MEDT 8461 Assessment of Student Learning

Bianca Cheatham

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Introduction

Reflecting upon the entirety of this course has helped me realize the significant level of growth I

have made both professionally and personally. Through the weekly readings, assignments, and projects,

I have seen an increase in general knowledge of the diffusion of innovation. My critical thinking skills

have also increased. During this reflection process, I was able to recognize, prior experience, challenges,

lessons learned, and connections to the assignments that aided in my growth. I feel overwhelmingly

proud of the work that I have accomplished and the success that I have achieved through the duration of

this class.

Section 1: Previous Knowledge

When first beginning the fall semester and enrolled in the course entitled Diffusion of Innovations,

I was unsure of what the focus would be. My knowledge related to the spreading of new products and

ideas were limited. My basic understanding of diffusion consisted of experience connected to the

communication within societies, marketing strategies used to target specific populations and growing

trends in schools. As an elementary school teacher, I believe that comparing my initial knowledge of

these concepts to a game of telephone would be relevant. I knew that news could travel from person to

person and possibly change or shift as conversations continued. Before diving into the course material, I

could explain that communication played a prominent role in the success of innovation. If a new product

or idea became popular, it would spread from person to person through everyday conversation. I would

later learn that this concept was referred to as “word-of-mouth” (Gladwell, 2000, p. 4). Familiarity with this

topic allowed me to more clearly understand how researchers and those involved in the development of

innovation, focus on diffusing products to community members in strategic ways.

In addition to having some knowledge of the communication involved in this process, I also had

prior experience related to the marketing of innovations. I knew that agencies worked to develop

advertising opportunities to reach specific populations of people. Many of these advertisements can be

observed through social media, the internet, and television. Additionally, the target audiences of these

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marketing strategies altered the way a product was presented to the community. For example, when

attempting to engage a college-aged population on the newest smartphone to hit the market, developers

might choose to depict the new camera features as shown through photos of concerts or traveling, as

opposed to pictures of children. While I understood that marketing and advertisement using social media,

the internet, and even television were significant factors, I did not have a concrete understanding of the

entirety of the process. This background knowledge provided me with a foundation to build upon. I was

able to learn more about communication channel and the variety of ways that messages travel from

sources to receivers (Rogers, 2003, p.18). I also gained additional insights into the range of populations

that are targeted through change agents. Rogers (2003) describes these people as ones who “provide a

communications link between a resource system with some expertise and a client system” (p. 368). The

growth in these concepts was a result of my initial understanding of how marketing and advertising

functioned within today’s world.

The final area that related to this course is the growing innovations in the educational field.

Before beginning this class, my school district began implementing a one to one device initiative.

Naturally, this caused a significant shift in the strategies used in our classrooms. Some of the innovations

we have adopted include individual use of iPads and laptops, Apple televisions, interactive whiteboards,

and online data management systems. Understanding how these innovations started from the design

phase and into implementation, helped me have more considerable knowledge of how new products and

ideas can be adopted and supported by schools. While I did not yet understand the five-step Innovation-

Decision Process, my experiences with these innovations helped me better relate to the phases involved

(Rogers, 2003, p. 169). When I began learning about this process, I was able to recognize each step

more efficiently, as I had previously observed them occur in my personal life.

Section 2: Internal and External Challenges

Once making progress within the course, many internal and external factors resulted in

challenges. These challenges affected my ability to complete the different course activities. Two internal

factors that influenced my success included time management and stress. I first began taking classes to

obtain my specialist degree this past summer. While these courses were a bit easier regarding learning

content, I was on summer break and not working. I was able to focus as much time as necessary on the

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completion of my coursework. This semester a bit more was added to my schedule, as I juggled working

full-time and taking online courses. At the beginning of the semester, I found myself struggling to keep up

with the mix of obligations. I had to create a more structured schedule for myself to stay on top of my

classwork. Once I was able to do so and grew more comfortable with my newly-devised schedule, I

found it a bit easier to complete the required tasks.

A second internal factor is a personal one. This course was the most challenging one that I have

ever taken in my educational career. I have always been an excellent student, who was highly motivated

and driven to perform. More than ever before, I found myself feeling completely overwhelmed. Even

when I continuously worked on assignments or papers, I consistently put pressure on myself to be

perfect. This added another layer of stress to my life, and as a result, many of the activities took far

longer to complete than expected.

Along with internal factors, there were also external factors that influenced my performance.

