LDT Reflection

August 2023

How might we design relevant, holistically engaging educational content and experiences? How might we be bold in imagining the future of education? How do we create communities of practice around shared value? These are a few of the big questions that informed my graduate school journey and now inform my praxis. As I complete my Master’s degree in Learning, Design, and Technology (LDT) I reflect on what I will carry with me from this experience, including my thoughts on the importance of guiding values, people, and longitudinal growth. 

As an organizer passionate about learning and positive social change, I spent many years supporting other people’s ideas and creativity. In my late 20s, I often wondered why I hadn’t dedicated some time, space, and energy to my own ideas and dreams. Though I could be trusted to care for others’ learning and growth, I wasn’t caring for myself in the same way. For a period of time, I researched MBA programs because of social pressure to conform to a high-income, corporate career. Suffering from burnout and curious about the outward flexibility of remote tech jobs, I looked into coding bootcamps. There were compelling reasons to try either of those pathways, but neither seemed to fit me. After completing an executive certificate program at the School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania, I realized my primary area of social practice should be in education. When I found LDT in 2020, the gears of intellectual, professional, and personal motivation clicked into place, helping me move forward and away from a period of languishing during the height of the COVID pandemic.  

the Importance of guiding values

I began LDT with some notion of what I wanted to study, but my plans evolved along the way as a circumstance of life, work, and my own realizations about capacity.  If this kind of change is a lasting truth of my life, then we must align with the truths that help us find our equilibrium in an ever-changing world - our guiding values.  

As a neurodivergent learner with my own set of anxieties and traumas, I know a cyclical reflection on how my decisions and actions connect to my values and affirmations helps me recenter when I am feeling off-balance.  When I decided to apply to graduate school, I mapped out the guiding values for my learning journey - and what I wanted to find in a graduate program.  These are the six I chose: 

Generosity

Community 

Authenticity 

Creativity 

Compassion

Courage

Early in our Methods of Learning and Design class, Maggie and Yianna asked us to articulate a few individual learning goals.  When we shared our individual goals as a class, the collective data of our learning goals revealed the threads of our shared values. My classmates’ passion for equity, inclusion, and innovation connected to my values: compassion, courage, and creativity. When we were also asked to articulate what we needed from our classmates and professors, many of us asked for the space to process and to be ourselves - centering authenticity and generosity in the learning experience. These early exercises in Methods created a foundation of belonging, engagement, collaboration, and shared learning, which I found crucial to starting my LDT journey, connecting with the people in the program, and preparing for my life after graduation. 

People

My notes, doodles, and archives of group chats from each LDT class illuminate the importance of learning with and from my classmates.  As a student, I continue to be enthralled by the depth of knowledge among the scholars who guide our learning, but I have also grown immensely thanks to my fellow learners.   

Class discussions, project collaborations, and individual project presentations held me in awe of my LDT classmates’ intellect, empathy, and creativity.  Our unique backgrounds and perspectives ensured that I engaged with interesting ideas and compelling questions every day.  The personal and intellectual vulnerability we also shared with each other over the last two years has been transformative for my understanding of learning and community.  We discussed the myriad of challenges we faced - from imposter syndrome to institutional challenges - and supported each other through difficult times. Whether through check-ins, dinners, game nights, informal reading discussions, or collaborative brainstorming, my classmates helped me keep going when I felt overwhelmed by the stress of juggling school, work, and life responsibilities. The support and camaraderie demonstrated how being invested in each other’s success can also lead to individual success, adding personal evidence to my knowledge about the empirical success of learning communities.  

Frankie’s contagious exuberance and passion for bridging gaps in institutional resources for first-generation students inspired me from the day that we started Integrated Introduction to the Field, our first LDT class. Jordan’s kindness and passion for equity and inclusive teaching paired with his impeccable oration made me feel hopeful for the future of higher education - and the generations of students and educators who would benefit from his work. When I was in need of grounding Christina’s personal thoughtfulness and professional wisdom, stemming from years of teaching in K-12 classrooms, helped me connect our curriculum to classroom applications and local communities. I discovered new ways to explore topics like accessibility and belonging in higher education thanks to Catalina’s creativity and research skills. Teddy’s rounded understanding of education, with spiritual, artistic, social, and analytical foundations, illuminated important connections between superficially discrete ideas and subjects. Jason and Mike’s prowess in applying learning theories to innovative technologies inspired me to strengthen my technical skills and find ways to play while learning. 

