Recommendations to new students in the ADL program from a current ADL student who will be graduating shortly.
Archives For ADL
In EDLD 5317 ADL students Pedro Beltran, Colby Clifford, Allison Palmer, and Brianna Rodriguez created a 3 Part Podcast series called Thoughts on Learning where they discuss the following key topics with Dwayne Harapnuik:
Part 1 – ePortfolios as Assessment as Learning EP 36
Explores how educators can move beyond using ePortfolios for assessments for learning to assessments as learning.
Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/10K5bhx13rhOzG3yI7h8lm?si=e7251b4517144482
Part 2 – Blended Learning and COVA EP 37
Explores how giving learners choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning can have a positive impact on the blended learning environment.
Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/4iW07AwvV7aJdSU81KfsL2?si=1d67c46e20b5467b
Part 3 – Opportunities with ePortfolios Blended Learning and COVA EP 38
Summarizes the opportunities that learning environments that utilize ePortfolios, blended learning, and COVA can offer learners.
Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/0m1A1jBTl5fLqgnWszyKD0?si=ad2b9e8b103e45bc
You can also access the links to these ADL Student Discussions on the Learner’s Mindset Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/groups/1391607630957125
Difference between the Digitial Learning & Leading (DLL) and Applied Digital Learning (ADL) programs
| M.Ed. | Digital Learning & Leading (DLL) | Applied Digital Learning (ADL) |
| Name & Emphasis | Digital Learning & Leading is a collaborative learner-centered program that embraces technological innovation through collaboration and active and authentic learning that will prepare learners to create meaningful change. Innovative technologies are used as catalysts to enhance learning and when effectively employed, the technology disappears into the learning environment. This online program is designed to develop both digital learning knowledge and leadership. | The emphasis on digital learning and leading from the DLL is maintained in the ADL. The shift in using the notion of “applied” is to emphasize Applied Learning which is an active and collaborative process in which learners apply knowledge and skills gained from theory, hands-on experience, and authentic learning opportunities. What differentiates ADL from the DLL are the increased emphasis of assessment as learning and critical reflections on the application of analysis, evaluation, in the creation of significant learning environments. |
| Program Length | 12 courses for 36 credit hours | 10 courses for 30 credit hours |
| Course Length | 5-week courses
Since the start of the program, all courses in the DLL have been continually and incrementally updated. Mid-term diagnostics feedback surveys conducted in each course revealed the most important need was additional time to enable deeper learning. |
8-week courses
The course content from the DLL is was used as a foundation and updated. No new content was added. The increased time was added to enable learners to go deeper into their analysis, evaluation, and creation of their authentic learning opportunities. |
| Program Completion | The DLL program is typically completed in 18 -24 months. Due to the intense 5-week duration, students are allowed to complete one course at a time. | The ADL program can be completed in one year because students have the option of taking 2 courses at a time. Students also have the option of doing one course at a time and doubling up on courses when their schedules allow. |
| Discussions & Collaboration | Discussion forums are used in the DLL to foster collaboration and to provide a forum for students to help each other with their innovation projects. Discussions are monitored by instructors and contributions evaluated using a metric that combined the quantity and quality of participation. | Discussion forums are used in the ADL to foster collaboration and to provide a forum for students to help each other with their innovation projects. Evaluation of collaboration shifts from the instructor to the student. Self-evaluations are based on an assessment as learning model where students self-assess their contribution to their own learning and to that of their core learning community. |
Over the past few months, I have been working on the updates to the Masters of Digital Learning and Leading program which in January of 2021 will become the Masters of Applied Digital Learning. I will be creating an explanation page/post to highlight the changes but in this post, I need to address the significance of applied learning. A search of the internet and related literature reveals the need to build a consolidated definition based on the following applied learning definition components:
At the most basic level the literature points to this foundational definition:
Applied learning – a process in which students apply knowledge and skills gained from traditional classroom learning to hands-on and/or real-world
settings, creative projects, or independent or directed research, and in turn apply what is gained from the applied experience to academic learning” (SUNY, 2018, para. 1).
Quite often this basic definition is supplemented with the notion that applied learning is
“is grounded in the conviction that learning is maximized when it is active, engaged, and collaborative” (Ash & Clayton, 2009, p. 25).
Perhaps one of the most overlooked aspects of applied learning is the integration of reflection or more specifically critical reflection which
“is an evidence-based examination of the sources of and gaps in knowledge and practice, with the intent to improve both” (Ash & Clayton, 2009, p. 28).
Critical reflection goes well beyond the notion of navel-gazing but is an integrative, analytical, capacity-building process that must be purposefully designed (Ash & Clayton, 2009; Whitney & Clayton, 2010; Zlotkowski & Clayton, 2005).
The consolidated definition that I will be using in the new Masters of Applied Digital Learning combines all these components:
Applied learning – is an active and collaborative process in which learners apply knowledge and skills gained from theory, hands-on experience, and authentic learning opportunities. What differentiates applied learning from experiential learning, project-based learning and other forms of active learning are the critical reflections on the evidence-based analysis of the sources of and gaps in knowledge and practice. This iterative process stimulates the continual desire for growth and improvement through the implementation of assessment as learning which also enables the learner to reinvigorate their learner’s mindset.
Applied digital learning is therefore the application of applied learning beyond the confines of the traditional classroom and moves learning into the digital environment or all the time and anywhere context that have in the digital information age.
References
Ash, S. L., & Clayton, P. (2009). Documenting learning: The power of critical reflection in applied learning. Journal of Applied Learning in Higher Education, 1(1), 25–48.
The State University of New York. (2018). Common definitions in applied learning. Retrieved from https://www.suny.edu/applied-learning/about/definitions/
Whitney, B., & Clayton, P. (2010). Research on the role of reflection in international service-learning. In R. Bringle, J. Hatcher, & S. Jones (Eds.), International service learning: Conceptual frameworks and research. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.
Zlotkowski, E., & Clayton, P. (2005, April). Reclaiming reflection. Paper presented at the meeting of the Gulf South Summit on Service-Learning and Civic Engagement, Cocoa Beach, FL.
