In early December 2017 I became acutely, unexpectedly ill and suffered an autoimmune response cascade that has caused significant ongoing health issues.  Despite the trauma of this adversity, I made a choice to try to remain active – at least to some small degree – within my profession.  I am a community college instructor, and I love my job – but what I found very early in this new chapter of my journey was that my health maladies made it exceptionally challenging for me to continue to teach in the manner to which I (and my students, colleagues, and administrators) had become accustomed. While my spirit was willing, my body – quite literally – was not able.  Resigned to the thought of diminishing my classroom teaching presence, I developed out of pure necessity a hybrid learning environment wherein I spent about two hours a week on site delivering in vivo instruction and the remainder of the week engaging my students within my online LMS.

I have to be honest – I hated it.  I was riddled with anxiety about the entire matter.  While I needed to keep working – both out of financial need and for reasons of my own sanity – the thought of reducing my physical presence at the school kept me awake at night. I anticipated harsh criticism, student complaints, departmental disapproval! Sure, I’ve been utilizing a LMS for years – but it was strictly for content, totally supplemental … it was very 1.0, a gadget, a novelty … a useful entity but not something I needed because I, after all, am a TEACHER and my sage wisdom comes in the now highly fragile package that is me. However, I was also weak, exhausted, facing more surgeries, and without any other viable solutions sans quitting altogether.  So I had to figure out a way to make it work.

To my credit, I was very authentic (albeit reserved on the details) regarding my situation and my rationale for creating the hybrid environment.  Further, I did a great deal of behind-the-scenes work from home to ensure the LMS provided a sound learning environment.  I began weekly class discussion forums prompted by questions from the course readings; I developed quizzes on lecture material and allowed a week-long window for the completion of those assessments; I compiled a video library of relevant instruction and tracked student completion; I made all of my presentation materials available in PDF; in a particularly risqué move, I even began facilitating online writing workshops and tutoring sessions through the portal.  I put in so much work laying the foundation because I wanted their experience to be as full and rich as it would be if they had full access to me in person.  I’d expected them to be angry, disappointed, even disgruntled that I’d faded into the role of facilitator of their learning experience rather than existing as an authoritative presence. I thought they’d fail to respect me; I was afraid they’d see what I was doing as a sign of weakness, even worse, laziness.  What I didn’t anticipate, however, was the level of engagement I’d see from my students.

My students … much to my surprise … were HAPPY.  They interacted through the LMS much more than I’d ever seen students interact IRL; they established, quite organically, a sense of community among themselves online; they gave each other good – sometimes even tough – feedback; they engaged at a rate upwards of 90% with the instructional materials I’d provided through the course site (I know this because I can track it); moreover, they attended class religiously and paid closer attention during my lectures seemingly because less access to me made our time together more valuable to them. Not only were they learning, they were engaging. Not only were they writing, they were improving.  And I was not destroying myself in the process. Things were going so well that I actually developed a satisfaction survey on the hybrid environment I’d created.  In the three semesters that I have been facilitating my courses in this manner (this semester will be my fourth), students have reported greater levels of satisfaction than they experienced through traditional course delivery.  Of particular importance is that 96% of students reported a 4-agree or 5-strongly agree with the statement “The hybrid learning environment provided me greater access to my classmates, instructor, and course materials.”  I was decidedly stunned.  I thought I’d been doing them a disservice, instead I had empowered them as writing scholars, as lifelong learners, as digital citizens … and in doing so, I have empowered myself as both a teacher and a learner.

