As part of my initial dive into modules for this subject I was asked to view Steve Wheeler in his keynote presentation to INTED 2015 (IATED, 2015). I was struck by the report that schools are seduced by new technologies, but they don’t know what to do with them (IATED, 2015, 8:22). Have I been guilty of this? Absolutely! The challenge that I see is what can I do to make the use of new technologies authentic and meaningful, not just a flash in the pan, but something which will add purpose to students learning.

Going beyond this pondering I have been asked to define what a Digital Learning Environment (DLE) is. To me it is everything that you use when accessing digital content. For me this means, using a Dropbox account for personal documents, Microsoft 365 or Google Drive for school related documents, but that is just for document storage or creation. Recently, Canva and Lucid have also been used in this as well – something which was not around when my Dropbox account was first set up in the early 2000s. There are Teacher Librarian specific DLE, such as SCIS for cataloguing, Oliver as a library management system and other departmental opportunities such as Yammer conversations or PRC website management and use.

Beyond this, there are social media platforms, Facebook being one which my school community use frequently. As I live and work in the same community (and have had my child at the same school as where I teach) there is a blur of lines with where personal and professional end with some of my DLE, something I am acutely aware of. While I am cognisant of my digital footprint having lived in a time when the internet did not exist, I am hyperaware of the habits of primary aged students (and my own teenagers) and their inability to see the ramifications of ‘privacy’ online. This has led me to teach year 5 and 6 students about their online behaviour, particularly around privacy. Is there more I can do? Absolutely! Which I am keen to do.

References:

IATED. (2015, March 17). Steve Wheeler: Digital learning futures: Mind the gap! [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/t7EftCFQHVg