PGCE Decoding Digital Pedagogy

Okay. So looking specifically at pedagogy and the online article “Decoding Digital Pedagogy”, I have come across the fact that PEDAGOGY is not only meant for the classroom as most individuals would think. I mean I am one of them who has been found guilty in just assuming that PEDAGOGY relates only to teaching in the classroom. I totally understand where this person, who wrote write the article, is coming from, and I find it very enlightening that he so critically, broke everything up in order to make it understandable in terms of everyday life. I like how he refers to pedagogy as a lifelong trait or characteristic that one acquires and states that leadership is the essential part of it, thereby making it clear that it is not only teachers who are “PEDAGOGUES”.

In any case, moving back to the beginning of the article, where he also tries to clarify that online teaching is not the same as digital pedagogy; in some ways he is right. However, I do feel that most of the aspects that fall within online teachings territory is also the same as digital pedagogy, so I would have to say they are very similar.

The second article by Jesse Stommel, tends to explain more intricately the meaning of digital, in terms of learning from one another and moving away from the notion of viewing digital as merely electrical/electronics. I understand where he is coming from in this regard and it makes things a bit clearer in terms of tools that are being used in the various methods of teaching.  Quoting Fyfe, he defines digital pedagogy as “adapt[ing], manipulat[ing], and mak[ing] productive use out of a given technology or technological context or platform.”, and this seems to be the part where I tend to get a bit confused. And by confused I mean that technology is usually something one associates with electronic devices, etc… but can technology refer to something else rather than this?

Anyway, the author then goes on further to state that “Digital pedagogy necessarily involves both teachers and students” where as compared to the author of the first article (Sean Micheal Morris, who I failed to mention above, (that I notice now)) who says that this is not the case. I agree more with the first author due to the fact that he seems a little more realistic in his approach to things and I am able to relate and identify with that. 

Digital Pedagogy

Digital Pedagogy according to myself, and what I have read from the article, is basically making use of technology in order to change teaching in a various number of ways. This would mean using the technology that one has at their disposal to their advantage to ensure effective teaching. This also means that it does not specifically refer to electronic devices but the many other tools used in a classroom such as a chalk/Black board. 

I would say that digital pedagogy has developed rapidly over the many years just by looking at the technological advancements that are being used in the classrooms today. Children in contemporary society are so technologically advanced that some of them cannot bear the thought of living without their cell phones, I Pads, laptops and various other electronic devices. In order to use this to a teacher’s advantage, he/she would have to figure out a way in which they could use these devices in a positive manner in the classroom. Many of the teachers in the article have attempted to do this and have succeeded, and therefore this would mean that it is not actually an impossible task.

Taking a step back, and looking at the past, the word “Digital” meant; Things operated or done with fingers. This tends to give us an idea that there is a form of practicality involved. This means that there are aspects of a situation that involve the actual doing or experiencing of something rather than placing the focus on theories. This then gives rise to interactive learning whereby the student is then not regarded as merely an empty vessel that just receives information but rather someone who already has precious knowledge and is able to engage in conversations and activities on an operational level.

There was one particular heading in the article that caught my attention, which was “Teaching Naked”. I thought that, that would have been about literally teaching naked which would possibly also have been effective (in the wrong way). Haha! Just kidding.