It is no wonder then, given the scenario of my professional life over the past year, that the stories shared in Thomas and Brown’s excerpt from A New Culture of Learning (2011) resonated with me.  Each example provided by the authors illustrated the importance and vitality of connectivity within the learning ecology.  This sense of connecting with other learners through meaningful interactions in ways that reinforce both community and culture while maintaining the integrity of the individual learner’s motivation is paramount to the creation of new learning environments.  While I do struggle with Siemens’ assertion in Connectivism (2005) that “The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe. Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today…. As knowledge continues to grow and evolve, access to what is needed is more important than what the learner currently possesses” (pp. 6-7), I acknowledge that forward thinking and growth mindset are key to cultivating future learning environments.  This particular aspect, however, seems counter to my personal – and perhaps more constructivist – view that content knowledge evolves with the learner and that those foundational constructs, the learner’s background per se,  are not only helpful but vital in the process of acquiring new information. The connections learners derive through even the most chaotic knowledge acquisition demands continuous immersion in an ever-changing ecology.

The definition of university, roughly translated from its Latin origins, is “a community of teachers and scholars.”  While we can debate on what exactly comprises the boundaries of that definition, in my profession the term is understood to encompass –  at its core – a community of inquiry; I daresay the word itself is boundless, both in its edifying potential and in its networking outreach.  And although we tend to consider ideas such as connectivism and learning culture new phenomena, these concepts emulate the tradition of the academy in its purest form.  Our challenge, moving forward, lies in creating environments that sustain the evolution of this digital learning metaculture that has sprung forth not from the head of Zeus but from the minute firings of our keyboards.

Additional Resources:

An Ecology of Learning and the Role of eLearning

The Learning Ecology Framework: Moving from Instructor Control to Learner Control

The Meaning and Purpose of the University

Toward a New Learning Ecology: Professional Development for Teachers in 1:1 Learning Environments

Toward a New Learning Ecology: SlideShare

REFERENCES

MacArthur Foundation (1 Dec 2010). Rethinking learning: The 21st century learner. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0xa98cy-Rw

Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age.

Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change.

Throughout the past twenty years I have been afforded wonderful opportunities to teach in community settings, correctional facilities, rehabilitation units, college classrooms, and special-needs programs; regardless of the subject area I teach – writing or psychology, life skills or learning workshops, research methods or resilience training – I find myself always revisiting one very palpable, pertinent theme: leader as learner, learner as leader.  The most important lesson I teach is the enduring value of lifelong learning.  A sense of wonder, a feeling of confidence, an air of respect for the learning process all serve the growing needs of the learner – and ALL OF US ARE LEARNERS.  To me, embracing the learning process is not simply an extension of professional aspirations or academic objectives, it is a common thread woven intricately into the tapestry of one’s character, culture, and consciousness … a thread drawn tight upon the loom of human experience, binding us together on a sacred, infinite journey that is both uniquely personal and intimately collective.

I believe learning is an organic process through which learners engage with the world around them and acquire knowledge in purpose-driven, accidental, and unconscious ways.  Learning can take place in any environment and can be assessed through standards, by observation, or in reflection.  If I had to label my philosophy of learning in adherence to any particular school of thought, I would choose constructivism primarily due to its focus on meaning.  I appreciate the work of influencers like Dewey, Piaget, and Vygotsky … but also hold in reverence the groundbreaking ideas of Gardner (multiple intelligences), Seligman (positive psychology), and Siebert (resiliency).  Maturity has afforded me the luxury of recognizing the merits of diverse viewpoints, so I am not hesitant to admit both that I admire the lofty ideals of ancient Greek wisdom and that I see the practical application of behavioral theory in explaining human motivation for learning.  Ultimately, I see learning as the beautiful crux of human experience … a process that is simultaneously simple and profound, acute and persistent, common and extraordinary.

Ultimately, in examining the role of technology in learning, I believe it serves the purpose of facilitation through function.  Ongoing, provocative questioning and thoughtful listening create learning dialogues that not only foster a positive growth mindset, but also compel learners to delve deeper into inventive opportunity.  The relevance a leader emphasizes of process as well as product should motivate the learners’ creative processes, providing guidance and empathy while challenging them to hone their craft.  Meeting learners  where they are in their journeys and assisting them in getting to where they would like to be should be standard procedure for the facilitation of growth and cannot happen without an informed, adaptable guide.  Openness to explore and refine skill sets and emphasizing the merit of open-minded development reinforces the learning scaffolding that technology provides.  The best uses of technology occur ubiquitously, when learners are engaged fully without the interruption of having to think about it.

