(Wk8, T1, 2015) EDSE12024: Digital Pedagogies in Secondary Schools.

Reflective Synopsis

The rapid evolution of digital technologies in the 21^st century has and will continue to radically change education in the coming years. Due to this, it is essential that educators equip learners with the necessary skills to become digitally literate and ultimately, active and effective members of the global online community. This reflective synopsis will identify key themes that have formed the basis of my e-learning within EDSE12024 to date. This synopsis will also consider the legal, ethical and safety issues that arise from the use of digital technologies in an educational setting.

One of the greatest attributes of digital technology, specifically Information Communication Technology (ICT), is its malleability in terms of adaptions for the modern classroom. This flexibility has the potential to (when applied properly) drastically enhance all learner experiences and as a tool, enable educators to enrich their pedagogies. The use of ICT can also aid educators in creating an environment that is highly conducive of student engagement and therefore improved learning outcomes. Additionally, the implementation of ICT across almost all learning contexts allows educators to enhance and transform curriculum development, content, delivery, access, participation and assessment, as can be seen throughout previous discipline specific blog postings by myself and other EDSE12024 participants. Another underlying aspect of ICT to consider is the learner-centered approach that is enabled due to the incorporation of digital technologies in the classroom. This can include personalised, realistic learning experiences that are designed to encourage students to use higher order thinking skills or skills that challenge their varying levels of ability. Whilst participating in this course it has become apparent to me that another essential element of digital pedagogy is that of collaborative learning.  Collaboration provides learners with the opportunity to take responsibility for their own learning and that of others. It is also a fantastic opportunity for students to engage with multiple perspectives, participate in higher order thinking activities and become in many respects, autonomous learners on what is potentially a global scale. This was demonstrated in our week 2 debonos hats activity. In this activity, we participated in a semi-scaffolded wiki based discussion designed to stimulate higher order thinking skills and demonstrate the effectiveness of online-based collaborative learning. Additionally I believe that the advantages received by learners by participating in a local, national, or global educational platform are enormous. Involvement in e-learning also allows learners to be connected with genuine experts in virtually all subjects.

Another vital aspect of digital pedagogies is the use of framework when selecting appropriate ICT material for use by learners. Both Blooms cognitive taxonomy (Bloom, 1956) and the SAMR pedagogical framework (Hogan, 2011) have played fundamental roles in my e-learning thus far. Together these frameworks highlight one of the most exciting outcomes from the use of ICT in education, where the previously inconceivable becomes reality. This is due to the fact that ICT lends itself so well to being scaffolded and allows a transformation (or redefinition!) of tasks for higher order thinking on the learner’s part and total task redesign which without the use of technology would be impossible.

Another vitally important aspect digital literacy is the legal, ethical and safety issues which arise from the implementation of ICT in the classroom. These issues are generally covered by school or department policy or code, educators can improve student awareness by modelling correct practice, engaging in class discussions, using visual aids throughout the classroom and including legal and ethical practice reminders throughout the curriculum.

 To conclude, this reflective synopsis has identified the key themes that have formed the basis of my e-learning within EDSE12024. The rapid evolution of technology, ICT’s malleability, enhancing learner experience, enriching pedagogy, learner centredness, collaboration, ICT as a global platform, and frameworks were all identified as key themes. This reflective synopsis also discussed the importance of considering the legal, ethical and safety issues that arise from the use of digital technology in an educational setting. As technology keeps improving and developing, it is necessary for educators to ensure that they are utilising the technology available, to effectively teach students in the digital age.

References

Bloom, B. (1956) Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning Domains, Retrieved from

            http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html#cognitive

Hogan, L. (2011) SAMR- A Model for Instructional Technology Use- VIDEO, Retrieved from

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=519&v=PRo9cfp2baA

(Wk7, T1, 2015) EDSE12024: Digital Pedagogies in Secondary Schools.

Embedded task 6 – Reflecting on participation and engagement in blogs

So far whilst participating in this course (edse12024) I have learned a great deal about not only digital tools but the practical application of them in 21^st century classrooms. In this post I will reflect on the positive and negative aspects of my participation in this blog.

Prior to this course, I had not ‘blogged’, EVER! I had even vetoed the idea of posting anything but a picture (usually of something other than myself) on any form of social network. This is largely due to my fear that others will notice my maladroit grammar abilities. Being thrown into the proverbial ‘deep end’ in this course, and being indirectly forced to come to terms with my aforementioned fears of linguistic inadequacy has allowed me to not only see the incredible opportunities of working in a digital space but the prospects for collaboration and the benefits which it brings with it. The casual format of the blogging has also allowed me to become more confident with sharing in an online space. Through the use of the comment function on blogger I have been able to interact with others by providing and receiving feedback on blog postings. Through the existence of the course wiki (showing fellow students subject specialist areas) I have also been able to find students who share my (elective) subjects of history and biology. This cross-campus interaction has also allowed me to view multiple perspectives and form a broader understanding of some of the uses of digital tools within educational contexts specific to me. 

One of the noticeable drawbacks of our online collaboration through blogging is the tendency of users (myself included) to make minimal or no comment as to the blogs content. This problem effectively takes the collaboration out of the blog, as it becomes a non-constructive one-way, one-many form of communication. Obviously this could be overcome with scaffolding if desired; however the idea in this situation was for learner-owned interaction. 

A successful aspect of this collaboration can be seen in the comments section under of my week 6 blog, where fellow students have highlighted the effectiveness of ‘thinglink’ across multiple subject areas. This can seen be to deepen my understanding of the functionality of 'thinglink' and its implications on my own practice and students. 

My experiences so far in this course have led me to place a higher emphasis on digital tools within educational settings. This course has also allowed me to explore the impact of these tools on my own practice and encouraged me to think about ways that I can implement them when designing learning for my students. This weeks readings have further highlighted to me the ways in which social software can be used in learning and its crucial role in enhancing learning for students.