This course highlights my learning and growth and is centered on designing meaningful, student-driven learning environments in a constantly evolving digital age. Over several weeks, I explored how connection, creativity, and intentional design shape powerful learning experiences. Through readings, media, discussions, and applied assignments, I examined topics such as building significant learning environments, aligning outcomes with assessments, rethinking instructional design through Understanding by Design, and embracing a growth mindset. Each section below reflects how these concepts influenced my thinking and shaped my approach as an educator, allowing me to connect theory to practice while strengthening my own philosophy of learning and innovation.

New Culture of Learning

In this assignment, I responded to A New Culture of Learning by exploring how its core ideas can shape the way I design significant learning environments. I analyzed how this shift addresses common challenges in traditional learning models, including limited engagement and rigid structures, and I connected these ideas directly to my Innovation Plan from EDLD 5305, which focuses on improving learning through purposeful technology integration. I also examined potential obstacles, such as resistance to change or limited digital readiness, and outlined strategies to overcome them through clear communication, modeling, and supportive professional learning. Ultimately, this assignment helped me consider how broad, holistic thinking can strengthen both my learning philosophy and my organizational impact while ensuring that the environments I design truly support growth, creativity, and meaningful learning.

Creating Your Learning Philosophy

In this assignment, I crafted a Personal Learning Philosophy that reflects my core beliefs about how learning happens, the relationship between teaching and learning, and my own identity as a learner. Drawing on the work of Dwayne Harapnuik and key learning theory resources, I examined where my thinking aligns with established theories and why. I also explored the distinctions between a learning philosophy and a teaching philosophy, emphasizing the importance of learner-centered environments and my role in facilitating meaningful learning experiences. This philosophy served as both a reflective process and a foundation for my innovation plan, helping me understand how my beliefs shape my decisions as a change agent within my organization.

Aligning Outcomes, Assessment and Activities

In this assignment, Aligning Outcomes, Assessment and Activities, I used Fink’s Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning to develop a comprehensive Learning Outcomes 3-Column Table, along with two supporting documents focused on situational factors and significant learning goals. This process required me to clearly define the learning environment, articulate meaningful outcomes, and align those outcomes with appropriate assessments and learning activities. I also created a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) to establish purpose and direction for the instructional design connected to my innovation plan. By organizing these components into a single, cohesive planning document, I was able to clarify the structure of my course and strengthen the alignment between my instructional goals and my broader organizational vision. This work not only supports the next phase of assessment and activity design but also serves as a foundational guide for colleagues who may collaborate with me in implementing this learning environment.

UBD Design

In this assignment, I created a full UbD Design template for the same learning environment I developed in earlier modules, using the UbD framework to clarify outcomes, assessments, and learning experiences. By working through the Template and expanding it into a detailed multi-page design, I was able to see how the unit fits into a broader instructional context and how each component supports purposeful, aligned learning. I also compared Fink’s 3-Column Table with the UbD model (Part Two UbD), reflecting on when each approach is most effective and how both frameworks strengthen my ability to design meaningful learning environments. This assignment helped me connect design theory directly to my innovation plan, giving me a clearer, more structured way to support organizational change and collaborate with others in developing purposeful, learner-centered instruction.

Developing a Growth Mindset Plan & Final Compilation

In this assignment, Developing a Growth Mindset Plan, I revisited and expanded my earlier work by examining how the growth mindset can meaningfully support the creation of significant learning environments, especially in light of research showing that mindset alone does not produce measurable results. I explored how to refine my use of growth mindset practices, considering how to help learners internalize the “power of yet,” respond productively to feedback, reduce grade fixation, and develop perseverance without misusing concepts like grit. This assignment pushed me to think critically about the environmental, instructional, and cultural factors that must accompany mindset work in order to make a real impact. Ultimately, I reflected on how to move beyond a simple growth mindset toward cultivating a full Learner’s Mindset.