Christie Swan

EDLD: 5315 and 5317

Contribution to Your Learning and the Learning Community

Grade Reflection
After taking both EDLD 5315 and 5317, I have been pushed and challenged with more real-world
learning than I ever have in my educational career. Both of these classes showed me solid, helpful
tools to further my career in education and required relevant reflection. Looking back on both of the
classes, I would self-assess my grade as a 95 altogether due to meeting all of the needs of the key
and supporting contributions.

Key and Supporting Contributions

In both 5315 and 5317, I made sure to make any topic connections to a topic that I am passionate
about: supporting struggling learners. In 5315, I reflected on paper-based versus online based testing
and how this affects struggling learners. I learned that struggling learners score higher on paper-
based testing than they do with online testing. Even though this is the result, I learned what I can do
better, and that is finding ways to digitally support struggling learners to help them see success with
online learning. The answer is to not make online learning disappear because we are a digital society,
and it is our job to prepare them for this digital world, so what I can do better is find and research
ways to improve struggling learners’ digital literacy and skills. In 5317, I focused on helping struggling
learners with the use of excellent technology tools that can provide teachers with technology help to
scaffold learning for their struggling learners. By reviewing the different pieces of technology that I
use to support my learners, I saw where I am getting success and wanted to provide other teachers
with these tools so that they can have help as well. For instance, Peardeck is an excellent tool of
interactive slides that forces engagement in the lesson and provides instant feedback for the
teachers. It also allows the teacher to review and reflect on the lesson before teaching it so that they
can see where accommodations or modifications need to be inserted.

In addition to my self-reflections, I have enjoyed contributing and receiving feedback from my

collaboration group. I have participated in the online discussions in our actual classes, but I have
learned the most from my collaboration group. We first emailed each other and created a Google
Drive folder for 5315 and 5317. We then shared all of our documents and provided effective feedback
to each other. We also emailed each other with questions because sometimes we were struggling
with what to actually do. It helped tremendously, and it also gave me confidence in the knowledge of
my subject. We had a large group, but some of the key members who helped me were Brittany
Walko, Melissa Young, and Jonny Fernandez; these three people provided relevant feedback, and
they also provided encouragement and guidance when I was struggling with an assignment. In
addition, because they were so helpful with me, I made sure to provide this same support to other
classmates struggling. I took leadership by making sure my assignments were put in our group
Google Drive as soon as possible so that they could provide feedback, and I tried to answer as many
questions that each team member had so that they were not struggling. Also, I am an English major,
so I love proofreading, and I know that I can provide depth in feedback. I tried to help with as many
papers as I could so that my team can do well on their papers. This is the first time in college that I
have actually ever collaborated with a group, and at first, I was apprehensive, but I am so glad that I
did.

All in all, both EDLD 5315 and 5317 provided me with real-world knowledge, real-world tools, and
real-world experience and collaboration which no other class has done before. To say it was an easy
task would be a lie. I struggled with both of these classes more than any; however, both of these
classes provided me with actual skills I needed to be a successful leader in education.

Link to my Eportfolio:
5317: https://portfolium.com/entry/christie-swans-edld-5317-eportfolio
5315: https://portfolium.com/entry/christie-swans-edld-5315-eportfolio