COVA Reflection

Here I am, at the end of my ADL journey at Lamar University. It is June, 2024, and I started this program in the Fall of 2022. This final course is all about reflection and compilation so let's get started.

We were asked to reflect on the COVA approach. What we have learned, what we have experienced, how we have used it, and how it will shape us going forward. I remember that class in Fall of 2022 when Dr. H first started talking about COVA (Choice, Ownership, Voice, Authentic) and CSLE (creating significant learning environments) and I was absolutely clueless about what he was saying. Don't get me wrong, I understood the purpose of choice in one's learning, but that was about as far as I had ever gone into it. He directed us to a blog post he wrote titled CSLE+COVA which included videos, resources, other blog posts, and an eBook that he helped write titled COVA: Inspire Learning Through Choice, Ownership, Voice, and Authentic Experiences (Harapnuik, et al (2018). That was the beginning of me going down the rabbit hole of learning more about COVA and CSLE. That information continued to be beneficial throughout the ADL program and in creating my innovation project.

In addition to introducing us to COVA right away, Dr. H. also made it very clear that this was our project, our learning, our creations. He was not there to tell us exactly what to do, he was there to guide us in learning how to do what we needed to do. Dr. H. and this program pushed me in ways that I have not been pushed before and made me get out of my comfort zone. I have always been a very good student and I remember the first assignment Dr. H. graded and it was not a 100%. I was not sure what to do with that! However, the feedback he gave and the guidance quickly made me realize that the 100% was not the goal, the goal was the application of what I was learning. Soon I found that I should never get a 100% because there is always something I could have done better. I had entered into a college program that required me to do and show, not just know and answer. This lead to growth that I have not had in previous programs. I discuss my growth mindset throughout this program in a most recent Growth Mindset Reflection and Plan Update post.

Creating my innovation plan has been rewarding, exciting, frustrating, defeating, and exhilerating all at the same time. Watching something that was just a thought in my mind 2 years ago grow into something that I can take to my teachers in my district was amazing. Because of the work that we have done in these courses, I feel like I truly own this project and what is in it. I feel the ownership and voice I have in it and I'm proud of it. Those feelings make it easier to advocate for the program and to use it to help other teachers. Doing something just to get the grade and complete the assignment is not as fulfilling as creating something that can be useful.

I implemented COVA in the following ways in my innovation plan.

Choice: The teachers will have choice in a variety of ways in my innovation plan. They will be able to choose which tech tool(s) to research for their classroom. They will also be able to choose how they ask for help either through discussion boards with peers, weekly meetings, or one-on-one meetings with me. They also get to choose how they will use the material that they learn in their classroom.

Ownership: The teachers will have ownership of how the present their knowledge both to me and their students in the classroom. I want them to be able to make this project work best for them which means they will be able to decide and take ownership on how they show their knowledge and understanding.

Voice: The teachers will have their voice in determing who and how they share their knowledge. They may choose a PLC or possibly wanting to train other staff. Maybe they will want to just share with their students until they are more comfortable to share with their peers.

Authentic Learning: The teachers will be given many options on how they want to learn the material so that they can choose what works best with how they learn. There will be videos, help guides, certification programs and other ways that they can learn the material.

The COVA approach is something that I see myself using in almost everything I create going forward. My job in my district is to train and guide teachers in the use of technology in their classrooms. One of the best ways to do that is to give them the choice, ownership, and voice in what they learn, how they learn, when they learn, and how they show that knowledge. If I want the teachers to learn from me and truly understand what technology can do for them, then I need to allow them to make it their own and make it work for them. My job is not to tell them what to do, it is to help guide them in learning what is out there and how it can impact them and their students. To help me with this, I have created my own influencer strategy to touch on the different areas of how to lead change in my organization. In addition, figuring out my own learning philosophy has helped me to connect to how others may be feeling about the changes that I, and others, are asking them to make on what seems like a constant basis.

Going forward I want to shift the culture of learning in my training sessions and those will include various ways to learn, such as face-to-face, online Google Classroom, videos, book studies, etc. It will also include them choosing what they want to learn about and most importantly giving them the choice in how they can show evidence of what they learned. An example of a new training session I want to fine-tune and create for my district after taking these courses is my Google 101 course for new teachers at our distrct. Each teacher and classroom is different which means that each teacher needs something a little different. Learning about COVA and CSLE has made me slow down and think about those things before creating trainings for teachers. I find myself referencing the materials from this program and the COVA book often when thinking of new ideas and sessions.

I anticipate that I will continue to face some opposition to learning about technology even with using the COVA approach. It is my belief that if I continue to use the COVA approach and create significant learning environments that the teachers that are hesitant will start to come around slowly. My Action Research was based on giving teachers choice in their professional learning and it gave me ideas to use going forward with this change in my district. I believe that other teachers will tell them what they've learned and how it has helped them. I have learned that while you can force someone to be in the room and "learn" about something, you can never force them to actually take it all in and utilize it. We need the COVA approach to help the learners realize why the topic is beneficial to them and how they can use it going forward.

I have enjoyed what I have learned with COVA and CSLE and I have no doubt that it has already made me better at my job at work and will continue to help going forward.

References:

Harapnuik, D. K., Thibodeaux, T. N., & Cummings, C. D. (2018). Creating significant learning environments through choice, ownership, voice, and authenticity. https://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=7291