Having never studied change models before, the initial focus
of the course eluded me. This being the last course in my postgraduate studies,
I have to admit that I experienced a fair amount of anxiety: because of my
naiveté, I felt that I was going to have trouble making connections between my
research interests and the change models. Although I didn’t quite see the big
picture at first, I took some advice from a mentor teacher I once worked with
and told myself to “trust the process.” In doing this, the clever design of the
course led me to begin to understand the models of change and how they could
relate to digital technologies.
In the beginning, I was fixating on having studied about the benefits of
ICT and e-learning over the course of two years and yet still feeling powerless
to help facilitate positive change in my own context. I was asking myself: what
is the big picture? How does e-learning and ICT in schools relate to what is
truly important to our students – how is it relevant in their context and how
can we get teachers on board?
In discovering the models, especially Roger’s Diffusion of
Innovations and the Technology Acceptance Model, I found myself frustrated that
I hadn’t been exposed to this aspect of e-learning and ICT in schools until
now. My own experience with change in digital technologies has been working in
an environment where PD around e-learning, ICT and especially new initiatives
like and LMS have been well-intentioned, but scarce and often inadequate or
poorly facilitated. I found myself wondering if utilising these change models
could have improved the rate of adoption amongst my fellow teachers and improved
the overall outlook on ICT and e-learning.
As I said before, much of the content was completely new to
me. I had never heard of scenario planning before, and working within the mooc
was an incredibly new experience as well. However, the way participation has
been organised in this course has shown me that I can be engaged online in a
way I thought, for me, was only possible
through face-to-face environments.
I appreciated the video signposts and mind mapping activity
– having everything available only through readings would have made it more
difficult to get excited/passionate about some of the topics. It brings home
the important of including a variety of resources for our students when
learning online/through an LMS.
Having never done research on this scale before,
locating/remember where the pertinent information is in the articles has been
difficult. Colour coding has helped, as well as the search function in adobe
reader. However, I still feel that there is so much out there for me to still
discover and that it won’t be until the course is over that I discover those
perfect studies/quotes/insights.
I can see the connection of the change models to all aspects
of change for education. Though I am at the start of my career and don’t have
experience working at many schools, I am surprised that these change models are
not common knowledge among educators and senior management teams across the
world. I also feel that the models are not necessarily better or worse than
each other, but that they could be used in tandem to give schools a breadth and
depth in their perceptions of change with digital technologies.
The most significant thing about this course has been the
feeling of empowerment that I have gained. I feel informed about the issues
around e-learning and digital technologies in schools and I feel inspired to
keep reading research, participating in forums, discussing and staying abreast
to what is happening with technologies in schools. But even more so than that,
I feel that I can help make a difference – both on a small and larger scale –
to help the educators I work with appreciate the complexities as well as the
value of change with digital technologies.
Thanks to Wayne, Niki and everyone for making this a fantastic last course in my postgraduate journey!
