L for Leadership

In ETEC 520 (see course content in the course WordPress website), Planning and Managing Learning Technologies in Higher Education, I had the opportunity to learn strategies for planning and managing learning technologies in higher education.  These strategies support technology-based teaching and regulate distributed learning at provincial, state and national levels (Course description, ETEC 520).  This course was particularly challenging for me as I had never worked in higher education or in an administration team where I would have been in a position to develop these kinds of strategies.  Therefore, since my field of expertise was concentrated mostly in teaching, most of the content was new to me.  That being said, it was eye-opening in terms of how well-planned strategies can be used to help institutions use technologies for teaching and learning.

Chosen Artifacts

For this part of my ePortfolio I chose to reflect on two papers I wrote, an essay and a report both related to e-learning.  You will find them below.

Artifact #1: A Vision for E-Learning

Artifact #2: Government Report on E-Learning Policies

In the first paper, an essay called A Vision for E-Learning, I described in detail my vision for e-learning in my institutional context, the Consortium d’apprentissage virtuel de langue française de l’Ontario (CAVLFO), consisting of a virtual grouping of 18 teachers from a variety of disciplines.

In the second paper, Government Report on E-Learning Policies, I wrote a fictional report to the newly elected minister of education who sought my advice on: 1) “the establishment of provincial, state or federal policies for e-learning”; and 2) “regulating or encouraging for-profit e-learning programs from outside the territory/jurisdiction for which the Minister is responsible” (Course material, Unit 1, Assignment 3: Government Report on E-Learning Policies).

Context

These two papers represent two of the three assignments I wrote in ETEC 520.  The third one was a group project, a report called Recommendations for a Borderless University of British Columbia written in collaboration with Lisa Marie Allen, Alice Campbell and David Symonds that I will discuss further in the section P for Pedagogy (ETEC 532).

Reason

I believe the two artifacts I chose to discuss form a whole: the first one prepared me for the second.  In the first part of my first assignment, titled A Vision for E-Learning, I described and discussed the context of e-learning in my current place of employment.  In the second part of the assignment I described my vision for e-learning in this context and the implications of this scenario.  Indeed, it prepared me for the report I wrote later in the course on a much wider topic where I proposed better alternatives using new policies for the development of e-learning in Ontario.  These two artifacts demonstrate my ability to propose ways to research alternatives for e-learning that link theory and research to practice.

Discussion

In ETEC 520, we had a heavy reading list that included three textbooks (see references below).  These textbooks were very informative and their content was interconnected, clearly leading to significant learning through my readings in this course.  The one textbook I particularly enjoyed reading was Managing Technology in Higher Education: Strategies for Transforming Teaching & Learning from Bates and Sangrà (2011).  It provided me with examples of how technologies in higher education were planned and managed in a variety of institutions and what should be included and what should be avoided.  As I was carefully going through each chapter of the textbook, I was amazed at the similarities in planning I found in my organization.  It was interesting to discover the theory behind the practice while being immersed in such practice.

A strategy I found to be one of the most relevant in the success of integrating new technology is to decentralize leadership.  In fact, “successful technology integration requires a complex environment that supports change, with engagement from a number of key players, all working together and developing and sharing a common vision or set of goals for the use of technology” (Bates & Sangrà, 2011, p. 84).  Therefore, strategic planning that involves all faculty members is important, with a clear vision and goals for the integration of technology.  This creative and innovative environment must be encouraged and supported at all times.

Reflection

These assignments were challenging for different reasons.  After carefully reviewing the instructor’s feedback with which I completely agreed, I realized that I have learned a lot while processing complex information with which I was unfamiliar.  Indeed, as indicated by the instructor, some aspects of my recommendations were unclear.  The most difficult part was to support my arguments with enough details to be practical in the real world.

I realize how difficult it was to clearly express what I wanted to say in the government report because, at the time that I was writing my paper, I did not properly understand some of the policies in this area.  As a result, it was difficult to make the proper connections with the course material.  However, toward the end of the course my understanding had improved.  Indeed, I remembered wishing that it would have been nice to have processed all of it faster.

Nevertheless, according to my instructor, Dr. Mark Bullen, I did “provide a thoughtful analysis and discussion of the e-learning situation in the province of Ontario” and made “some good use of some of the key readings to support (my) recommendations which for the most part, (were) well argued”.  So, for that I was very grateful.

Finally, ETEC 520 empowered me with the knowledge and skills I needed to integrate e-learning technologies in my organization, as well as an ability to develop policies and regulations encouraging the development of e-learning in Ontario.

My special thanks to my instructor, Dr. Mark Bullen, who provided me with the support I needed to pursue my learning during this course (Winter/Spring 2012) when I sometimes doubted having the right competencies to continue with it.

References

Bates, A. W. (2001). National Strategies for e-Learning in Post-Secondary Education and Training. Paris: UNESCO/International Institute for Educational Planning. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001262/126230e.pdf

Bates, A. W., & Sangrà, A. (2011). Managing Technology in Higher Education: Strategies for Transforming Teaching & Learning. (pp. xi-238). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Bullen, M. & Janes. D. (Eds.) (2007). Making the Transition to E-Learning: Strategies and Issues. Information Science Publishing: Hershey, PA.