They included struggles to conduct interviews and the online organization of the course. Three of the four

projects within this course focused on interviewing personnel at our schools. While I was able to

schedule two of these interviews easily, my final interview posed several conflicts. I initially asked our

digital learning specialist to meet with my three weeks in advance to our project submission date. He

agreed to the interview and scheduled a time immediately with me, however, shortly after he canceled the

meeting. This occurred several more times to the point where I was conducting the interview one week

before it was due. This factor significantly limited the time I had to work on my project. It also impacted

the interview itself. The colleague I was interviewing had great difficulty sharing experiences with me

openly.

Another external factor that I would like to share focuses on the organization of the course. In all

of my previous online classes, each of my assignments was pre-loaded and available for viewing the

entire semester. This was not the case for this class, and it took some getting used to. While all

assignments and due dates were provided within the course syllabus, at the beginning of the term, the

details of each task were not readily available. This affected my time management. It was challenging

for me to schedule times to work on school work in advance, without knowing the requirements of each

task. Towards the middle of this semester, I found myself having limited social interactions with my

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friends and family due to the amount of time I was spending on school work. I feel as though I could have

been more successful in creating a more balanced schedule if the assignment details were posted in

advance.

Section 3: Lessons Learned

Now that I have completed this course, I have learned a variety of valuable personal and

professional lessons. One of the personal lessons relates to a challenge that I discussed earlier. As I

shared, this course was a tough one for me to complete. As far back as I can remember, I have always

been a bit of a perfectionist. I can even recall moments in elementary school, where I would rewrite the

words on my spelling tests until they were written in my absolute best cursive handwriting. My need to

achieve perfection was significantly dwindled in this course. While I continued to put my best foot forward,

and produce high-caliber work, I did not have time to rewrite every discussion post or paper continuously.

I learned that my work did not always need to reflect perfection, as long as it met the requirements and I

put forth a great deal of effort. The added pressure that I was putting on myself to achieve perfection on

every assignment was an impossible goal to reach. This course helped me find a balance between

wanting to be successful and striving to complete my best work.

A more significant appreciation of different people’s perspectives was the second personal lesson

that I learned through this course. While examining several of my colleagues’ discussion posts for the

invitations and responses, I noticed some similarities and differences each week. Although my peers and

I are all working within the educational field, our response to the components of the diffusion of

innovations varied. I enjoyed hearing about the multiple experiences that others had within their

workplaces and everyday lives. Being able to read about alternative points of view challenged my

thinking and broadened my understanding of how diffusion can affect several types of populations.

In addition to gaining insights focused on a personal level, I also learned lessons related to my

professional career. One of these valuable lessons concentrates on the role of change agents. Rogers

(2003) states that “seven roles can be identified for the change agent in the process of introducing an

innovation in a client system” (p. 369). These roles can influence the adoption or rejection of innovations

within schools especially. Learning about these various roles, helped me better identify the numerous

change agents within my school building. They include the principal and assistant principal, digital

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learning specialist, and even technology-savvy classroom teachers. The acknowledgment of these roles

taught me that innovations could be spread through many sources, beyond the marketing realm.

The final lesson that I would like to share focuses on the stickiness factor and relates to my

professional pedagogy as an educator. Gladwell (2000) explains that “stickiness means that a message

makes an impact” (p. 25). After further investigation of this concept, I was able to apply it to my teaching

practices. As a kindergarten teacher, I am always looking for new ways to get my students engaged in

the learning process. When evaluating the stickiness factor of many of my classroom activities, I realized

that some made more of a lasting impression that others which resulted in increased participation.

Gaining this understanding helped me learn that just like any trend in society, my instructional techniques

need to remain sticky enough to continue grabbing my students’ attention.

Section 4: Changes to Submissions

When looking back at the projects and assignments completed for this course, I realized that my

greatest downfall relates to APA formatting. While I have completed my share of writing for previous

graduate courses, I have always used an online generator to help create my citations. I learned that the

online generators do not always accurately use proper APA formatting. I was utterly oblivious to this fact

before taking this class. The activities provided within this course also helped me better understand how

to formulate my citations without the use of an online generator.

While reviewing my four projects, one that I would have wanted to resubmit was project one. The

project focused on an inventory of technological innovations found within my school within recent years.

My most significant downfall for this assignment was my misuse of in-text citations. If I had the opportunity

to resubmit this assignment, I would recreate the citation using proper APA guidelines. I would make

sure to use in-text citations throughout each section of the paper, including the introduction, research

literature synthesis, outcome, and conclusion.

An additional change that I would make to this project relates to the graphics that I created to

depict data to my readers. I had difficulties creating a Venn Diagram using Microsoft Word. I decided to

use a different graphic altogether, due to these challenges. Looking back, I feel as though a Venn

Diagram would have been more beneficial to my audience. I wished that I would have taken more time to

create one for this project.

