Schedule

During the program, learners are expected to dedicate approximately 4-5 hours per week (synchronous and asynchronous) to have an engaged and successful learning experience. We ask that participants actively plan the time they will spend on the institute each week, even on a daily basis. Once a week, we will hold a live, synchronous online meeting to discuss resources, activities, and projects in support of the five competencies:

All sessions will be on Thursdays, 1– 2:30 p.m. ET, except for the launch session on Monday, May 5th, which is 1-2 p.m. ET.

• Week 1:
  • Monday, May 5 (Launch)
  • Thursday, May 8
• Week 2: Thursday, May 15
• Week 3: Thursday, May 22
• Week 4: Thursday, May 29
• Week 5: Thursday, June 5
• Week 6: Thursday, June 12
• Week 7: Thursday, June 19 (Break week for Juneteenth Holiday - No Live Session)
• Week 8: Thursday, June 26

Digital Learning Transformation Institute Competencies’ Learning Outcomes

Competency 1: Envision Meaningful Change

Change begins with a clear and meaningful vision. In the world of teaching and learning, and particularly in digital learning, attempting change without commitment to purpose and intention can often become a practice in futility. Envisioning meaningful change is the opportunity to understand the many components of your context, describe what success could look like, examine elements to initiate forward movement, and create strategies to overcome obstacles. As a digital learning transformer, you must consider change as a key component of the work, but effective change takes intention and clarity at the very beginning.

By the end of this competency, you will be able to:

• Evaluate the context and agency of your teaching and learning role.
• Analyze outcomes that indicate growth or development in the learning organization.
• Examine potential barriers and opportunities that may influence digital learning change initiatives.

Competency 2: Make Informed Decisions

Effective decision-making is essential for digital learning professionals. Such decisions are informed by a wide array of quantitative and qualitative data sources including voices from across the institution and external partnerships. For impactful decisions to be made, such information needs to be collected, curated, and presented to the appropriate stakeholders in logical and purposeful ways. With such a level of care, you can act as a change agent and an informed decision maker from any place in the learning organization.

By the end of this competency, you will be able to:

• Formulate clear and meaningful questions to drive decision-making for digital learning.
• Gather relevant information to influence meaningful change in your learning organization.
• Solicit feedback and information from relevant stakeholders to inform digital learning decision-making.
• Demonstrate best practices and procedures for collecting/presenting data to stakeholders invested in digital learning transformation.

Competency 3: Explore Contemporary Issues and Trends

In the digital learning space, the term "transformation" can be used nearly to the edge of its value. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the multitude of new ideas and programs designed every day. To be an effective digital learning transformer requires an ability to explore many emergent trends in higher education and digital learning, with a lens of your particular context. You must be able to discern true transformation from hype and know when and how to implement something new.

By the end of this competency, you will be able to:

• Explore emergent technologies and contemporary trends that are affecting higher education broadly and the learning organization specifically.
• Differentiate innovation from hype in digital learning.
• Explore the relevance and value of contemporary educational and digital learning trends in a meaningful, context-driven manner.
• Explore models of learning design, including the use of transformative technology.

Competency 4: Design a Change Initiative

Transformation is often messy and free-flowing. Creating meaningful change through transformation is always complemented by structure and organization. As a digital learning transformer, you must understand practices of designing, planning, communicating, and documenting the use of technologies and ideas. Through this competency, you will focus on informal and formal means of driving initiatives forward and explore the work necessary to begin putting ideas into action.

By the end of this competency, you will be able to:

• Identify models of design for effective learning projects.
• Implement design thinking to develop an actionable transformation project.
• Create an implementation plan and timeline for your digital learning transformation project.
• Create a project plan document to drive organizational change via the transformation project.
• Determine outcomes that can be used to gauge the effectiveness of your transformation project.

Competency 5: Advance Actionable Change

Innovation shifts to implementation and adoption as vital stakeholders begin to utilize it. As a digital learning transformer, you need the skills to take innovative ideas into action through project management, collaboration, and communication. Your goal is not only to pilot new ideas and technologies but to help others—students, faculty, leadership—implement change for better learning outcomes. This competency explores what makes meaningful change endure for everyday practice.

By the end of this competency, you will be able to:

• Identify approaches to effective project management for learning projects.
• Present digital learning ideas, initiatives, and projects in a manner that fosters action.
• Explore strategies for collaboration to advance digital learning initiatives and innovations.
• Implement a process to identify and address unexpected challenges or barriers to implementation.
• Utilize best practices to communicate digital learning transformation to particular audiences.