CWA Training Day Feb 2015 - Digital literacy: Personal Learning Spaces

Editor's Notes

• #4: In the past a common vision of education has been of learners sitting passively in rows while learning is ‘done’ to them. Learning was anything but personal and if they couldn’t keep up with the pace they were labelled slow or worse!
• #5: You could say that not much has changed? We are now much more aware of learners needs and have developed some tools and techniques to cater for a variety of learning styles and needs, but this is this personalised learning? Truly personalised learning is not about the tutor doing more and more to tailor their sessions and resources to each learner – it’s about enabling the individual learner to take ownership of their learning, with the tutor supporting and guiding them on their learning journey and within their own learning space. So is the concept of personalised learning a new one that’s only come along since the rise of the internet in the late nineties?
• #6: No! In fact, the theory has evolved from the work of Jean Piaget on cognitive learning theory. During the 1940s he argued that humans generate knowledge and meaning from an interaction between their experiences and their ideas. His ideas lead to the application of learner generated content in education to create more collaborative environments for learning. Those who embraced this approach began to emphasise learner generated content and to focus on learners reflection on their own ideas, skills and knowledge as well as on the contributions of others. We are already doing this at CWA - “Our psychology learners will routinely test theory against observation and research to develop their ideas and understanding and on our practical courses, such as motor vehicle learners test their practical skills by applying their knowledge to explore ideas of what is wrong with a vehicle and then test the result ‘does the car start now?’” The advent of digital tools has simply provided new ways to enable us to put this into practice more effectively.
• #7: So what are these tools – lets take a look at some social networking tools and consider what they’re actually for and how we might have done it in the past. Skype: It’s essential a telephone… with some extra features. Wordpress (Blog): It’s a diary that can be instantly published.. It’s been said that if Samuel Pepys was alive today he’d be a blogger. Instagram: Its a photo album, but instead of just being able to get it out and bore people with it at family occasions, now we can bore our friends and family on global scale. But how are these tools being adapted and used for learning?
• #8: Most social networking (or social media) tools are as simple in essence as a diary, a photo album or phone. It’s how they are being used and adapted and their global reach that makes them powerful learning tools. Are students more likely to ask their social network for support, than their teacher or classmates? Here at CWA the vast majority of our learners fall into the under 24 age group, therefore they would be classed as digital natives which would make the former more likely… but what does digital native mean?
• #9: There is a proliferation of rhetoric from advocates and opponents of technology in education, one of the most widely mis-quote and mis-understood of these is Marc Prensky’s concept of the ‘Digital Native’ taken from his essay published in 2001. Often misquoted to give the impression that “everyone born after a certain date knows everything about technology.” This, of course, is patently false. In Prensky’s own words “The Digital Natives / Digital Immigrants metaphor is NOT about what people know, or can do, with technology. Everyone has to learn in one way or another. It’s more about culture and attitudes.”
• #10: So what is it? Digital Native They were born to use technology! - They cannot remember a time before the internet for example, their attitudes and culture are steeped in technology but just because they are steep in it doesn’t mean to say that they have the skills to make effective use of it. Digital Immigrant I’m just on the cusp of this - I didn't grow up with it, but I have learned how to use it. – and I have an affinity to the attitudes and cultures of both the digital and the non digital in a way that digital natives may not. Prensky’s metaphor has now been extended to include the ‘Digital Fugitive’, which adds a classification for those who simply prefer non-technology approaches, for a range of reasons. They actively avoid using technological solutions where possible and may be trying to escape for the digital world. Or as Douglas Adams (author of ‘The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’) would put it. “Anything that is in the world when you're born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. Anything that's invented between when you're fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.” That is not strictly true but is a useful metaphor to help us consider this. http://21stcenturylibrary.com/2011/01/26/customer-is-the-purpose/ http://www.polleverywhere.com/polls/9683291-are-you-a-digital-native-a-digital-immigrant-or-a-digital-refugee
• #11: Historically our concept of ‘literacy’ has been limited to reading and writing. True literacy lies not only in the ability to read and write, but rather in the capacity to put those skills to work in shaping the course our lives and learning. Renowned educator Paulo Freire came up with the insight that genuine literacy involves “reading the word and the world,” which has helped open the door to a broader understanding of the term, one that moves from a strict decoding and reproducing of language into issues of economics, health, and sustainable development. Whether it is the words of a language, the symbols in a mathematical system, or images posted to the internet we need our learners to develop proficiencies in multiple literacies. Perhaps the most relevant of these is what can be termed digital literacy
• #12: There are many definitions of digital literacy but this is one of the best I have come across… Its about being able to mix and remix information to create new knowledge
• #13: There are few that would question that digital literacy is now fundamental to the creation of an effective workforce Just last week the TES reported that ‘Digital literacy as important as English and maths’ - as the House of Lords select committee on digital skills published its report “Make or Break: The UK’s digital future” stating that “digital literacy” needs to be taught alongside reading, writing and maths if the country is to address the urgent digital skills shortage. The committee claimed that although the FE sector was “best placed” to respond to the digital skills gap, colleges needed to “move up a gear”. But digital literacy is not all about economic progress – it is also a key enabler for the 21st century learner… If we can empower them with these skills we will enable them to discover their own personal learning spaces and develop as independent learners. https://webmaker.org/literacy
• #14: The Educationalist Geoff Rebbeck has put together this roadmap of how digital tools can be used to enable learners to develop their skills and become more independent. So for example, in his ‘edutainment’ category, the learner starts off learning accidentally through engaging with games, moving into a higher level of understanding to enable them to make up the rules of the game or create their own simulations Ultimately all of the aspects we have briefly looked at today and the multitude of other techniques and approaches there are to digital literacy and digital learning aim to encourage personal learning through the use of digital tools. We will now have a go at applying some digital tools and investigate some digital literacy concepts in more detail.
• #15: Your task –You will be given a topic. Use the devices and Padlet available via the link or qr code to look at it’s positive or negative aspects You will be sharing the same virtual area with others so please play nicely - add positives to the left hand side, negatives to the right The other group will be working on the opposite side of the argument – you can help them if you are feeling nice! You then need to nominate a spokesperson for your group, someone who’s prepared to appear on camera (Relax: nothing is being recorded!) They will then have 1 ½ mins to present your points to both groups via a video link. We will be tweeting your contributions on the padlets…