Among the faculty, I found a level of generosity, brilliance, and compassion that I never expected from a graduate program.  The faculty in our program continuously modeled the type of engaged teaching and mentoring I aspire to do after LDT.  Thanks to Maggie and Yianna, I gained a foundation of knowledge about learning theories, pedagogy, and learning design that informed almost every project I completed in the program; their warmth and encouragement cemented my sense of belonging in LDT during my first semester in the program. I learned some of the most helpful frameworks for understanding the past, present, and future of education thanks to Bryan’s Educational Technology and Innovation by Design classes. Whether I was researching climate change games or AR activism, Bryan helped me be my most authentic self as I connected the dots between education, innovation, and society. Ijeoma has been a constant inspiration and resource for what the work of integrating justice and art can be in higher education. Her Arts and Enduring Meaning class connected everything from my professional history to my professional future, validating the importance of both museum education and bridging informal and formal learning.  David’s life-changing Creativity and Design class was the spiritual core of my LDT journey. I came to trust and love my inner artist again thanks to his class and the projects I created for my assignments. Lee’s portfolio class was the perfect end to my LDT coursework, providing structure and inspiration so I could craft the narrative of my professional and academic journey with utmost care.  

Finally, I would not be able to complete this program without the commitment and compassion of LDT staff members, Anne and La’Mon. They guided us through the peaks and troughs and were always available to answer questions, problem-solve, and talk through our coursework and requirements.

Longitudinal learning

I used to wonder why I took so long to process anything. I eventually learned to be more accepting of my pace when I became familiar with my own neurodivergence and individual learning style. As I finish LDT I also see power in what I viewed as a limitation for many years.  Perhaps I am not slow, perhaps there is something to learn from my deep, slow absorption of knowledge and my experience with slow epiphanies.

In longitudinal studies, researchers collect data over a period of time ranging from weeks to decades.  If LDT students were to think of our learning journeys in terms of longitudinal learning - collecting data about our graduate school journey from beginning to end and then beyond - what might we find? I am interested in this question for myself.  

There is value in tracking how we learn during an educational experience and how we continue to grow after it. Reflecting on everything I’ve gained throughout this program makes me wonder about the breakthroughs I may have a month, a year, or a decade after I graduate. Semesters cannot account for the totality of our learning, neither can two years in a Master’s program.  This is why the people and our shared values have mattered so much. After graduation, I will carry forward knowledge, experience, and new skills, and I will also continue to learn, reflect, and share in a community of practice with my classmates and friends as we apply our learning and our knowledge deepens alongside our sustained interests and passions. Simply put, the reflecting does not end here and neither does the learning.

Conclusion

By the time I was accepted to LDT, many friends knew that I had been trying to find my academic “home” for years. When I first shared the words “learning, design, and technology” with friends or colleagues I usually got a reaction that was a mix of enthusiasm and curiosity. People shared that these words “sounded like me” even if they didn’t understand what the curriculum would entail or what the degree “would do” for my career.   I didn’t know then and still don’t know now what degrees do for a career in the long term if that’s all you are after. 

My hunch is that if you challenge yourself to engage in new ways of thinking, try some new ways of doing, and value your learning community, you can learn both for yourself and for the sake of a beautiful, collective future as much as you learn for the sake of your career.  I’m happy to share that my hunch - a personal hypothesis about learning - aligned with my experience in LDT.  Yes, I am graduating with the tools and knowledge to be a better educator, a learning analyst, a futurist, and an advocate for equity, inclusion, and sustainability in education.  I am also graduating with a deep appreciation for guiding values, the people I’ve been fortunate to meet through this program, my own imaginative power, and the potential for lifelong learning