As an educator devoted to both the pursuit and the facilitation of lifelong learning, making a lasting and constructive impact on learners by acting as a progressive contributor to their advancement is key. Through the practice of authentic teaching – which requires the leader to be a learner -all learners are empowered to question freely, think critically, examine fully, and integrate seamlessly with the world at large.  Learning, therefore, is a catalyst of progress in the evolution of the self.

Web 2.0 learning is a vibrant and transformative process through which we consume, distribute, evaluate, and apply information in an interactive digital environment focused on critical thought, active engagement, and community discourse.  Whereas Web 1.0 learning took its basis largely in the form of the one-sided dissemination of content, Web 2.0 learning is strongly steeped in more collaborative processes  wherein learners engage not only with subject matter but, more importantly, with each other.  From a pragmatic perspective, therefore, it becomes important to note the difference between education and learning.  Traditionally, the term “education” takes a more formal definition that encompasses a process that is – or at least has been – primarily direct in its delivery system (the ‘sage on the stage’ approach).  We have come to understand education as a process through which we receive instruction.  Learning, however, is a much more dynamic phenomenon through which we acquire knowledge.  Quite similarly to the difference between the linear Web 1.0 and its divergent 2.0 counterpart, the concept of education denotes a destination where conventional instruction converges; learning, on the other hand, continues to represent the journey through which the student exists and coexists with infinite ongoing experiences of self evolution.  As modern learners continue to become more sophisticated digital citizens, this dichotomy of passive versus active learning implicates not only the advancement of technology but also the lifelong enterprise of personal growth.

“In terms of doing work and in terms of learning and evolving as a person, you just grow more when you get more people’s perspectives.”  – Mark Zuckerberg

In “Minds on Fire” (2008), Brown and Adler assert that “the most profound impact of the Internet … is its ability to support and expand the various aspects of social learning” (p. 18); drawing emphasis upon how learners are engaging through interaction and collaboration, the authors cite participation with other learners as a major predictor of student success.  Whether in a digital environment or in vivo, this shift of emphasis from the what of learning to the how arouses deep implications for facilitation of the process.  Traditional educational paradigms have focused on authority-driven leadership with limited recipient involvement wherein the ‘sage’ educator fills the tabula rasa of the learner’s mind with the prescribed curriculum; this approach lends itself to a much more controlled, and subsequently limited, environment.  Shifting into the role of learning facilitator requires the instructor to relinquish control, thereby exchanging authority for collaboration.  This promotes a community of inquiry, and provides an environment in which learners become more active participants in the process of their own development.  Ultimately, when teacher becomes learner and learner becomes teacher, the foundation upon which the learning takes place is solidified in an atmosphere of mutual responsibility.

“We have to recognize that human flourishing is not a mechanical process; it’s an organic process. And you cannot predict the outcome of human development. All you can do, like a farmer, is create the conditions under which they will begin to flourish.” – Sir Ken Robinson

Web 2.0 learning proliferates a model of learning design wherein learners are empowered to connect, collaborate, and communicate in order to pursue optimal personal learning experiences.  Without question, this new standard emulates the university learning ideals of ancient philosophies.  Designing learning environments that allow participants to actualize their goals and potential, engage with both content and collaborators, and evolve as citizens and individuals creates a rich context for meaningful experience.  Within that context, the learner is free to discover his own journey with wonder and wisdom.

Additional Resources:

Bring On the Learning Revolution!

