My journey in the ADL program began with 5303 and 5305. When I began this program, I had been out of school for years and expected a learning curve. What I knew was that I was a good student and working in an online setting was second nature to me. What I did not know was that I was going to meet Dr. H and his approach to learning would rock my world.
I remember the first Zoom meeting feeling overwhelmed. It was so out of the box. We were told to form groups. I panicked. How could you form a group without knowing anyone? I took names of those I thought I may want to reach out to. Funny that those ended up being the same classmates that were in the group that Jasmin Galbert started for us on Group Me a few classes later.
Dr. Sue held class right after Dr. H, and I double panicked when I realized that 5303 was based solely on improving your ePortfolio (which I did not have yet). I went away from the class thinking I had no clue how this was going to work, but I was determined to figure it out. Directly after class, I reached out to classmates by email. I also posted on the discussion boards that I was looking for a group. I received an email from Stephen Lewis asking me to join his group with Karin Stateler, I said yes, and the rest is history!
Stephen, Karin, and I are all working on adult-centered projects, and I learned quickly we all had a similar work ethic. We spoke daily throughout the eight-week session. Karin and Stephen challenged me to go outside of my comfort zone. Reviewing each other’s work, we gained ideas. Watching our ePortfolios change with each collaboration was telling of how we complemented and respected one another. Throughout the program, we developed not only a successful workgroup but friendship and trust. We were willing to be vulnerable, share, receive constructive criticism, and apply changes that in return pushed us to surpass our previously perceived limits.
In addition to this small group of three, I was also included in two larger collaboration groups on GroupMe. One for the ADL program as a whole, and one for those in 5303 and 5305. I joined all 3 groups and throughout the eight-week session frequently joined in the discussion and sharing with classmates. I also spent time emailing and messaging individual classmates to share ideas and feedforward.
Key Contributions:
Checked GroupMe daily to share in discussion and support classmates
Provided feedforward in GroupMe and on discussion boards frequently
Reflected on feedforward and made revisions to ePortfolio and projects based on suggestions of classmates
Immediately applied suggested changes from Dr. H to assignments after watching videos after grading
Attended all class meetings for both 5303/5305; prepared and on time
Read most class readings and watched all videos for each class and voluntarily researched sources outside of course suggestions
Set up GroupMe for Core group "Adult Centered Learning"
Met all deadlines in course calendars for both 5303/5305
Checked grades and emails and responded to all in a timely manner to both courses
Blogged outside of class requirements multiple times throughout courses
Applied coursework ideas and shared with friends, family, and co-workers to contribute to extended community learning
Checked 5303/5305 discussion boards and responded to classmates promptly
Supporting Contributions:
Took a shared leadership role in our core group along with Karin and Stephen
Met with a small group to share class readings and discuss (myself, Karin, Andrei, Danielle, Jasmin)
Shared notes from shared readings and suggestions (with links) for audio equipment on Discussion boards for class
Reached out to classmates and offered support as needed
Reviewed and provided feedforward for links that were shared in GroupMe (Mamta, Andrei, Chastity, Kelven, Illeana, Ericka, Pedro, Rachel, Jasmin, Andrea)
Areas for Improvement:
Begin readings before needed to be sure to complete them all
Break assignments down into tasks so I won't be as pressured close to the deadlines
Take advantage of each professor's conference time as needed
Complete my assignments before the due date to have more time to receive feedforward from collaboration groups.
Group work and collaboration has been an area that I have not enjoyed in the past. One thing I will take from these first eight weeks is that group work and collaboration do not have to be painful experiences. I have improved and grown tremendously because of those in my groups. I am better for having worked with everyone throughout these eight weeks and look forward to group collaboration throughout the rest of the program. Community is a good thing, and collaboration is the key to successful growth.
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