The Big Picture

This week I have officially started my next progression in my Masters Program through Lamar University. I have transitioned from the Educational Administration courses to the Digital Learning and Leading courses. Coming into this course without having had 5302, I had always heard about an ePortfolio but was never really sure of what all it entails. I was a little overwhelmed with what to expect when building an ePortfolio. I was able to spend some time reflecting and have attempted to find a base of where to get started. Dr. Fong from my first course at Lamar always said, "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time."

Diving into my first Digital Learning and Leading course, the resources and articles that I have been studying this week have offered much insight into what an ePortfolio is, how to utilize it, and that it is an ongoing process that is never truly finished. It allowed me to spend some time reflecting on "the bigger picture". I have learned that an ePortfolio allows learners to enhance and reflect on their learning, all while making meaningful connections. With building my ePortfolio, I plan to use it as a space to reflect on my progress as both an educator and student and to show growth as I continue to learn and apply new things! An ePortfolio could be a great tool to use for the future to showcase my learning, reflection, and primarily growth!

I also took this growth opportunity to review some other various materials pertaining to ePortfolio's and teaching in today's education society. While looking at various ePortfolios, I kept seeing "COVA" and was curious and decided to dig a little. I have come to learn that COVA is a learner-centered, active learning approach that gives the learner choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities (Harapnuik, 2020). Not all students learn the same or have the same experiences. Allowing students the opportunity to make their own choices, taking ownership of those choices, giving them a voice, and allowing their ideas to be authentic creates a sense of motivation for them to be successful while offering various enrichment opportunities. I think using the COVA approach will be beneficial when creating and building my ePortfolio. Also, I have always enjoyed listening to TED talks. I recently watched Margaret Heffernan's "Why it's time to forget the pecking order at work" TED talk. The main takeaway I learned from that video was the importance of collaboration and genuinely getting to know your colleagues also known as collective restoration (Heffernan, 2015). Bringing out the best in others can necessarily bring out the best in ourselves!

I look forward to collaborating with my classmates and growing and building my ePortfolio and in a few weeks, getting to see how far I have come!

References

Harapnuik, D. (2018, July 14). COVA. Retrieved June 3, 2020, from https://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=6991

Heffernan, M. (2015, June 16). Transcript of "Forget the pecking order at work". Retrieved June 3, 2020, from https://www.ted.com/talks/margaret_heffernan_why_it_s_time_to_forget_the_pecking_order_at_work/transcript