Media as an ally not an enemy

When I was in school that had the very old traditional way of teaching, you sat in class while staring at PowerPoint slides full of notes. No technology was allowed, other than the PowerPoint presentation, all phones had to be off or face down on the desk on silent. They thought that if they allowed us to use our phones we would be on Instagram, facebook or twitter and not engaging, not that we were engaging in the first place. That was the major problem, the exclusion of technology under the assumption that we would not engage, however, we would of as it would have been something different other than staring at PowerPoint presentations.

As a natural science and life science teacher I think feedback is important and thus in would set up a twitter account for the class where they can post after every class what they learnt, how they felt, what they liked and didn’t like. I would also use twitter to share videos and share links to articles or exiting new developments that are happening, and they can also use twitter to share these kinds of things. The way of teaching is changing and we need to adapt to it, the students are always on social media, excluding it from a classroom just makes them more tempted to be sneaky and use it under the desk, which as a teacher would irritate more, so might as well involve social media in an interactive way that the student will enjoy and learn from.

The idea of blogs I originally hated, I thought this would take me hours and I didn’t have time for it, but by the second blog it became natural and the topics made me love doing it. As a natural science teacher or life sciences teachers I would get them to blog about what they learnt and to have group discussions. These blogs create a forum where you can comment, state your opinion, see other peoples perspectives and open your mind to new ideas which is a fun way of learning and getting important concepts across. I really like the idea of having a reminder group, that is so awesome, where the teacher can remind the students to bring things for practical’s, remind them about homework, and have a countdown till tests. As a teacher I would definitely use this because as a student I was always forgetting something somewhere along the line

I would also get students to make podcasts and YouTube videos on the different sections of work so every week a group can create a video on what they learnt that week and then it can be shared with the class and accessible for the class and the world if they really wanted to. I find listening to peers and discussing with peers an easy and interactive way of learning, students understand students and thus may be able to explain concepts in a more simplified manner

Forums like twitter and blogs create the opportunity to ask questions and have group discussions which to me is a fun way of learning and it really sticks more than just reading off power point. Social media has a way of connecting everyone and getting everyone involved. It should be used in classrooms to help the students, if they are more engaged and curious about the topic they wont be on facebook doing something else instead of their work

If the world changed,and you are not doing anything to prepare the kids, you are doing a disservice to them 

quote by Tom Driscoll

Participation is key 

Not many understand the difference between digital pedagogy and teaching online, I was one of many that thought they were the same thing, just one happened to use a more fancy word. However, I was mistaken and once reading the article by Sean Michael Morris and Jesse Stommel it finally starts to make sense.

Digital pedagogy is important as it is willing to experiment, to be creative, take the risks and improvise. Digital Pedagogy is a “way of engaging the world, not the world to itself”. Digital pedagogy is not so easy to define as one may think, there are various different definitions of what digital pedagogy is, the one that I enjoy the most is the combination of the use of “electronic elements” and with playfulness, tinkering and building that will essentially alter the experience of education

But here is where the difference comes in, a digital pedagogue encourages her students to participate, to get involved with other people about the topic and to not allow the limitations of the learning Management System hold them back from engaging. “The digital pedagogue teaches her tools, doesn’t let them teach her”. We need to think critically about the tools that we use

The biggest problem with the Learning Management System is that it allowed for online teaching to become super easy; all you had to do was upload all the work through whether it be the creation of a video, slideshow ect and boom online learning! This is not fun and definitely cannot be thought of as pedagogy.

However, many talented young teachers have fallen trap to the excuse of the learning Management Systems fails and has all these limitations and thus have become less innovative and lost all their best pedagogies, yes we know that, but don’t give up, don’t become boring and stop trying because a system is not operating the way it is meant to.

The key message in the articles by Sean Michael Morris and Jesse Stommel is that “ we must develop a participative pedagogy” that will be assisted by digital media and networked publics. The main message is that through a more participative pedagogy there will be more facilitating and more inspiring of the students. This is how we should teach whether it be online or in a physical classroom, engagement is the key to learning.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”

≈ Nelson Mandela 

Naked is the way to go

Technology, I feel, needs to be a part of education as it is a part of our daily lives and we use it all the time. Technology provides a visual stimulus for students and thus assists in their learning. However, there are many teachers that are just using the technological tools such as power point lectures with a whole bunch of bullet points that want to put all students to sleep and thus I feel we need to learn to teach naked.

Provide the students with information through notes, videos, podcast, online forums, skype sessions ect  that they can view before the lecture and then remove the computers and projectors and just have the room, the teacher and the students, let them interact, engage, ask questions, hold discussions and most importantly think critically. Flipped classrooms I feel are an excellent way of getting students involved, coming from a science background we never really had a flip classes and so this is all new to me, but I enjoy it, I find it a better way of learning. Through flip classrooms you hear different opinions, see situations from different perspectives and it opens your mind to topics and thoughts that you never even knew you had.

This teaches students to perform in class, and other environments, and not just be a vessel that passively absorbs information. “ you cannot even imagine the work you can do before you’ve invented or experienced the tools or social dynamic they enable”, this quote is what needs to be taught in schools, students need to fiddle and get their hands dirty, they need to get involved to learn.

We need to use technology in an engaging way and not as a tool that makes our lives easier as teachers, yes, power point is easy and reading off of them during a lecture is easy, but for the students it is not fun nor is it of any help to our understanding of the topic that is being taught. If we want student to learn engage with them and if we are going to use these fancy technologies, use them in a way that helps students learn and be a part of the issue. The gaol of the teacher is to be creative, unique and to bring the outside world into the classroom.

An important note: technology will always fail at some point, as a teacher always have a plan B and an even better teacher has a plan C.

“A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination and instill a love of learning”

-Brad Henry