This
week I'm responding to two articles: Decoding Digital Pedagogy:
Beyond the LMS and Decoding Digital Pedagogy: (Un)Mapping the
Terrain. Links fir the articles can be found at the end of this post.
I
find it weird to think of myself as "becoming a pedagogue"
- The word "pedagogy" have only been introduced to me a
couple of weeks ago and already it has taken over pretty much
everything I do. I see elements of it intertwined in ever day life
and it even filters through in conversations with family and
friends.
One
of the things in the article that struck me most, was the emphasis
that was placed on the lengths to which a pedagogue will go, to
inspire and guide learners towards learning. (References were made to
hopscotch and blindfolding.) And I have to question if that is really
the only way – to think so far out of the box that you become
almost impractical?
On
the other hand, I completely agree with the comments made on how
technology have a nasty way of dictating how we use them. Teachers
have become almost obsolete, hiding behind their PowerPoint
presentations and YouTube videos. Learning Management Systems have
made learners and teachers lazy in the sense that we don't pay
attention to each other anymore. And just like in the Terminator
franchise, we are allowing our world to become dominated and
prescribed to us by the same technologies that were supposed to only
make our lives easier and more convenient.
I do
feel that technology have a well deserved place in the classroom and
that it is a great tool to help visualize difficult concepts, give
access to information and empower learners to explore on their own.
BUT, I do not believe that it should become the be all and end all of
education. Mostly because a computer does not have the ability to
take the learner's context into account the way that a teacher does.
Yes, computers (and Google) have taken over the authority of
knowledge in our classrooms, but we as teachers still have the
enormous task of taking that knowledge and breaking it down for the
child sitting in front of us, in a manner that he/she will understand
and appreciate and in a manner that is understanding, respectful and
sensitive to the learner's particular context.
At
the end of the day, we need to remember that our learners are not
robots and can thus not be treated as such. They need inspiration,
they need someone who is going to push their boundaries, and
sometimes, they will need someone to put a blindfold on their eyes to
bring them back to the basics. I guess I have answered my own
question in a way – maybe it not thinking out of the box to the
extreme, but perhaps questioning why the box exists and then deciding
what to do with it.
Links
for the articles:
Great article Alicia!
ReplyDeleteI agree. Technology should be a tool we as teachers use, but we should not let it dictate what we are capable of in our classrooms. At the end of the day it will be our responsibility to motivate our learners through relationships and you won't be developing any by hiding behind a powerpoint. Digital elements should aid us only.
Thank you Johan! That quote that the lecturer used in class really stuck with me: "If a computer can replace a teacher, it should" I believe we as teachers should be adding so much value, that that quote can never become a reality. And the way to do that is through relationships and engagements with our learners.
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