Teaching and learning in the digital environment is a major paradigm shift for most educators. Learning with digital content is very confronting and requires a major shift in how we deliver our programmes for enhanced learning. What changes…….well everything can if you let it. What has shifted enormously in my teaching is the deeper learning that occurs from students with using ubiquitous technologies. The classroom changed, what I tell students is, “don’t expect me to teach you, I’m not a teacher”, I’m about learning and for you to control your own learning. In that sense, I mean, I’m not the traditional idea of a teacher, all chalk and talk, handouts, homework, the boring stuff! What I do is use class time for deeper exploration of abstract concepts and authentic or real world learning. How does this occur???? Well…… with technology, a wiki, pod/vod casts, blogs what I call “inter-connectiveness”. What has empowered me is the fact that using technology allows for the class room to be a place where students engage with each other in collaboration and learning. What has shifted dramatically is the idea of school and home and what occurs in these spaces. At home traditionally the “homework” type of work would occur and at school the delivery of content would. What happens now is the “homework” type takes occur in class time and at home students are engaging with technology and digital content that drives deep and meaningful learning at school, a “flipped classroom”. The big eye opener for me is how this actually enhances student learning, the use of ubiquitous technologies has created a strong learning environment and culture, I actually love it when hearing students talk to each other about problems and they say “it’s on the wiki!”.
Of course this is only one aspect which makes for quality teaching and learning, but one which has changed the way I learn and in turn allowed my students to achieve excellent results.
Innovative Pedagogy - Dean Pearman 