I don’t need to reflect on this experience to tell you it was one of the most rewarding experiences I have had in my Masters. I could say stars aligned to allow me to be doing this unit at this crazy time of change in schools but I was already on the digital learning path long before now so it wasn’t necessarily the content that made it rewarding so much as the people I was working with and the journey we took together.
We were four individuals thrown together to get a task done and get out. That’s what uni assignments are aren’t they? Do your bit the best you can, hope everyone else does the same and hope you aren’t the poor sucker that puts it all together. This was nothing like that. This was collaborative learning the way it should be done. This was collaborative learning the way I will be encouraging my students to do it and the way I wish my school would run PD.
Three of us had a shared interest and a clear direction but turns out we were all wrong. We tried again. This time we had a zoom meeting rather than emails. This time we connected. We talked things through in real time and could adjust our ideas. We made a plan. We had a fourth join and I thought we were doomed after a couple of emails but again with a zoom meeting we brought everything together.
The members of my group are amazing, they bring so much experience to the table and if one has a weakness it seems to be another member’s strength. We built up a trust quickly, we regularly check in for advice and feedback and have no need to worry about a negative experience. We are teaching each other as we go. “Why won’t this work?” “You really have to look at this site.” “Anyone else struggling today?” This is the supportive community I want to create for my students to work in.
We were learning about digital learning environments in a DLE. We were combining group spaces with watching spaces with publish spaces with head spaces. I don’t know if the others were aware of that. I certainly wasn’t until recently when I logged into a meeting feeling ill and looking it. The last people I had laid eyes on was this same group days before in our last meeting. I was asked if I was okay. That’s when the penny dropped for me on how valuable a well-constructed DLE could be. I wasn’t isolated, I was supported.
I have learned the importance of conscious and deliberate planning of a DLE. I know we will never have an equal footing for all students but we can use a multi layered approach and let them dip in to what they need. They may not have the data to watch every student performance but they may make the effort to come to a group meeting or join a chat. They may have to talk to their group members on the phone rather than a Microsoft teams meeting but they can still join in somehow. Connections are valuable and now as a teacher I need to support my students so they can experience those connections.