Ecology, Literacy, Taxonomy: Learning within the digital environment. Assessment Item 3
Digital Trends
‘Learning Predictions 2017 – The Future of Learning’ (Youtube, 2018) tells us one of the main trends in technology developments is the understanding of and the use of data. How we use the Data to inform our students learning journeys and creating meaningful and learner centred tasks that meet both our learners needs and the need to be accountable to the curriculum is a high priority in the current education climate.
It is however problematic when many of the educators who were educated before or during the early 2000’s lack the deep technological knowledge to effectively complete this analysis, myself included.
If educators do not take the opportunity to educate themselves, this vast store of information and knowledge will be left under utilised and our students deprived of possible learning opportunities.
Information: the ability of one mind to influence another through the use of language.
What is information theory (Youtube, 2018)
Ecology: the totality or pattern of relations between organisms and their environment (Merriam-webster.com, 2018)
Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland, a computer science professor at MIT in his video Sustainable Digital Ecology explains that participants must have the same autonomy in their digital environment they have in their physical existence. They must have control of their own data and who and what has access to it (Youtube, 2018).
He goes on to say that for a sustainable digital ecology to be created we must hark back to the basic behaviours of human beings to trade and interact with trusted people. To do this we must create social networks as trusted networks (Youtube, 2018). Pentland states that we often see human natures primary objective as conquest and takeover, but if sustainable digital ecologies are to thrive we must focus on this aspect of trade (Youtube, 2018). As educators I believe we do this very well within our own school, institutional networks and we are starting through Facebook groups like On Butterfly Wings to create national and worldwide connections that are beginning to create viable and positive digital ecologies.
In today’s digital world the learning, remembering and regurgitating of facts is no longer the ultimate goal it has been superseded by, as Starkey (2011) explains; critical thinking skills, knowledge creation and learning through connections. Learners are active participants in the digital society (Starkey, 2011). Bawden and Robinson (2012) tells us that information is central to the way in which our society functions. Baring this in mind learners must be able to access and retrieve information and to evaluate the validity, reliability and overall value of the information. They no longer fill the role of knowledge consumer. The learning taxonomies, most notably Bloom’s Taxonomy (Krathwohl, 2002) and Gardiner’s Multiple intelligences (Gardner, 2001) are built on this traditional viewpoint of learning.
Bloom’s Taxonomy Revised (Ku? et al., 2018)
I struggle to see how taxonomies however revised by various educational institutions and persons can cater for a completely new way of learning. Churches writes about the revised Bloom’s taxonomy where collaboration is tacked onto the side of the continuum, both as an add on and an essential component (Ku? et al., 2018).
I believe something like Puentadura’s SAMR model (Hippasus.com, 2018) has superseded the previous taxonomies, it allows educators to access the curriculum and create learning that is learner centred and driven.
Sugata Mitra speaks of a School in the cloud where broadband, collaboration and encouragement are combined to create education that is self-organised and learning is not made but emerges, where the teacher sets the education process in motion with what he calls a Big Question and allows the learning to emerge (Mitra, 2018). This is evidenced by the SOLE (Self Organsied Learning Environment) movement (Mitra, 2018) which utilise the principles of the cloud school in traditional school environments.
I think that just like the technology we are utilising that the taxonomies we are referencing need to created for the way we wish to learn. We can not use taxonomies that were envisioned and created during the previous learning mode to create learning opportunities that ultimately allow our students to be life-long learners.
References
Bawden, D. & Robinson, L. (2012). Information behaviour. In Introduction to information science (pp. 187-210). London: Facet.
Gardner, H. (2011). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. Basic books.
Hippasus.com. (2018). Search Results for “SAMR” – Ruben R. Puentedura’s Blog. [online] Available at: http://hippasus.com/blog/?s=SAMR [Accessed 19 Mar. 2018].
Krathwohl, D. R. (2002). A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy: An overview. Theory into practice, 41(4), 212-218.
Ku?, R., Brashars, J., Long, J. and Bertha, A. (2018). Blooms Digital Taxonomy v2.12 | Web Search Engine | Tag (Metadata). [online] Scribd. Available at: https://www.scribd.com/document/8000050/Blooms-Digital-Taxonomy-v2-12 [Accessed 20 Mar. 2018].
Merriam-webster.com. (2018). Definition of ECOLOGY. [online] Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ecology. Retrieved March, 20, 2018.
Mitra, S. (2013). Build a school in the cloud. TED Talk presented at TED2013 (Technology, Entertainment, Design 2013), Long Beach, CA, February, 26. Retrieved March, 20, 2018,
Puentedura, R. R. (2012). The SAMR model: Background and exemplars. Retrieved March, 19, 2018.
Starkey, L. (2011). Evaluating learning in the 21st century: A digital age learning matrix. Technology, Pedagogy And Education, 20(1), 19-39.
YouTube. (2018). IdeasLabs 2012 – Sandy Pentland – Sustainable Digital Ecology. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O22acc48lKo [Accessed 21 Mar. 2018].
YouTube. (2018). Learning Predictions 2017 – The Future of Learning. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nmz4l31mM4&feature=youtu.be [Accessed 20 Mar. 2018].
YouTube. (2018). What is Information Theory? (Information Entropy). [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0ASFxKS9sg&feature=youtu.be [Accessed 21 Mar. 2018].
Amanda, lots happening in your blog post!
Be more careful with YouTube citations – the IdeasLab (2012) youtube video should actually start with World Economic Forum, for example.
Is SAMR a taxonomy in the same way we understand Blooms to be? As I read I am finding many statements that are not followed up with a ‘why’ statement. Why can’t we apply older taxonomies to digital learning? What needs to change exactly? How have Churches and Puentadora supported what we need exactly?
A very good effort at embedding media and referring to many ideas – perhaps too many in this post?
Thanks Julie, my concern with the taxonomies created for the pre-digital era was that when they have be revisited, they have simply been added to. Although the additions are valid and educationally sound, mostly representing the 4C’s of 21st Century Learning, they have been ‘tacked on’.
As an educator working if primary school, I have seen this led to educators simply not engaging because they see it as more work, and another trend that will be replaced in 5, 10 years. This lack of engagement means learners are missing out.
On the other hand the SAMR model validates the educators experience and allows them to build the 21st Century skills directly into their learning opportunities.
So I believe, on reflection of my own personal experience has coloured my view somewhat and that the SAMR model may have a more positive interaction with educators and thus have a positive impact on the learners in our care.