Good evening class, I am Juffrou Gibson and I would like to begin by saying that the more I read about Digital P (My abbreviation for Digital Pedagogy cause it sounds so rad and like a Vitamin you should take that will make you spontaneous and fun!) the more it sounds like the art therapy of education, I quote, form Jesse Stommel's article: "Digital Pedogagy is less about knowing and more a rampant process of unlearning, play, and rediscovery" [Decoding Digital Pedagogy, Pt.2: (Un)mapping The Terrain - by Jesse Stommel]. Whilst the other article by Sean M. Morris talks about Pedagogy concerning itself "with the instantaneous momentary vital exchange that takes place in order for learning to happen" [Decoding Digital Pedagogy, Pt.1: Beyond The LMS - by Sean Micheal Morris]. Think about this for a second.
So, Morris just threw another curve ball our way, one I feel Fyfe also touched upon, it says basically that simply using technology does NOT make us digital pedagogues (Just when I thought I got the hang of the word Pedagogy...). And there is a difference between just being a teacher and being a pedagogue. I mean, a pedagogue is a teacher, yes, but not all teachers are pedagogues. What is a pedagogue? Morris explained, when you are just a teacher, teaching will inevitably begin with authority and expertise. When you are a Pedagogue, teaching will begin with inquiry. Throughout the articles I highlighted a few terms that for me stood out in describing a pedagogue and pedagogy and digital pedagogy, these included:
- Playfulness
- Improvisation
- Collaborative
- Dynamic
- Responsive by nature
- Participative
- Catalyst
- Inspires
- Nourishing
- Mindful
- Facilitates
And I think probably the one that encompasses all of it the best:
- Can't be pinned down in a stable definition
I think this means it is what you make of it, as long as you know that as the same time that it shouldn't necessarily be anything specific, it should be ever-changing, like this world, like the kids we will be teaching year after year. I think that is why Stommel says that "....expert digital pedagogues learn best by forgetting - through continuous encounters with what is novel, tentative, unmastered, and unresolved." Because if we are going to get use to one way of doing things and keep doing it that way we are not going to reach the kids of tomorrow. And we might think we are young and hip we can do this digital pedagogy thing, no problem! But think about it, what about in 20 year, heck what about in 10 years, or 5 years! Will you be able to forget and reinvent you pedagogy, improvise, be once again spontaneous? But you JUST learnt how to awesomely incorporate holograms into your teaching practice to engage learners now that is boring to the new generation and you need to change your game, cause the playing field keeps changing. We can't even imagine the awesome tools we will be able to use in a few years time, and that is actually exciting.
Speaking about tools, this also stood out to me: That the best tools to use in digital pedagogy is tools that inspire you to even use it in ways that the designer never even dreamed of. AND it is very important not to become obsessed slaves to our technology/tools/machines or whatever, but at the same time that we should not be worshiping them we can also not just ignore them all together. Balance, balance, balance. We need to also use our noggins, think critically about the tools we use and how we use them, this makes so much sense, I mean it is no use just using a tool cause it is a tool. Why are we using it? For THIS specific lesson? How will it engage the learners? How will it inspire them? We have to think, how is this technological element going to ENHANCE the experience of education for my learners? Is it going to change anything? What if I use THAT tool instead, what would the different impact be? Oh and remember, tools do not necessarily have to be technology or digital.
To end of, just a few more thoughts. If we are to be true pedagogues, and digital pedagogues at that, we should be ALWAYS adaptable, ready to improvise and respond to a new environment, happy to experiment. No, the only thing about this life is that nothing ever stays the same. Nothing. Everything is constantly moving and evolving and growing and shifting and twisting about, so the only place to be comfortable is in the knowledge that you will experience some discomfort as you witness your surroundings change in front of you with no chance of stopping it, so adapt, grow, change, improvise, be spontaneous. This extract out of Morris' article really speaks to me "The digital pedagogue looks at the options, willing to improvise, respond to a new environment, to experiment. "Her practice is mindful of the landscape". And as Morris says, Digital P is so rad exactly for the reason that is is our reminder that the (always) new landscape of learning IS mysterious and therefore also, (always) worth exploring. Go for it!
I'm going to end of with the the visual image of Pedagogy that Stommel describes, and I urge you all to look for this visual images in the students in front of you (and in yourself!) when you do your Glaskas, "...a teacher or learner puzzled, hands-at-the-ready, mouth-agape, pausing just as they're about to speak or take action. It looks like careful planning without attachment to or fetishizing of outcomes. It looks like failure. And wonder."
Okay, we are beginners at this but hey, Challenge Accepted.
No comments:
Post a Comment