Category: Assessment Items

The Power of Digital Learning Environments

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Digital literacy and digital citizenship describe the key skills and dispositions of 21st century citizens. It is essential students develop these capacities within the context of 21st century learning to live and work effectively in and beyond school. As shown in Figure 1, digital learning environments [DLEs] provide the structural support for 21st century pedagogy to build digital citizenship and other 21st century skills (Keane & Keane, 2013). Digital citizenship, including digital literacy, must be embedded across the curriculum for it to be contextualised and therefore relevant, authentic, and sustainable (Earp, 2018). Ultimately, schools need to create DLEs that support deep learning across the curriculum and prepare students for life and work.

Framework showing supportive DLEs as a structure to enhance three elements of 21st century skills; foundation literacies, competencies (4 Cs), and character qualities, which lead to enhance lifelong learning
Figure 1. Students require 16 skills for the 21st century. Adapted from “New Vision for Education: Unlocking the Potential of Technology”, by World Economic Forum, 2015, p.3

A challenge in developing DLEs is to ensure information and communication technologies [ICTs] are used in transformative ways. Two common problems I have seen with ICT integration are overuse and passive use. Overuse includes the tendency of ICT-integrated lessons to become what Gonzalez (2016) calls “Grecian Urns”. Such lessons focus on the product over educational value. In the context of ICTs, the technology becomes the focus and deep learning is lost. While some functional or operational gains may be made, opportunities to develop digital citizenship and deep learning related to the curriculum are lost. ICT is also commonly used as a passive substitute for paper, with similar effects – loss of deep learning opportunities. ICTs should be used to support knowledge construction and help students develop critical and creative thinking, communication, and collaboration skills. As seen in Figure 2, the American Department of Education (2017) refers to the issue of passive use as the “digital use divide”. It is important to leverage ICTs in transformative ways to allow for in-depth application of digital citizenship practices and deep learning (Keane & Keane, 2013). This also creates the opportunity to connect to students’ third space and build digital citizenship in more authentic and meaningful ways (Harrison, 2019a; Harrison 2019b).

 

Graphic showing the difference between passive and active use of technology.
Figure 2. Digital use divide. Reprinted from “Reimagining the Role of Technology in Education: 2017 National Education Technology Plan Update”, by Department of Education United States of America, 2017, p.21.

Over the course of ETL523, my thinking has been extended and challenged. I have always held a firm belief in the critical role of technology in supporting the 21st century needs of students; however, the way this has translated to my practice has evolved over time and will continue to evolve having now taken this subject. The concept of digital citizenship in all its guises sits very well with me. The ability for students to create and consume information in ways that enrich their experiences and the experiences of others is powerful. I have been inspired to consider how my use of ICTs in teaching can extend the learning beyond the classroom walls through local and global collaboration. I am challenging myself this year to connect with experts or other schools using Skype in the classroom and Microsoft Teams to extend the communication and collaboration portals of my classroom.

The role of TLs has always been inherently servant-based leadership but, as I have noted in several reflections in the past, it is more than that. TLs work as instructional leaders and transformational leaders to guide the entire school community in developing their skills and inspire the community to delve deeper into effective teaching and learning practices. Fullan (2013) explains the key drivers to change as capacity building, collaborative work, pedagogy, and systemness supported through professional learning communities. He says “people are motivated by good ideas tied to action” (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012, p.7). As a TL, I can use my position to lead from the middle to garner support for the prioritisation and ongoing development of our DLE. Already this term, the library team has developed an online professional learning space for teachers, with the intention to build communities of practice across the college. Once teachers see the power of the DLE in their own learning, this might transfer to their classrooms. As TLs are change leaders, we are well-positioned to support the school in developing effective policy and environments to support the whole school community and enhance student learning outcomes (Johnston, 2012).

