Over the past 14 weeks my knowledge and understandings of what it means to be an educational professional working in the digital environment has evolved significantly.  In one of my blog posts, I outlined some of the challenges I expected to face including overcoming my own knowledge gap and the lack of opportunities to engage in professional conversations about the concepts of digital education.

Surprisingly, I found using social media platforms such as Twitter vital to establishing and my own knowledge network in order to engage in professional conversations. I am currently following a range of edtech companies, educational leaders, schools, fellow masters students, government organisations, news outlets, researchers and edtech magazines. I realised how effective this network is and can be, was when I used it to investigate how much Google results can vary depending on the IP location. I was surprised with the feedback I got and was grateful, reaffirming social medias role in creating and sharing knowledge. I am still learning how to interact in this space, knowing what to post, who to tag, Twitter netiquette.

Building on this I checked my ThinkSpace blog and had written 14 posts however published only 9. I think this reflects my hesitance and also growing confidence to share my thoughts and ideas about concepts. I look forward to the time where I can confidently, post, contribute and share more frequently without the fear of thinking my ideas are unoriginal, incomplete or irrelevant.

This knowledge network has helped me come to several conclusions about what it means to be an educational professional in the digital age. Firstly, establishing professional networks are essential, whether its online or in community, we need to start collaborating and sharing ideas. Secondly I realised how overhyped and complex the place of technology is in education. Reading Neil Selwyn’s book Is Technology Good for Education was a turning point for me. For the first time I took off my enthusiast lens (See post here) and took a much closer more critical look at technology and education.

This change of perspective has impacted greatly on what I think it means to be an educator in a digital world. We not only need to be able to adjust our perspective to see things through the eyes of the learner and educator but also we must toe the line between realist and enthusiast. To be innovative yet critical & effective I created the image below to represent visually what this looks like for me.

What it means to be an educator in a digital world by Claire Hazenberg

We must be critical users, have perspective and be flexible.

First we must be critical users, staying connected and up to date with the latest tools and technologies whilst also having a firm grasp on the processes of learning including pedagogy, practice, curriculum and learning theories. We must be constantly traversing this line using a critical lens to make informed decisions. Secondly we must have the ability to see things from an administrative and a leaner perspective. We must position ourselves in the middle but be willing to consider the thoughts and implications for all stakeholders. Lastly as a result of my most recent learning journey, I have realised how much culture and context can effect technologies place in education. To be true global leaders we need to acknowledge that the relationships and products of education and technology is defined by the country, culture or context. As a result we need to be flexible and willing to accept that even in the world of technology education, one size does not fit all.

References:

Hazenberg, C. (2018). What it means to be an educator in a digital world. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/clairehazenberg/files//2018/05/farmto-table-5-2d8encw.png