Digital Pedagogy - The Times They Are A-Changin’

“Come mothers and fathers throughout the land and don’t criticise what you can’t understand. Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command, your old road is rapidly agin’. Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand, For the times they are a-changin'” - Bob Dylan

My previous blog dissected my understanding of digital pedagogy and everything I have come to learn over the past few weeks in the PGCE course at Stellenbosch University. Today I was confronted by two articles that gave me a deeper insight into the term "pedagogy". Of course to me, pedagogy was an unheard of term before i enrolled in the PGCE programme and has since been thrown around in almost every sentence of every lecture, such that I was convinced I was becoming a pedagogue and that all forms of teaching were considered pedagogy. And yet, @slamteacher suggests that one need not be a pedagogue to be an effective teacher.

Recently, online-based learning platforms have been popping up left, right and centre to suit the new technology-driven generation. I do believe a great deal of these digital learning platforms have shaped the mould for a possible future in easy-to-access education, but many have also allowed for lazy teaching methods. Yes, it is fair to say that providing students with information and later testing their knowledge on the topic is “teaching”. HOWEVER, in order to thoroughly relay material, you need to think creatively and use innovative methods to grab your students’ attention. This will stimulate your students’ interest, encouraging them to go beyond what’s taught in the lesson and assist them in remembering what they’ve learnt in the long run... because, let’s be honest, a lot of what we learnt in school (and even university in some cases) went in one ear and swiftly blew out the other.

The thing is, certain pedagogues and teachers have absolutely hit the nail on the head in their conversion to teaching with digital media, while others are failing miserably to deliver the goods using online aids. It seems the only way to make it work is to connect with digital pedagogy such that your digital tools assist you in building an interactive network, welcoming students to form part of the technological development. 

I believe technology holds a bright future for education. My main and only issue with online-based learning is that in this day and age, people are already engrossed in their mobile phones, tablets and laptops. When these instruments of communication are laid to rest many people reach for the television remote or open their “Netflix” tab, vegetating in front of the latest TV shows and movies (I don’t exclude myself entirely from this stereotype)...but I want to know (education aside) how we will ever be a generation that communicates comfortably without the safety of an interface separating us, if we continue along this path. Surely a happy medium between broadcasting with modern technology and discussions within the old-school classroom can be met?

Hacking the Pedagogical System and Teaching Naked

A good teacher, like a good entertainer first must hold his audience’s attention, then he can teach his lesson - John Henrik Clarke

It can be said that digital humanities in relation to digital pedagogy does not require the use of technological resources. If teaching is considered the transfer and development of knowledge between two minds, in which students are motivated to learn, the lesson need not even be presented in a classroom environment. Indeed, computers and other technological resources (although excellent for storing and sharing of both social and personal information) can detract from the information being relayed by the teacher. That being said, these “machines" are sometimes the key in capturing the attention of your learners.

As technological reform lures the youth of today into its web of universal connectivity and exposure, it is beneficial for us to incorporate new technologies into our lessons in order to communicate with our learners in a language they are willing to understand. This DOES NOT mean placing your students in front of a laptop/tablet/cellphone, expecting them to stare mindlessly into the black hole of the Internet with the hope that they might grasp concepts discussed. It could however suggest that a YouTube video, 9Gag meme or Tumbler GIF (where applicable) may be used to assist you in introducing an academic topic, spiking your learners’ interest or enticing a desire to find out more.

The goal for the teacher should be to think out of the box, initiating unique and creative methods for delivering new material and using whatever resources are available. Ultimately, you should be prepared for technology to fail and ensure there is always a Plan B to carry out the lesson when it does. However, it is possible to assume that lessons may be more effective if we strip away all additional technologies and teaching aids, such that the learners focus purely on the lesson at hand. This could further encourage students to learn independently, researching topics discussed for enlightenment at a later stage, and broadening their knowledge thereof.

For every task learners and teachers require technology, there is almost always an equivalent non-digitalised form of carrying out that task. If not, one might think how on earth information was passed on before the rise of the digital-era. The modern world is constantly travelling at the speed of light, with people expecting instant gratification, screaming at their “machines” whenever they fail to deliver immediate solutions. Removing the technological components of a lesson will force learners and teachers to take their time in considering the importance of material under investigation, enabling discussions to take on a deeper meaning. 

We need to hack the current pedagogical system and strip our lessons of every unnecessary aid, using technology in a wise and thought-out manner. Embrace the technological reforms in future schooling environments! It will be beneficial to everyone concerned. It will ensure the underlying messages of lessons are conveyed to the youth of today as well as the youth of tomorrow, such that each of our subjects are naked and exposed to every type of learner.