1st Quarter: Embracing Disruptive Innovation
Let’s talk about change! Getting started on my innovation project was a difficult and anxious task. I am an individual who is aware that change occurs all the time, and I must adapt to it. When you are a part of different organizations, I have come to realize that not all organizations are willing to adapt to change. These organizations find that they would not want to adapt to try new things because their old traditions and processes have proven successful. This was the type of environment that I was a part of, which caused the difficulty and anxious feeling of starting an innovation project in my unique environment.
Some of the changes that have occurred today in education are the number of digital tools and resources that are available to assist educators in adapting to the 21st century of learning. Students use iPads, computers, and even smartphones to motivate and engage them in everyday learning. The New Culture of Learning focuses on learners using their imagination and passion, while facing challenges and constraints in the learning process (Thomas and Brown, 2011). We can do this by giving learners choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities (COVA) (Harapnuik, nd).
Just as change occurs each day, it was no different with my innovation project. Throughout the length of this ADL program, I went through many transitions and needed to revise my plan to adapt to the changes. My innovation project changed and evolved throughout the program. I started with a pilot ePortfolio project. Then I transitioned into a community-based project and finally ended with an innovation plan focussing on the use of the Universal Design for Learners (UDL) approach. With all of these came changes in audiences, ideas, and ways to move forward.
2nd Quarter: A Reflection of the Projects leading to my Current Innovation Project
A Pilot ePortfolio Program
The ePortfolio program was focused on 6th Grade Students in my self-contained classroom. The audience for this project was administrators, colleagues, and parents of the 6th-grade students in my classroom. I was able to catch their eye with my first proposal, my first outline, and my first literature review. As I mentioned before, I was a rookie teacher and felt it would be tough to incorporate the disruptive innovation project. Even though I was excited to incorporate the ePortfolio project, it was unsuccessful in the environment that I was in. This was due to the requirements set by the administration and school leadership resulting in no time or negotiation in incorporating the pilot program in my classroom.
The Shine Project
The idea of The Shine Project came from a community non-profit that a group of parents, with children with special needs, were wanting to create. I thought this would be a great opportunity to include The Shine Project. The program audience would be community members and families. The mission of The Shine Project was to look at individuals with abilities by their talents and “they can.” These individuals would have the opportunity to shine and caption their talents through videos and activities. We would go the extra mile to praise and reward community members and educators who looked at these individuals by their abilities. You can discover my Applied Digital Learning (ADL) program activities including the 4DX Plan and Influencer Strategy Model to get a more detailed idea of the plan and seed I planted with The Shine Project.
3rd Quarter: The Current Innovation Project and Its Current Status
Universal Design Approach for Learning (ADL)
Eventually, I discovered that my fiance would be relocating to another state for work. I was then forced to revisit my disruptive innovation project, where I opposed the idea of using a UDL-COVA approach in the classroom. The UDL approach is an approach to learning that is very wide-ranged. Throughout the program, I have had experience researching the UDL approach and found a very useful approach to engage and motivate all learners in the classroom setting. One specific area that I have focussed on, using this approach, is gamification and its effects on writing among individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. You can discover my (ADL) program activities including my action research plan and the results of a pre-teacher questionnaire to get a better idea of the plan and seed I planted and started using the UDL approach.
I allow my one-on-one student to have many opportunities for choice, ownership, and voice in his learning. He is given the choice to choose the manipulatives, objects, and other resources that he would like to use to show his different authentic learning throughout the day. This student does not enjoy writing, and I have incorporated some gamification techniques through our daily interactions in writing tasks. I have not been able to find reliable and valid data on this topic due to one main reason. This student loves games, and he is the only student that I have been able to do this type of activity with. I have been able to do this I would need a wider variety of students to prove the data reliable and valid.
4th Quarter: The Reflection Of the Learning Process and Moving Forward
As an educator, we will have to sequence or chunk assignments for students to make large projects less overwhelming and stressful. This is the overall learning process that I felt that the ADL Program did for me as a student. Throughout the program, we were able to start with a basic outline and proposal of our overall project, and we added parts and extensions to the overall project as we progressed. I believe in a perfect or semi-perfect world, at the end of the program, we would have an innovation change project that would be almost finished and include a proposal, outline, an initial and follow-up literature review, action research, publication article, professional development, and a course to go with it all.
As I progressed through the program, I went through the hardest part of my life with many transitions and life obstacles. This brought challenges and throughout the challenges, I felt that I was able to successfully adapt my innovation in each environment I was in. I have many seeds to plant as an individual who was personally affected by special education programming, an advocate for individuals with disabilities, an active learner, and an educator for all learners. Moving forward, I must expect the unexpected and have a growth mindset. I plan to continue to trial and error the ideas that I have for the success and positive learning of all individuals in academics, life, and personally with a growth mindset in every environment and circumstance.