace that I wanted to innovate and improve. I had the choice to select a real-world problem to work on during these ten months, my innovation plan.
I remember my initial reaction when I had the freedom and responsibility to choose and take ownership of my learning; I felt lost, overwhelmed, and scared. I was not ready. Throughout my previous academic journey, the instructor provided everything for me; I was responsible for understanding the information and sometimes memorizing it to pass the test. Since this approach was really challenging, I doubted myself, lost confidence, and wanted to drop one of the courses. However, Dr. Harapnuik helped me understand that challenges are learning opportunities, and we need to step out of our comfort zones and take ownership of our learning. Moreover, a shift in my mindset helped me adjust to this approach to learning and many other individual challenges, like going back to school after twenty years, basic digital literacy, and limited writing skills.
At the beginning of the program, it wasn't easy to control my voice and focus on my organization as the audience for my work since, in all my previous academic work, the audience was the instructor. Promoting organizational change takes work; it requires time, dedication, and hard work. I had mixed feelings; on the one hand, I felt very excited and motivated to impact my organization positively, but on the other hand, I did not feel capable of doing it. Nevertheless, my confidence grew throughout the program.
Now that I have experienced CSLE+COVA, I want to give my students the same learning experiences I had and create a significant learning environment where they have choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities.
Harapnuik, D. (n.d.). COVA. It's about learning. Retrieved October 10, 2023. harapnuik.org/?page_id=6991
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