Let’s play!

There are many aspects in the prescribed articles that resonate with me and that I could respond to like teachers having different capabilities, digital pedagogy is the use of electronic elements to enhance or to change the experience of education and that pedagogy is ”the place where philosophy and practise meet (aka ‘praxis’).”

 

However, now that I have at least showed Mr Knoetze that I read the articles, I would like to proceed by thinking about “digital pedagogy calls for screwing around more than it does systematic study” (@slamteacher) and that “pedagogy experiments relentlessly, honouring a learning that’s lifelong-transferences of skills to different settings” (@slamteacher).  In addition to this “pedagogy has its core timeliness, mindfulness and improvisation” (@jessifer) and Cathy Davidson, who wrote:” sustain innovation by finding the cheapest, fastest, least bureaucratic way to make ourselves perpetual learners.”  The possibility of the pedagogy, including digital pedagogy, as an art that requires creative thinking and therefore also time to play. 

 

To create is to “bring into existence “and in art all work is and in art all work is seen as new because it has been brought into existence.  Creative thinking is often a messy and “screwing around” process and as a result ideas are rejected.  Creativity needs time and it is something that needs to be cultivated and allowed to grow because creative thinking aims to bring a new innovation to an old idea, a new solution to a problem and a new way of doing something.

 

The playful nature of pedagogy is such a refreshing idea!  As a social worker, I know for a fact that different forms of play are used with great success in the healing journey of trauma survivors.  It is fun to play!  According to developmental psychology, it was our work to play during our early childhood.  More recently everyday my fellow PGCE student and I drive to Stellenbosch and we park the car next to a crèche.  Every morning we watch the pre-school children at crèche playing and just being happy, which makes me green of envy.  This leads me to wonder when did work and learning become effort instead of being fun?

 

In conclusion, if you want creative workers, give them enough time to play” (John Cleese, British comedian).  Therefore, students and lecturers even though PGCE is a fast-paced and compact course but let us not forget to have fun within the PGCE course…let’s play!  

 

 

Classroom "tools"!

Prior to the module digital pedagogy and the article, "Digital Pedagogy Unplugged", I was one of the persons who thought digital pedagogy is "just something that uses electronic tools or computers".  This thought scared me because I view myself as technologically challenged.  The idea that digital pedagogy includes both "digital and non-digital" is liberating to me and this makes me critical about tools or resources in a classroom.

Tools should be use to reinforce clarity and help the understanding process.  As 'teachers-in the-making', most of us feel more secure, better prepared and well-supported if we know we can use resources to help convey information.  However, tools in itself should not guide pedagogy but the use of any tool should be guided by aims and objectives in an attempt to reach outcomes that change learner behavior.

As teachers, our aims are set out in curricula, which are general statements of the overall direction of the course.  Curricula tell us what teachers intend to achieve but also what is specified for the whole course and individual parts.  In addition to this, learning objectives are precis descriptions of what learners should be capable of doing after a period of learning.  Therefore digital and non-digital tools should be use cautiously to reach planned aims and objectives.

The article, "Digital Pedagogy Unplugged" makes a strong case for the use of both digital and non-digital tools bu for me the most important tools are not mentioned in this article.  In a classroom, teachers and learners are your most important resources or tools.  A knowledgeable teacher, who creates a safe learning environment and break down the barriers of learning is the best tool in the classroom.  Learners need recognition and encouragement to be able to raise opinions, ask questions and interact at their own pace.  An interpersonal focus motivates learners.  Learners, on the other hand, are motivated by different learning triggers and have different learning styles.

In conclusion, digital pedagogy includes both digital and non-digital tools.  Tools should be use to reinforce planned aims, objectives and outcomes.  Teachers and learners are the most important tools. Teachers teach people first and then subject matter and digital tools are only an addition to this process.