We are living in a digital world and I am a digital girl (sometimes)

I think the hardest thing about blogging is trying to harness and refine all your thoughts into one steady laminar flow. Too often my thoughts are just flying around in my head and sometimes I manage to catch one or two of them (which do not always make sense anyway) but as for the rest of them, well lets just say they are not too compliant. So this is an attempt to take all my thoughts regarding Digital Pedagogy Unplugged, and translate it into words and sentences and paragraphs that will hopefully make sense.

The problems that arise with Digital Pedagogy are generally misunderstood. When one hears digital pedagogy, they think of using technology as an aid in teaching and learning, which is the correct definition. However when one thinks of technology, they think of tablets, laptops, smart boards, search engines, etc. These are all examples of digital pedagogy but one often forgets the original forms of technology that were once seen as revolutionary, something as simple as paper, books, pictures, etc. This is pointed out in the article where Fyfe states:

“…Digital Pedagogy is often presumed to be something that uses electronic tools or computers – this limits the teaching to the extent of the tools…”

Here we can see that most people presume that digital means electronic which is not the case. If it were the case then there would be limits on teaching according to the electronic tools at hand. Electrical technologies can only take you so far before it fails you. There is the challenge of trying to use the electronic tools in balance with the older technologies (paper, etc.) in which to optimize learning. I feel that either sticking to the one or the other is not the most effective way of teaching or learning. By having both available to the students, they experience an ease at getting information while also benefiting from the advantages of writing things down. This is just a simple example which should be touched on again later.

A way that some educators tried to use Digital Pedagogy to optimize learning is in the examples of the Classroom Flipping, or Teaching Naked. Both quite simply put the digital resources in the pedagogical peripheries of the classroom. So there wasn’t much electronic technology being used in the class but instead they talked and discussed matters. Then after the class, learners could access and go back to the technologies that were otherwise kept from them in class. I found this to be rather brilliant as there are certain skills, such as arguing, critical thinking, etc. that you cannot develop from behind a computer, etc. There is also something about discussing certain topics with fellow class mates that has a positive effect on remembering content. So by the learners engaging with each other face-to-face, information is more readily absorbed and retained. It also keeps the learners interested and involved which is effective in teaching and learning.

Another example of where electronic technology took a back burner was with the example given to us by Brad Pasanek. He told a story of how he took the prescribed reading and highlighted the themes where ever they became apparent. Then when he went into class the next day and showed the various themes and colors in the book, the students responded and were in awe and thoroughly interested.

His reason for this was simple. He wanted to facilitate in the development of lost skills that are becoming less and less important as technology progresses. Skills such as reading, pattern matching, sharpened attention, analysis of works, etc are all becoming less vital. This is due to the fact that everything is so readily available online. So usually if students wanted to know the theme of the set work book, then they could just put it into a search engine and have the answers right in front of them without having to actually read through the book and look for them. So by promoting the old technology of the textbook, with the colorful highlighter, he is promoting and facilitating old important English skills.

I find that through the ways that the author and educators use digital pedagogy, one finds that the learners more readily absorb knowledge and develop skills. The perfect balance between the old school technologies and the new technologies is seen here and is seen to facilitate true learning. I believe Digital Pedagogy is a good educating assistant, so long as the balance is correct (as seen in the class examples in the articles and above). So I feel Digital Pedagogy Unplugged is only a great idea if it involves balancing the technologies. Rather keeping the electronic technologies unplugged and the more practical mediums (paper, textbooks, etc.) active and used in class, seems like the best way to optimize and facilitate learning.

That’s my long say I guess…hope it makes sense….and as per always:

Keep your eyes on the board!