Learning and its trajectories
My overall goal for this subject is to learn about learning.
As this is the first subject I am undertaking as part of my masters degree, the below goals contribute to every aspect of my Course Learning Goals. The first stage of my learning journey is to learn about learning and to reflect on my own experience - both as a learner and as someone who has mentored, coached and trained others. I look forward to developing knowledge and applying it to my own experience. I see this as the first step; the foundational knowledge on which the skills and developments to come will flow.
Goal outcomes
Not only did I come away from this initial subject having learned about learning, I gained insights into my own learning trajectories and an appreciation that learning can be found in every aspect of life. That in actual fact, learning is a life-long pursuit that never stops. Reflecting on my own experience, while learning the historical theoretical and practical learning methods has allowed me to expand my view of how and when learning occurs, and the purpose behind it. The benefits of learning from a local and global community perspective in combination with a diverse world-view has had a lasting impact on me personally, and I can see myself bringing the aspects of this into my professional practice. Storytelling, change and the value of informal learning in a workplace context all have an impact on learners and those seeking to provide leadership to people in organisations. All have a place in my learning, and how that learning informs my professional choices moving forward.
Designing innovative learning
My overall goal for this subject is to learn how to design workplace learning within the context of a complex organisation.
In the second subject of my masters degree, I am looking forward to building on the insights gained about learning, the concepts of life-long learning and the fact that much of our learning in the workplace is informal. In Designing innovative learning I aim to look in depth at workplace learning programs, their design and the best practice framework for learners and complex organisations to set all the people involved up for the best chance of success. I also aim to look at what technologies are available now, and what is emerging. I am eager to reflect on my attempts at learning design previously and how I could have approached these differently with the insights of the learnings this subject will bring. I am excited to start this subject, and have set the five below goals for myself.
Goal outcomes
I have gained so much more from Designing innovative learning than I thought was possible. While my overall goal was to learn how to design workplace learning within the context of a complex organisation, which I have certainly achieved, I have gained knowledge in assessment models and evaluation methodologies that I had not known existed before, and go beyond just the immediate needs of the organisation. The subject material allowed me to draw on insights from my previous studies in Learning and its trajectories and form links between learning methods and learning design. The exploration of innovation, technology, and the role of the learner in the design have had a huge impact and influence on my perspective and will play a big role in how I view the role of these four attributes in my professional practice moving forward.
Leading learning
My overall goal for this subject is to learn how to lead workplace learning and capability development within the context of a complex organisation.
In the third subject of my masters degree, I am looking forward to building on the insights gained about learning, the concepts of life-long learning and the fact that much of our learning in the workplace is informal. Now that I have had a chance to design learning, I am eager to look at the concepts of leadership and what it takes to lead learning and learning design in an organisation. Leadership is a topic I am passionate about, and I am looking forward to having the opportunity to have an in depth conversation with a leader in this field and to undertake the research project that will then follow - and the insights that will then be gained. I am excited to start this subject, and have set the four below goals for myself.
Goal outcomes
The learning in this subject was not what I had expected. The interview to the double research technique was an interesting and really insightful way of exploring how a leader of learning goes about the business of how they do what they do each day, and really gave me some valuable insights to take with me into the rest of the course, and my career journey. I found learning the practice architecture theory and ecologies of practice, then the application of these to the organisation and the broader industry context to be of great use practically and is something I will take forward with me in my professional context - particularly when working with leadership groups within my organisation, and in the coaching or mentorship of leaders generally. As it specifically relates to the leadership of learning, studies in this subject confirmed what I think I had already suspected, but had never researched or committed in a written form. This is that the act of leading learning is complex, multi-faceted, and calls on multiple skills - often concurrently. There are practices that enable and constrain leaders, many of which do both. This is an interesting area to explore, and one that I intend to continue after the conclusion of the subject, particularly as it pertains to working with stakeholders in the design of innovative learning in a workplace context. Leading learning is not just an activity that comes from the top of an organisation, but through all the levels of hierarchy. The learning in this subject has been an important component of learning to pull together the "hidden"skills and attributes required to achieve learning design project outcomes across a range of stakeholders.
Learning in the Digital Age
My overall goal for this subject is to learn how to integrate the use of emerging digital technologies into learning designed for the workplace.
In the fourth subject of my masters degree, I am looking forward learning more about learning enhanced by technology, and how this can assist the learning experience. In terms of my own learning trajectory, this is one area that I am weaker in. Now that I have had an opportunity to design learning and gained my own insights about the process and learning in the workplace, I am looking forward to adding digital technologies as another layer to my learning journey. Combined with my insights and reflections so far in terms of practical and theoretical learning theory and leadership practices, I am keen to explore how adding technology to the strategic and decision-making process can have impact on the learner, and the organisation. I am excited to start this subject, and have set the four below goals for myself.
Goal outcomes
My learning in this subject was not exactly what I had hoped to achieve. However, according to my theory of change and backcasting exercise that I completed at the start of the subject, the problem I sought to solve was achieved. I increased my understanding and awareness of digital pedagogies and technologies. I have gained confidence in communicating digital learning approaches to a diverse group of stakeholders, having had to do so in a real-world context several times recently. My progress in this subject has not been at my usual standard due to falling ill with COVID-19 for the first time, which is ironic considering that my assessments were based on a respective view of a project conducted during the 2020-2021 lockdown period. While I gained knowledge and confidence in this subject and met my goals, I was hampered due to illness. I am keen to continue exploring existing and emerging technologies and how they can potentially add to learning experiences and digital learning ecosystems.
