Week 2 - Digital Pedagogies

What is Digital Pedagogy?

Source: Queensland Government

Digital pedagogies move the focus from Information and Communications Technology (ICT) tools and skills to a way of thinking in a digital world. These new ways of working and learning with ICT facilitates the quality of learning experiences for 21st Century learning. Effective digital pedagogy is based on the needs of individual students and incorporates contemporary teaching and learning strategies. 

"The goal of education is to enrich the lives of a student while producing articulate, expressive thinkers and lifelong learners that are socially reasonable, resilient, and active citizens of the world. Education is about teaching students, not subjects" - Dave Truss 

My Views of Digital Pedagogies 

Source: Google Images

I believe that by using different classroom technologies like iPads, tablets, computers, iPods and video games are great tools for helping students learn. Using new technologies is the future of the education system. Students love using new technologies whether it is the 'cool factor' or just the genuine interest in the technology. It allows teachers to make education fun and engaging. Children are known to spend hours engaging in technology like computers and television why they come home from school, so why not teach them through their favourite media? Teaching children through digital technologies incorporate the four key components to learning; active engagement, participation in groups, frequent engagement in feedback and interaction with the real world. Through the use of technology you are able to reach different learning styles. I believe that if digital technologies are used correctly it can provide students with engaging activities which keep their interest.

My Experiences

Source: Google Images

My first experience of using digital technology was in my grade 1 classroom. I was attending a large public school which consisted of 400 students. At the back of our classroom were 10 computers. The ones with massive box monitors which you could not psychically move on your own. There were no USB ports, no CD drives, just the good old Floppy Disks which you could save four word documents onto (if you were lucky). I remember my teacher using the projector. All my fellow classmates would get so excited when they got asked to answer questions on a laminated piece of paper which would project onto the wall in front of the classroom.

Source: Google Images

As I approached grade 12, I was attending a public school of 1000 students. We were all using touch screen tablet computers to complete all our school work. These tablets could be taken home with us at the end of each day. All out assignment were to be emailed to our teacher instead of being printed out. We were no longer writing on laminated paper and putting it under a projector - we could now walk up to an interactive whiteboard and write our answers using our finger. I believe technology throughout my schooling life was extremely engaging and motivated me to learn, so I can't begin to imagine how children in this era thrive to get their hands on the newly advance technology.

Future of Digital Pedagogy

Source:  Learning Place - Digital Pedagogies

So what does this mean for the future of digital pedagogies? As a Pre-service Teacher I am striving to include digital pedagogy into my lesson plans. This is because it engages children and makes learning fun. One of the ways I can make this happen is just making students create their own blogs and posting their progress, thoughts and experiences throughout a topic. Digital pedagogies can cater for personalised approaches, intellectual engagement, rigorous learning, supportive and collaborative classroom environments and connected curriculum, assessment and reporting to improve outcomes for students. Education of the future always need to remember that technology should not just be used for fun. It should serve a purpose to the content being learnt within the classroom.

"Teachers will not be replaced by technology, but teachers who don't use technology will be replaced by those who do." - Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach

Jenny Abel

Source: Google Images