 

References

Department of Education United States of America. (2017). Reimagining the role of technology in education: 2017 national education technology plan update. Retrieved from https://tech.ed.gov/files/2017/01/NETP17.pdf

Earp, J. (2018, November 21). Curriculum integration of digital citizenship. Retrieved from https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/articles/curriculum-integration-of-digital-citizenship

Fullan, M. (2013). Maximising leadership for change [Participant booklet]. Retrieved from https://michaelfullan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/14_AU_Final-Workbook_web.pdf

Gonzalez, J. (2016, October 30). Is your lesson a Grecian urn? [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/grecian-urn-lesson/

Hargreaves, A., & Fullan, M. (2012). Professional capital: Transforming teaching in every school. New York, NY: Teacher’s College Press.

Harrison, N. (2019a, March 13). Reflection: Module 1.0a. Digital learning environments [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/nharrison/2019/03/13/reflection-module-1-0/

Harrison, N. (2019b, March 24). Reflection: Module 2.2. Digital fluency and third space [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/nharrison/2019/03/24/reflection-module-2-2/

Johnston, M. P. (2012). School librarians as technology integration leaders: Enablers and barriers to leadership enactment. School Library Research, 15. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/

Keane, W. & Keane, T. (2013). Deep learning, ICT and 21st century skills: Leading for education quality [Conference paper]. Retrieved from https://researchbank.swinburne.edu.au/file/ae199457-ab1e-4787-ac72-9844c8a0214a/1/PDF%20%28Published%20version%29.pdf

World Economic Forum. (2015). New vision for education: Unlocking the potential of technology. Retrieved from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEFUSA_NewVisionforEducation_Report2015.pdf

 

[Assessment 3 Part B Critical Reflection]

Collaborative Learning and Digital Literacy

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REFLECTION

As a High-Impact Teaching Strategy (State of Victoria, 2017), this collaborative project not only extended my understanding of the content, it importantly expanded my Personal Learning Network (PLN) and Personal Learning Environment (PLE) by working with new colleagues across a range of new platforms. Our group worked within a connectivist learning framework to adapt to challenges, grow our networks, and learn from our diversity.

The three intertwined elements of online collaborative learning [OCL] were certainly at play throughout this assessment piece; tasks, teams, and time [see image below] (Persico & Pozzi, 2011). The provided content scheme allowed flexibility with interpretation, execution and mode of output. Additionally, the autonomy in group formation enabled us to work with like-minded people with different skills and experiences. Our diversity (primary teacher, middle school teacher, and teacher librarians within Australia and in the United Arab Emirates) and ability to collaborate in a digital learning environment [DLE] afforded us the opportunity to share, teach, and learn from one another in a deep and unique way.

Task, team and time are intertwined dimensions of structuring online collaborative learning. This image show the three dimensions as connected nodes and an arrow indicates that each dimension can be emphasised at different times depending on the collaborative task.
The Three T’s. Note that the emphasis on dimension changes depending on the nature of the collaborative task.

Our modes of communication included Zoom and Microsoft Teams, which allowed synchronous and asynchronous interaction and removed the barriers of working within three different time-zones. Synchronous communication allowed real-time collaboration, while asynchronous communication allowed each group member extended think-time to develop deep reasoning (Aviv, 2000; Duderstadt, Atkins, & Van Houweling, 2002). We used Zoom meetings to prepare for the task and clarify our purpose and roles, while Teams’ Conversation and OneNote were used to discuss progress and share findings. This ensured our communication was transparent and reviewable. This was particularly helpful for me, as I was able to revisit our discussion to clarify my perceptions and it enabled group connection even as our level of synchronous communication dwindled.

While the group established set phases and schedule, our timing was flexible to allow each group member to work around their other commitments. This worked well for us; however we experienced some difficulties when unintentionally editing the Wix site simultaneously. Luckily, we used Teams’ Conversation to overcome this. We also used Tasks-in-a-Box to assign tasks and due dates. In future, I would use this more effectively by collaboratively breaking the assessment task up into more stages earlier in the planning process. This would enhance the clarity and consistency of our approach. Scheduling another Zoom meeting may have also helped us to realign with our initial goals in real-time to ensure clear perception.

