Engaging the wheel

Much has been said in the endeavor to decode the term and practice of digital pedagogy. In an ever advancing world the need for revolutionizing education has become of utmost importance. Many future focused voices can therefore be heard in coding and decoding the very essence of it. The only clear answer to date is as follows: To tie it down to the mere use of technology in the classroom has been found to be limiting and extremely regressive. The question then remains, how do we define it?

In the continual debate about what digital pedagogy actually is, lies the answer. It is an argument, an engagement which should role on into vast possibilities of enhancing education. The enthralling yet complex contradiction makes it powerful. It cannot be limited to a certain practice or 5 point plan. Loosen the reigns and let learners and pedagogues alike explore all opportunities.

It cannot therefore be optimized without extensive research and critical thinking about the way we learn and the skills we should learn in the fast paced world of today. Therein however lies the true beauty. Just by developing the way we engage with digital pedagogy we are already unlearning stale thought patterns of the past and learning about powerful new ways of going about the teaching and learning process.

 According to Howard Rheingold the core is that it is a developmental participative pedagogy assisted by digital media, which focuses on catalyzing, inspiring, nourishing and guiding literacies essential to life in the 21^st century.  I want to once again just focus on the phrase “assisted by digital media” mentioned above. The emphasis is not placed on the electronic elements, it is merely an element. The digital media can be seen as the wheel. It is a crucial component and catalyst to further developments, yet it is one component. The journey remains life changing. The relationship between the driver (teacher) and passengers (learners) remains at the core of the transporting process to an education. What digital pedagogy has done though is give the passengers a powerful say in the direction of travel.

To reach its full potential the concept of digital pedagogy should spark more questions among teachers and learners. What is the limit to what I can become? What tools can I use in this process? Who will walk this road with me? The possibilities are endless.

Now that the wheel is rolling, why not make it turn it into a propulsion system to make the vehicle fly?  

Rediscovering the wheel

Technology has become such a living, breathing necessity for everyday life. It forces us to ask the question: Who is in control, the user or the very tool used?

In order to rediscover the power of the instructional technologies which has become second nature for so many pedagogues, we have to rediscover the value of the wheel being round. To take a leap forward in the revolutionary power of digital pedagogy we need to take a step back. The power of the wheel has so much more significance now that we know what it is capable of and how it shaped society. The wheel as innovation has already been connected in our mindsets as extraordinary. We know of the application prowess and the endless creative potential, yet we have degraded it into merely a useful tool.

The true power and potential of how the wheel can enhance society as well as the way in which we think, can be established only if we take it away. It will force us to think of all its functionalities and add to it a vast range of possibilities.

The same concept is true in a classroom making use of digital pedagogy. Before teachers and learners alike can benefit from instructional technologies, they should understand the concept of hacking. To adapt, manipulate and make productive use of given technology. One of the tragedies of the digital age is that technology is used to make life easier, but then takes away the desire and the need to be innovative and creative. That is why the “Teaching Naked” concept, elaborated on by Paul Fyfe is such a powerful one. It forces us to think about the creative and innovative potential to engage, present, exhibit, or visualize relations between concepts and one another.

There is more information available than ever before. We do not just want to teach our children how to access it. They should be able to critically think about information and data and how it can be used to further develop society. This need is larger than ever before. So much information can be a disincentive to engage with it, if you do not know how to deconstruct and manipulate it.

Let’s thus take away the wheel for now. We can visualize the true flowing nature of it and dream of innovations which will replace it. Once we know how it can enhance society on various levels, then we rule and control the technology once more.