The learning that has had the biggest impact on me is really “getting” the concept of 21st century learning. This is interesting because I worked at a very technology-centered school previously and this term was used all the time. I probably heard it defined and described as well, but I never really understood it. At that school I felt it was the technology driving education, and prioritizing technology over good teaching practice didn’t feel right. As a result I doubted of the positive impact technology could make on learning and I was hesitant to try new things. It wasn’t until this course, when I was encountering the term again while completing the environmental scan of my current, technologically-challenged environment, that I started to understand what 21st century learning truly means. True to constructivist philosophy, I had to build my own understanding of the term, within my own context.

Knowing that 21st century learning is different helps me to understand why it is so important to infuse appropriate technology in our teaching, to allow students the opportunities in school to practice with the platforms, tools, and types of interactions they are probably already engaging with outside of school. As a primary teacher, this has led me to feel we should be doing a lot more to integrate technology and to educate parents and students about digital citizenship from the moment they set foot in school. I have taken action to share this new understanding by collaboratively creating a learning module, Social Media and Digital Citizenship for Families, to help educate parents in how their digital citizenship habits affect their children (Apps, K. Beattie, S. & Robertson-Jones, M., 2019). In my pre-ETL 523 blog post, The Who, How and What of Digital Citizenship, I insightfully commented:

I believe that in a school community that teaches and practices digital citizenship from the very earliest ages, this creativity and motivation [that students apply to circumventing the security measures of restricted online environments] could be harnessed and directed towards authentic learning tasks (Robertson-Jones, 2019).

I understood the need even before beginning this subject; as a result of the two assessment items in ETL 532 I now have a tool and a report that I hope will help to build the digital learning environment at my current school.

My understanding of the term “digital learning environment” hinged on learning how the term evolved from constructivist philosophy (Veletsianos, 2016, p. 242). I can understand the importance of having the right kind of learning environment in which students have agency in building their own knowledge; combining this term with my understanding of 21st century learning helps me to see how an optimal learning environment would be a digital learning environment. My initial definition of the digital learning environment, in Digital Learning Environment (Robertson-Jones, 2019b), focuses on having the right digital tools. While this is important, I now see the digital learning environment as greater than the technology it contains.

My pre-ETL 523 definition of digital citizenship was:

… the skills and competencies a person applies to create a truthful, positive impact through their interactions with the online/digital world. This would include:

• • effectively navigating and assessing digital content,
  • knowing how to stay safe in virtual interactions with others (including protecting private information),
  • an awareness of what kind of digital footprint one is leaving as a result of online interactions, and
  • communicating effectively and contributing positively across different digital spaces. (Robertson-Jones, 2019a)

I am quite proud of this initial effort, as I showed understanding of the creative aspect of digital citizenship and the importance of contributing. Despite this emphasis, in the next paragraph I wrote, “I wonder if good digital citizenship necessarily includes a responsibility to contribute to online communities” (Robertson-Jones, 2019, para. 8). I no longer just wonder; I know that I am not a true digital citizen if I am not participating in the participatory culture of the 21st century. I understand the importance but I have yet to become an active digital citizen. My cautious stance is likely familiar to many educators; my intention to overcome it will one day help me to support others in their journey as digital citizens.

References

Apps, K, Beattie, S. & Robertson-Jones, M. (2019). Social Media- Digital Citizenship for Families. Retrieved from http://marlarj.edublogs.org/

Robertson-Jones, M. (2019a, 10 March). The Who, How and What of Digital Citizenship. In Marla’s Reflective Journal. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/marla/2019/03/10/the-who-how-and-what-of-digital-citizenship/

Robertson-Jones, M. (2019b, 25 March). Digital Learning Environment. In Marla’s Reflective Journal. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/marla/2019/03/25/digital-learning-environment/

Veletsianos, G. (2016). Digital Learning Environments. In R. Rushby & D. Surry (Eds.), The Wiley Handbook of Learning Technology. (pp. 242-260). West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons.