My time in the DLL program has definitely been a journey of several twists and turns. When I initially began the program, I thought I would simply become more knowledgeable and skilled in using various technology programs with my students. But, it has been so much more. I never thought that this experience would completely change my view on how education should look and, more importantly, how it should feel. Going through the COVA+ CSLE format of the DLL program firsthand has allowed me to see the importance of feelings in the areas of learning and educational change and confirmed the focus I should place in this area as I go on to create change as a digital leader on my campus.
When considering learning and educational changes, the human element of feelings is often overlooked. The standardization of education has caused many in the educational field, including myself, to not consider the great impact feelings can have on creating positive change. We much rather “stick to the data”. However, I have learned through this program that feelings have a huge impact on a very important element of change: motivation. The presence or absence of this element in any environment, particularly education, can be the difference between successful and unsuccessful learning or innovation.
I was able to experience this several times throughout the DLL program. Being given the opportunity to self-direct my learning through activities such as choosing my own innovation plan, designing my own ePortfolio, developing a growth mindset plan, generating call to action videos, creating course design models and online courses, and designing a professional learning strategy taught me the value of taking ownership and agency over the learning process. It also motivated me to want to learn more about each course’s content because I was able to do learning on my own terms, which made the process more fun and exciting for me. In addition, these assignments were also parts of creating a change that feels meaningful and authentic to me. As a result, I feel that I have truly learned more information in this program that will stick with me for a long time than I have in other educational settings. As a future digital leader, this is the type of experience I am looking to create for both teachers and students on my campus. I want both students and teachers to feel such a meaningful connection to their work that they become intrinsically motivated to learn. Therefore, as I move forward towards implementing my plan on campus, I will use the constructivist COVA + CSLE model of the DLL program as a blueprint for how to present my innovative project to my colleagues on campus. And feelings will, once again, be given great attention throughout this process.
As I have learned throughout the DLL program, appealing to the hearts of our audience is crucial to creating change as a digital leader. Change cannot happen by simply presenting the audience with facts and stats. They have to feel the value of the change and connect with it on a deeper level in order for them to feel motivated to change. I have already started this process by sharing what I have learned about the growth mindset with a few of the more progressive and influential teachers on campus who already have a desire to expand their mindsets. Getting the more reluctant teachers to join in, however, will be more of a challenge. But, as I have learned from the growth mindset, these challenges are learning opportunities. If I can think of a way to appeal to their feelings, I can get them to join along with my plan. This is where I began incorporating the social motivation strategy from my influencer model into my implementation. By having these influential teachers talk about the growth mindset in their group around others, it has made them more curious. The fear of missing out element has attracted their attention and a buzz has been created on campus about the growth mindset. This feeling of interest is exactly the motivation I need when I formally present my growth mindset plan to the entire campus.
The next way I will appeal to their emotions is through my flipped learning and individualized professional learning call to action videos. Using what I have learned in the DLL program, I have incorporated effective strategies such powerful visuals, emotional music, minimal words, and audience-relevant information into the videos to strengthen its emotional response from viewers.
Once they have watched the videos and feel the need to partake in individualized professional learning for the flipped classroom, I will appeal to their emotions once again by incorporating the COVA + CSLE model into their professional learning experiences. Similar to what I experienced in the DLL program, I will allow my colleagues to gain a feeling of ownership and agency over their learning experience by choosing their own area of concern to address with their class using the flipped learning model during their professional learning experiences. With my coaching and support, they will complete self-directed learning tasks and choose which elements they would like to include in their flipped classroom implementation. This will make the professional learning experience more meaningful and motivating for them because it addresses their specific classroom needs.
Of everything we have covered in the DLL program, this topic of appealing to feelings is the one that I feel will have the greatest impact on me becoming a successful digital leader. This is because feelings are where connections happen. Whether it’s connections between individuals or connections between people and ideas, an emotional tug is necessary for acceptance of people and their ideas to be strongly considered and internalized. Therefore, if one wants to be an effective change leader, he/she has to recognize this important fact and plan implementation with this in mind. I feel that I have done this so far in my innovation planning and will continue to keep feelings in mind as I become a digital leader on campus.
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