  • Synchronous communication through Zoom. Zoom meetings were held twice to collaborate and clarify.

 

Reimann (2018) identifies three challenges of group work; unequal participation, lack of awareness, and stratified learning zones. While I believe our group avoided these through effective use of online communication and collaboration tools, these are common scenarios I experience with students in school learning environments. Unequal participation is the most common challenge among my students, as collaboration competes with their preference for individualistic reward (Dool, 2010). I believe a shared vision and group roles can be established through the OCL norm of “purpose” to motivate and empower learners. I will ensure the design of future OCL activities include a clear purpose and direct students to establish goals and roles before starting. Strengthening this area will build student capacity to work collaboratively in DLEs.

Having students co-create a digital product and collaborate online with others in their school and beyond, in a similar manner to this task, redefines the parameters of learning through transformative use of technology. This higher end of the SAMR spectrum strengthens connections to students’ third-space, which increases relevancy and learning. The ability of OCL projects to span curriculum areas, address multiple general capabilities, and provide real-world experiences highlights their value. To incorporate global OCL into my teaching, I will take advantage of Asia-Europe Foundation’s yearly school collaborations.

 

RESOURCES

This experience has enabled me to create a range of resources that will be useful independently and within the full learning module. I wanted to challenge myself and use a range of tools to produce a high-quality, interactive and participatory product. I used the following tools to create my artefact and embedded resources:

 

EMBEDDED RESOURCES

Below are the visual resources I created using Canva.

  • A poster showing the SCRAP test.
    The SCRAP test provides prompting questions to consider when evaluating sources of information.

 

The screencast tutorial I created to provide instruction on tagging and annotating in Diigo (as seen below) was made using A Powersoft Free Online Screen Recorder, Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro, and music from BenSound. 

 

ARTEFACT

The above resources are all embedded in the artefact that I created for the online learning module using WireWax, (as seen below).

 

 

 

References

Asia-Europe Foundation. (2019). 2019 school collaborations. Retrieved from http://www.asef.org/index.php/projects/themes/education/4600-asef-classnet-online-collaborations-2019

Aviv, R. (2000). Educational Performance of ALN via Content Analysis. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Network, 4(2). doi:10.24059/olj.v4i2.1901

Dool, R. (2010). Teaming across borders. In Ubell, R. (Ed.), Virtual teamwork: Mastering the art and practice of online learning and corporate collaboration (pp. 161-192). Retrieved from ProQuest Ebook Central

Duderstadt, J. J., Atkins, D. E., & Van Houweling, D. (2002). Higher education in the digital age: Technology issues and strategies for American colleges and universities. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.

General capabilities in Australian curriculum: Version 7.5. (2018). Retrieved from the Australian Curriculum and Assessment Authority website: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/

H.L. (2017, October 30). SAMR model: A practical guide for edtech integration [Blog post]. https://www.schoology.com/blog/samr-model-practical-guide-edtech-integration

Lindsay, J. (2015). Norms of online global collaboration [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/julielindsay/norms-of-online-global-collaboration

Persico, D. & Pozzi, F. (2011). Tasks, teams and time: Three T’s to structure CSCL processes. In Pozzi, F., & Persico, D. (Eds), Techniques for fostering collaboration in online learning communities: Theoretical and practical perspectives (pp. 1-14). doi:10.4018/978-1-61692-898-8

Reimann, P. (2018). Making online group-work work: Scripts, group awareness and facilitation. Retrieved from https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1338&context=research_conference

State of Victoria. (2017). High Impact Teaching Strategies: Excellence in teaching and learning. Retrieved from http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/support/highimpactteachstrat.docx

 

[Assessment 2 Part C Reflective Blog Post]