Multiple Intelligences and Technology

Supporting Community Inquiry with Digital Resources

The Future of Instruction: Teacher as ‘Co-Learner’

References:

Brown, J.S., & Adler, R. (2008). Minds on fire: Open education, the long tail, and learning 2.0. EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 43, no. 1 (January/February 2008): 16-32.

Brown, J.S. (1999). Learning, working, and playing in the digital age. Conference on Higher Education of the American Association for Higher Education.

“When we are no longer able to change a situation –

           we are challenged to change ourselves.”

~ Viktor Frankl

As an educator of over 20 years, I have been very blessed with a career I love! Working in community, correctional, K-12, and post-secondary education environments, I’ve embraced my role as a facilitator of lifelong learning and I feel very privileged to lead by example.  In my current work context I am an adjunct instructor at a local community college and also serve in an administrative capacity there as a learning support specialist for reading, writing, humanities, and social sciences.  I love my job!

I began my pursuit of an advanced degree in LDT at Penn State in the fall of 2017.  This endeavor served as a pivotal movement for me in an ongoing quest to continue to thrive in my life’s work while battling the potentially debilitating challenges of autoimmune disease.  While I have always prided myself on the energy and enthusiasm I bring to the classroom, in the years since I was diagnosed (in 2011) I have struggled to maintain the physical wellness to continue sharing my gifts in the traditional way.  LDT became my great hope of transcending my illness and finding new ways to teach.

Alas, as fate would have it … by the end of my first semester, I found myself hospitalized and in critical condition after suffering a surgical mistake during a routine procedure.  That incident began an unfortunate cascade of immune responses that landed me in the intensive care unit fighting for my life.  Five surgeries later, after surviving sepsis and repeated medical traumas … not to mention enduring a year of complete physical, emotional, and vocational upheaval … I am finally strong enough to return to my studies.  And I am so happy for this opportunity – because in the acceptance of my limitations I have embraced that alternatives do indeed exist for me.  The fire in my heart that is teaching has not be doused by adversity; rather, it has been fanned and continues to burn with new resilience.

My personal life and professional life, in all honesty, live happily in unison.  At this stage of my journey, all facets of my being function with a connectivity that truly lends itself to a kind of peaceful self-actualization – and I am more than ok with that.  In similar fashion, my utilization of the internet for both work and play merge rather seamlessly.  I retired my personal motivational blog, Shards of Crystal, about two years ago, but found that social media and professional networking sites serve equally well in reaching an audience.  I fully utilize a well-developed LMS in my work with students, but have also used the same device to deliver content to classmates and colleagues with a high level of success. I shop online.  I read online.  I study online.  I connect with doctors, lawyers, friends, co-workers, students, teachers, family, and service providers alike … online.  And, in this past year especially, I have learned that the internet, while not a substitute for in vivo experiences,  can quite healthily facilitate and even enhance our human interactions.

My major talent is resilience and an indomitable spirit.  I bring it quite unconsciously to everything I do, and frankly I believe that strength has saved my life.  I use every challenge as an impetus to inspire; I try to illuminate the blessing within any curse – that is my superpower.  What I am trying most to improve about me is my ability to acknowledge my own vulnerability without feeling weak or powerless; what I’d like to see evolve in me is an acceptance of what is and a hope for what could be … in order to be the facilitator of change not only in the lives of others, but in my own life as well.

In my spare time (and I’ve had a lot of it this year) I like to read murder mysteries, binge watch cozy British crime dramas, nurture a lovely indoor garden, and create delightfully delicious culinary masterpieces.  Frankly, I love learning … so I regularly participate in trainings, MOOCs, podcasts, and conferences because my thirst for knowledge just can’t be quenched.  (My son has deemed me “boring professor lady” for precisely this reason … Deus solus potest me iudicare!)  I also spend a great deal of time writing and researching.

Please feel free to connect with me at Crystal Donlan, Instructional Specialist … and enjoy this meme I created about what my life has looked like over the past year.

Be well, and keep learning! I am so happy to be here with you.