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 A third change that I would have made to this assignment concreates on time management. This

was the first project that I completed for this class, and I believe that I underestimated the time that it

would take to meet all of the requirements of the paper. I waited until two days before the paper was due

to begin writing. This made the entire process feel very rushed. In my opinion, if I had taken more time

and started the project earlier, my finished product would have been better quality writing.

The final change that I would have made to this assignment focuses on the number of

innovations described. My county has implemented a one-to-one device initiative within the past three

years. Before this initiative, the county focused on creating 21st-century classrooms, by updating all

technological equipment within the schools. Both of these programs drove the vast number of

innovations occurring within the county. It was not until I conducted my last interview with the digital

learning specialist that I realized this connection. I wish I would have highlighted it a bit more throughout

my research on this assignment.

Section 5: Alignment and Differentiation of Interviews

While reflecting upon projects for this course, I also found common threads between three of the

assignments. In reviewing the interviews that I conducted for this class, I identified common

denominators that aligned with the diffusion of innovation model. Rogers (2003) states that the five stages

of the Innovation-Decision Process Model consist of “knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation,

and confirmation” (p. 169). When examining all of the interviews that I conducted, I noticed that two of

the stages were present within each one. They were the implementation and confirmation stages. The

implementation phase concreates on the moments when individuals begin to use an innovation (Rogers,

2003, p.179). Confirmation is connected to times when people look for reinforcement of their decision

upon selecting various innovations (Rogers, 2013, p. 188). Both of these phases were present in each

interview, despite the varied roles of the administrator, teacher, and technology specialist that I took part

in discussions with. Another similarity that I noticed focuses on the lack of formal terminology used to

describe each phase. While these individuals are all well-educated and somewhat familiar with the

diffusion process, they indirectly described the stages of innovation through conversational language

opposed to textbook terms.

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 In addition to these commonalities, I found differences as well. Out of the five stages that Rogers

depicts only two were present within all of the interviews. Within the interview with my assistant principal,

the decision, implementation, confirmation stages are described. The discussion with a fellow teacher

allowed for additional phases to be shared. All stages except for persuasion are discussed. The digital

technology specialist shared experiences regarding the knowledge, implementation, and confirmation

phases.

Aside from the correlation between these interviews and the Innovation-Decision Process Model,

how each of these stages is described also varies. This varied from the perspectives shared by my

assistant principal and technology specialist, as their points of view were from the role of change agents

come from the perspectives of change agents. A teacher’s role in today’s society is to implement various

innovations to meet the varying needs of learners. The interviews conducted with a second-grade teacher

in my building resulted in sharing her direct implementation process of the model. This is vastly different

from the roles of an administrator or technology-personal working within schools. Their role as a change

agent is primary “to facilitate the flow of innovations from a change agent to an audience of clients”

(Rogers, 2003, p. 368). An administrator’s role is also different from that of a technology specialist, as

they might look the level of instruction occurring building-wide. As technology specialists focus on just

that. They can even gear specific strategies towards necessary grade levels. The changing of these

perspectives made a significant difference in the type of information provided within each discussion.

Another way of viewing each of these roles is to consider Gladwell’s societal roles. Gladwell

(2000) categorizes individuals into three groups; they are mavens, connectors, and salesmen (p. 70).

One could consider as mavens within a school building. They are the people analyzing data and

producing numbers considering the effectiveness levels of teaching occurring within the building using

differentiated innovations (Gladwell, 2000, p. 70). Technology specialists can be thought of as salesmen.

They persuade school staff members to consider using alternative strategies and innovations through

training sessions (Gladwell, 2000, p. 70). Many teachers can be seen as connectors, as they are the glue

that brings families, students, and staff together. All in all, I found that the most significant difference

between the knowledge shared in each interview was the perspective of each and their role in the

educational field.

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Conclusion

When I first began this course, my understanding of the diffusion of innovation was limited. I had

never considered how ideas and products spread throughout society and the roles that people played to

assist. My knowledge has only grown since that point, as well as my perspective. I have gained

numerous insights, applied innovations into practice, and even taken part in some valuable projects. My

critical thinking skills have been advanced through this course, as well. I am looking forward to seeing

how my professional and personal growth continues to evolve through the remainder of this graduate

program.

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 References

Gladwell, M. (2000). The tipping point: how little things can make a big difference. New York, NY:

Little Brown and Company.

Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th Ed.) New York: Free Press.