CSLE and COVA
Creating Significant Learning Environments through Choice, Ownership, Voice, and Authentic Learning
How did COVA and CSLE affect learning in
my journey?
Creating significant learning environments (CSLE) and choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning (COVA) were both ideas that I had never heard of until my very first day in my ADL (Applied Digital Learning) master's degree program.
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I have to say that I was immediately BLOWN AWAY in the very first live session for this degree with Dr. Harapnuik. He introduced himself and jumped right in to give us a taste of COVA and CSLE. We learned of the importance of using a COVA approach to create a CSLE. Then we were told what Our courses would be like, what was expected as the outcome, and told what our first assignment was. I left that meeting a little baffled. I had been through another master's program with Lamar University, and it was not structured the same at all. We didn't have the freedom and had more weekly and daily expectations with carefully drawn out parameters. We were given assignments and told how to do them. This new experience was going to be so very different. We were told that in order to offer choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning to our students, we would have to learn the same way. It was NOT what I was expecting.
So.. How did I feel about it??
It was uncomfortable, scary, and difficult at first. I felt that I needed more guidance... more structure than I was given in order to succeed. I was wrong!! I have felt more successful in this educational experience than I ever have before. I feel that because of my COVA experience in my own learning, I have grown as a student, a collaborator, and an educator. I feel ready to jump in both feet forward to try to create significant learning experiences on my own for my class. I am ready to help my fellow educators that are interested in creating engaging student-centered learning experiences. I would love to give my students choice and ownership over their learning, as well as a voice in their own authentic learning (Haranapnuik, 2018).
How did I use COVA in this program??
In this program, all students had to create their own innovation project to implement in their own classes and/or schools with intentions of creating a more significant learning environment. I chose to do my innovation project on blended learning. I was teaching a first grade class at the time and I felt that it was the best innovative idea for me. You can click here to read my innovation plan. This year, I moved to a 3rd grade class, and though I still plan on bringing blended learning to life, I wish I had done my innovation project on eportfolios. I do, however, feel that I will e able to use eportfolios with my students with support from my fellow cohorts that I have been working with through this journey.
I do believe that blended learning will be something that I can use in any class/grade level that I teach. Blended learning gives students choice of when (and sometimes how) to complete assignments. Students gain a sense of ownership and feel that they have a voice when you create a significant learning environment through blended learning (COVA at it's best). I hope to use this along with the skills I have learned from using COVA and CSLE to bring my campus to a more student-centered place, with hopes to take it district-wide some day.
How have COVA and CSLE changed me??
I fell that I have become a more learner's mindset educator. COVA and having my own learner's mindset have become a bigger part of me that I realized. It's funny, some of my work colleagues still talk about "different learning styles" and I often find myself smiling. Dr H's questio keeps swirling in my head. Are there really different learning styles? Do all kids learn differently, or do they learn from everything around them in many different ways (Harapnuik, 2022). How CAN we label our students as certain types of learners? Aren't we all always learning?
How will I use a COVA approach in my own teaching?
When I think of using a COVA approach, it looks great (on paper and in my head). It will, however, prove to be a bit of a challenge for me. As I mentioned, I teach in an elementary. I work in a district that is very strict about their teaching. We teachers are given strict guidelines about how we are to teach the TEKS (our Texas standards), what resources we need to use, and when to teach everything. We are also given specific guidelines about how we run our classrooms. We teachers are not given much choice, ownership, and voice over our own learning or teaching. I would love to start creating a COVA enriched classroom where my students are given more choice, but I'm not quite sure where to start.
I would love to find a way to incorporate more COVA to create a significant learning environment alongside my district's guidelines. I feel that through the use of blended learning, I might be able to achieve my goal. I can also take a more COVA approach by taking a 30 minute block every Friday for what I would name "COVA Time". This is where I can use that 30 minute time block to ignite my 3rd graders passions. It will take a lot of planning and dedication on my part, but I think I can do it.
My students will need explicit direction on what to do, along with some other guidelines. My students will need to be retaught regularly and reminded what the COVA time is for and why we are doing it. We would have to come together as a group and talk about everyone's jobs during this time as well as the expectations. Third graders still need redirection, and reteaching art times, but I feel that with the right amount of practice, I can get it going. It can be the start of a new way for all teachers to give their students a voice and ownership of their learning through a student-centered approach.
It will not be easy, but then again, is anything easy really worth it? Teaching is not easy, and it is ALWAYS changing. We teachers need to help our colleagues and our students become the best they can be, and I truly believe that incorporating COVA and creating a significant learning environment in our classrooms is the way of the future. It is OUR job, as the educators in this ADL program, to bring it to life.