Evolution

Share any thinking, new design steps, progress, challenges, and/or successes you have experienced during this course.  How have you evolved as an innovative thinker?

I would say that my greatest success experienced in this course is finding my place within the innovative ed community. Much of this has been achieved in listening to peers as they explore creative ways to infuse technology in a manner that is both responsible and growth producing. Above all other courses I have found the content  and instruction most engaging , accessible and reflective of the  of what I associate with the term innovation. As a long standing proponent of instructional models  (Madeline Hunter, Gradual Release of Responsibility, etc.) and user of History Alive curriculum, structured via Bloom's Taxonomy, I now have greater insight as to how technology can fit within both of those paradigms.  If forced to choose one thing, what I appreciate most about this course is the lens from which all things are considered - the student. Our  adult machinations  have been many, and still are, but what they represent is our best attempt in the day's context to do right by students. We are further refining that process and seem to be more in tune given our solicitation of the users themselves as we craft their experience.  This process will continue in perpetuity , and it should, for no gap can ever be fully bridged for within our field there will always be users on the other side.
How has my thinking evolved. I cannot claim  evolution given it has not been  over successive generations. That said,  my psychological diversity has adapted to my environment. It is interesting to note the full title  of Darwin's  seminal work , On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life,  as that is exactly what we are looking to do, i.e., create more favorable conditions for our students in their learning struggle. And although I still remain guarded about technology, always wanting to make sure it is fulfilling a need, I have come around to appreciating how technology can shorten the time frame over which evolution  and adaptation occurs.