I really struggled at first with how XYZ applied to me but I went back through it, it started to make more sense. It really helps that that you have the videos from the discussions along with the class meeting. I needed all of those resources and input to wrap my brain around it…. It is also so helpful that I can talk to you about these ideas…thanks for your help and encouragement.

This is a cumulative paraphrase of many emails and discussion posts where learners have relayed their challenges and success in working through difficult ideas. There are two key ideas that we can glean from this collective experience.

1. Learning requires repetition and lots of input – most learners find looking at an idea or issue from a variety of perspectives useful. Reading and re-reading the book or article, watching a video, reading a blog post, reading an additional article, discussing the ideas with their classmates, friends, and the instructor all contribute to the learning process.
2. Learning takes time and effort – genuine learning requires effort and perseverance. Moving beyond knowing the name or label of something to actual knowledge takes a lot of effort and time. But once a learner takes ownership of an idea and makes it their own by applying that idea to their own context they can then apply this new knowledge in a variety of contexts.

Because we give our learners choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities and we are not simply asking learners to regurgitate information on an exam, the significant learning environment that we provide must be extremely rich and point to a very wide assortment of learning opportunities and resources.

In addition to the, required readings, the videos and related discussion I regularly point to additional ideas and resources in weekly announcements as the courses progress. I will occasionally add links to posts or other articles in the discussion forums. Rather than ask our learners to wait for these additional resources to be made available through course announcements the following pages will point to a variety of resources that can help you make those meaningful connections.

Why not just include these resources in the supplemental reading section of the course or add them to the existing course structure. More isn’t always better and not everyone may need or even want these additional resources. The DLL program and courses have been very well designed and we do have enough information and resources. The additional information and tips that I will be pointing to will help those learners who just want another perspective to help them “really get their head around the ideas” or as I would prefer to state – take full ownership. For the most part, I won’t be adding new information but will simply be pointing to the same information that will be presented from a different perspective. I will also be pointing to many of my personal struggles or insights that I have gained over the years which may also help learners to identify with the fact that their professor also has struggled with “getting his head around” many of the same ideas.

Please note that this is a work in progress and the first perspective pages that will be added will be the courses that I have designed and have taught. I will be working with the instructors of the remaining courses to build out perspective pages

5303 Perspectives
5304 Perspectives
5305 Perspectives
5313 Perspectives
5317 Perspectives

If someone needs directions, don’t give them a globe. It’ll merely waste their time. But if someone needs to understand the way things are, don’t give them a map. They don’t need directions; they need to see the big picture (Seth Godin, 2017 para. 1).

In order to do well in the DLL, you need to see the bigger picture of how this program works. More specifically you need to see the bigger picture of how we have created a significant learning environment in which we give you choice ownership and voice through authentic learning opportunities.

The following pages and videos have been designed to help you understand why and how we use CSLE+COVA in the DLL and what that will mean to your learning experience. We recommend that you use the following pages in sequence but as you will see in the DLL program we leave that choice up to you:

Change in Focus
You will find that these two videos (Part A – 7 min & Part B – 4 Min) will help you to recognize how a simple change in focus can help you and your organization stay focused on helping your learners to realize their full potential and grow into future leaders who will help improve our world.

COVA
The short page and video (2 min) provide the overview and context for COVA and will help to reinforce how important it is to have choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities.

CSLE+COVA Framework
The short page and video (2 min) provide the overview and context for CSLE+COVA.

Why CSLE+COVA
Since people don’t buy into what you do but buy why you do the CSLE+COVA Why, How and What page and the short 4 Keys to CSLE+COVA (5 min) provide the foundational starting point about how to use technology to enhance learning.

What to expect from the DLL
Constructivist hold that people learn by making meaningful connections between what they already know and what is new. Therefore, it is our hope that the What to Expect video (6 min) which compares and contrasts the CSLE+COVA to the traditional information transfer model will help you to understand how to deal with the differences you will experience in the DLL program

What you get from the DLL
Since the DLL program uses authentic learning opportunities that are core to the constructivist CSLE+COVA approach this page points to all the authentic, plans, strategies and related resources that you will create in the program.

DLL Program Map
The DLL Program Map page and related video (8 min) will give you a detailed explanation, and a visual representation of how the DLL program works and how each of the courses works together to help you build, implement and measure an innovation plan that will help you succeed as a digital leader.

CSLE
Once you have gone through the above pages and videos going back to the CSLE page will help to reinforce how important it is to look at creating significant learning environments.

Research
We encourage everyone to always look at the research and supporting ideas and theories behind what you read. The CSLE+COVA and the DLL program are based on well established constructivist theories and research so we encourage you to explore these foundational ideas further.

References
Godin, S. (2017, January 8). Maps and globes [Blog]. Retrieved from http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2017/01/maps-and-globes.html

The roots of the CSLE can be traced back to the ’90s in the work and research on Inquisitivism. While the fundamental ideas for the CSLE began to take shape in the early 2000s, the formal name Creating Significant Learning Environments (CSLE) was first used in a series of workshops in 2009 in the context of adding and expanding the notion of the learning environment in Dee Fink’s Creating Significant Learning Experiences. Fink’s approach and book focused on his experiences as a classroom teacher in the late 1990’s and then as the Director of a Center for Teaching and Learning. Adding significant experiences to the traditional classroom through Fink’s Taxonomy and 3 column table approach was an effective way to introduce backward design and constructivist learning principles to the classroom experience. While Fink did allow for some aspects of a broader perspective in his situational factors assessment of the classroom we found it was necessary to expand the situational factors to the more encompassing environmental factors because of the shift to online learning that began in the mid-1990s. With the explosive growth of the internet and the subsequent growth of online learning and then the addition of mobile and blended learning the importance of creating a significant learning environment that takes into account all the factors of the learning environment beyond the confines of the classroom is even more important today.

We believe that it is important to more than talk the constructivist talk and actually walk the constructivist walk. This notion of walking that talk has been a priority in the earliest learning environments and online courses that were created back in the mid-1990s. As a result, creating learning environments in which the learners are given choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities has been a consistent focus since that first online course was created in 1995. Since this first online course, elements of what we now refer to as the CSLE+COVA approach has found its way into all the face2face, online, mobile, and blended courses a well as workshops and related professional development activities that we have been involved in over the past two decades. The Digital Learning and Leading program at Lamar University is simply the most recent instance where we have moved beyond the constructivist rhetoric by a creating significant learning environment in which we give learners choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities.

To better understand the CSLE+COVA vs Traditional table comparisons in the video please take a few moments to review the full tables and explanations found at:

CSLE vs Traditional
COVA vs Traditional
CSLE+COVA Mindset vs Traditional

Links to all the components of the CSLE+COVA framework:

Change in Focus
Why CSLE+COVA
CSLE
COVA
CSLE+COVA vs Traditional
Digital Learning & Leading
Research

Revised Oct 23, 2017

Before you examine what you get from the DLL program it is important to understand that the DLL is designed with and uses constructivist principles that make it different from traditional programs. We believe that it is important to more than talk the constructivist talk and actually walk the constructivist walk? The Digital Learning and Leading program at Lamar University is not only based on constructivist principles we model these principles. In the DLL program, we have moved beyond the rhetoric by a creating significant learning environment in which we give learners choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities.

To better understand the CSLE+COVA vs Traditional table comparisons in the video please take a few moments to review the full tables and explanations found at:

CSLE vs Traditional
COVA vs Traditional
CSLE+COVA Mindset vs Traditional