Strategic learning in workplaces
My overall goal for this subject is to learn how to develop, design and propose a workplace learning strategy within the context of a complex organisation.
In the fifth subject of my master's degree, I am looking forward to linking together the workplace experiences and studies I have completed so far in the areas of designing innovative learning, leading learning, learning , and its trajectories and learning in the digital age, as they all come together in this subject. All these areas have a place in forming strategy, whether in a large or small organisation, but in particular in a higher education organisation such as the one I have come from most recently. I am eager to draw on all my experiences, learning, and reflections to date and how these can be brought together to inform a learning strategy for professional staff in a complex higher education organisation.
I look forward to the insights this subject will bring, and I have set the four goals below for myself.
Goal outcomes
My learning in this subject was extraordinary and thoroughly enjoyable. Up until this point, I had never considered myself anything other than an employee who worked in operational areas. In other words, I had not considered myself to be someone who was good at, or even could contribute towards the development of a good strategy. By the end of this subject, I found that forming strategy, knowing what a sound strategy was, accommodating organisational, departmental and team needs within the strategy, and communicating it effectively came together seamlessly. The content of the subject itself, plus my learning trajectory of previous subjects, all seemed to come together to allow me to produce high quality work, while additionally learning material, concepts, theory and skills simultaneously established a baseline that was required for this subject, while expanding upon my knowledge and learning from other subjects. I have recently started a new role, and my first task is to formulate a strategy - so I am diving straight back into my learnings from this subject. In short, the learnings here have real world applications, and I have learned more than I could have imagined when I first started the subject.
Introduction to Psychological Science
My overall goal for this subject is to learn how to understand and apply fundamental psychological science concepts within a workplace learning and coaching context to enable a safe environment for continuous growth and lifelong learning.
In this elective subject within my master's degree, I am looking to expand my learning in the areas of biology, learning, cognition, motivation, and emotion in shaping human behaviour. Understanding these factors allows me to better navigate interpersonal relationships in the workplace, and how they impact workplace learning and growth, not only at the individual level, but within an organisational context. Delving into the significance of diversity, equity, and inclusion, I am becoming more aware of biases and how they may influence interactions among colleagues, peers and students. This awareness drives me to actively seek diverse perspectives in team and student discussions ensuring that all voices are heard and respected. I am eager to draw on the learnings of this subject and apply my learnings, setting myself these four goals:
Goal outcomes
Psychology and the way the brain impacts learning have been an interest of mine for quite some time. However, this subject was quite challenging due to the heavy emphasis on research methods and skills required for those pursuing qualifications in psychological science. That being said, I did actually learn quite a significant amount about how our brains function, and how taking care of our physical health can ultimately impact our ability to think clearly, perform to the best of our ability, and learn in the workplace. So while I did not enjoy this particular subject as much as others I have studied, I gained valuable insights that will assist me in my development, and the development of others in my workplace context.
Mentoring in the Workplace
My overall goal for this subject is to learn how to design a successful workplace mentoring program within the context of a complex organisation.
In this elective subject within my master's degree, I am looking to expand on the insights gained so far, the concepts of learning through mentorship and to look in depth at workplace mentoring programs, their design and the best practice framework for learners and complex organisations to set all the people involved up for the best chance of success. I am eager to reflect on my experiences with mentoring and designing workplace learning programs, and how I could have approached these differently with the insights of the learnings, this subject will bring. I am excited to start this subject and have set the four goals below for myself.
Goal outcomes
Mentoring in a workplace context is an activity I have engaged in as both a mentee and a mentor for a considerable part of of my working life. Prior to undertaking this subject, I had not really taken into account the fact that there could be the variety of different models, or methods of delivery of mentoring. I found this to offer insights and to be useful, helping to consider the most beneficial models for my current workplace context which involves staff, student leaders and volunteers, requiring careful consideration given the variety of issues and challenges involved. As I have been involved in both structured and unstructured programs in the past, some of which have been a complete fail, it was useful to be exposed to guest speakers throughout the program from different industries and learn from their experience. Being able to leverage prior learning from other subjects such as Designing Innovative Learning was useful in terms of the design of the mentoring program, and aided in terms of bringing the program design together as a whole. I now have a program design that I am going about expanding on for the purposes of implementation.
Professional learning and practices
My overall goal for this subject is to learn how to objectively understand and assess professional practices and learning to enable continuous growth within the context of a complex organisation.
In the eighth subject of my master's degree, I am looking forward to linking together the workplace experiences and studies I have completed so far in the areas of designing innovative learning, leading learning, learning and its trajectories and strategic workplace learning, as they all bring perspectives on learning and professional practice in this subject. Whether in a large or small organisation, or as a solo practitioner, I am eager to draw on all my experiences, learning, practices, and reflections to date and how these can be brought together to inform a professional learning and practice research project.
I look forward to the insights this subject will bring, and I have set the four goals below for myself.