I consider myself easy to talk to and I try to be open-minded to new ideas, even if they don’t integrate with what I know to be true. However, to really convince me, I need to know WHY I should try a new idea, procedure, or suggestion. According to Simon Sinek, that’s pretty normal. In his famous “Golden Circle” Ted Talk, How Great Leaders Inspire Action (Sinek & TEDx Puget Sound, 2009), Mr. Sinek says, “People don’t by what you do, they buy why you do it.” Brain science supports this theory. Everything that passes through our brains filters through our older, limbic brain which is responsible for feelings before the logic of our prefrontal lobe sets in. In other words, understanding “Why” and “How” to do a task is the basis for changing minds and influencing others.
Who owns the ePortfolio?
In Dr. H’s article Who Owns the ePortfolio, “Even though the students are doing the work, more often than not they do not own the ideas and are not making meaningful connections, they are simply completing assignments and giving the instructor what they want.” (Harapnuik, 2021) The idea of ownership is an important tenant of constructivist learning theory. Ownership personalizes learning and provides students with a “Why.” Therefore, it is important to provide students with just enough structure to make the learning intentional, while providing choices within the learning context to create an authentic learning experience.
Lead by example:
My own ePortfolio is proving to be an amazing learning experience. I am especially proud of my blog posts. I document all of my discussion posts as blog posts first. They model how my thinking has changed through the ADL program. For example, my first idea for my project on training administrative assistants is outlined in Passionately Pursuing Nonconsumption: Disruptive Innovation as a Catalyst for Change. After meeting with Dr. H about my project, I sat in my cognitive dissonance for a bit. My post called Winds of Change recounts how I processed the information to form a more broad, big-picture plan for my innovation project. My Innovation Plan is the product of my reflection. Even my reflection on choosing WordPress over Wix in the article I Love You, I Hate You: The Story of WordPress shows how I’m forming meaningful connections.
Why is Ownership Important?
“Environments are not passive wrappings but active processes.” (Watters & Bright, 2015)
The question of ownership comes back to the purpose of technology. Are we using technology to teach the same way we’ve always taught? Or are we riding the wave of technology to create meaningful educational change personalized to each student? When we follow constructivist theory and create choice, ownership, voice, and authentic learning experiences, we can use the new environment to empower students rather than apply the same ineffective methods in a different context.
“The real IT revolution in teaching and learning won’t happen until each student builds a personal cyberinfrastructure that is as thoughtfully, rigorously, and expressively composed as an excellent essay/ingenious experiment.” (Watters & Bright, 2015)
References
Harapnuik, D. (2021, August). Who Owns the ePortfolio. It’s About Learning. http://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=6050%20
Sinek, S., & TEDx Puget Sound. (2009, September). How Great Leaders Inspire Action. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en
Watters, A., & Bright. (2015, July 15). The Web We Need To Give Students. Bright The Mag. https://medium.com/bright/the-web-we-need-to-give-students-311d97713713