I love how Dr. Harapnuik, Dr. Thibodeaux, and Dr. Cummings added personal experiences throughout the eBook. Sometimes authors just regurgitate information that makes books boring. This was not the case with this one.
I could not imagine how Dr. Harapnuik must have felt when he was in grade school. It made me reflect on my previous students. Did I have a student like this? Probably. If I did, did I challenge him enough? Sadly, probably not. Self-directed learners don’t fit in the traditional classroom. Before technology, I’m sure it was difficult for a teacher, or unheard of, to allow students the flexibility to learn on their own. Nowadays, with technology, the world is in their hands. We just need to teach our students HOW to research. We need to teach them HOW to learn and we do this by creating a significant learning environment and giving our students choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities.
Dr. Thibodeaux wrote about how her mother making her pull weeds and work on the yard negatively affected her perspective of gardening. Hmmm...maybe this is why I hate to clean. Anyways, she completely missed her mom's Why. "Knowing why something is meaningful is essential to learning" (Harapnuik et al., (2018).
I love that the ADL program gives me the opportunity to have COVA in a significant learning environment. There is no other way I'd rather do this whole grad school thing than the way Dr. H and his colleagues have created it. I'm learning and making making meaningful connections along the way.
Resource:
Harapnuik, D., Thibodeaux, T., Cummings, C. (2018). Choice, Ownership, and Voice through
Authentic Learning [eBook]. Creative Commons License.
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