Innovative Pedagogies for the Digital Age.Will Roberts | Sean Longhurst | Daniel NewcombeOxford Brookes University | HEA Conference 2014

Introduction.

+ The digital 21st century / The networked society:- We inhabit different spaces, physical and virtual, sometimes simultaneously.

- We have new interfaces through which we experience the world, our self and the other (Zylinska, 2009).

- Epistemologically and ontologically our understanding of knowledge has changed; knowledge is multiple and how we construct knowledge has changed in light of new technologies.

- The network society (Castells, 2010) has given us new ways of communicating (Turkle, 2010), and new possibilities in terms of collaboration, identity construction and communication.

+ The McUniversity (Andrews, Silk and Francombe, 2013):- Higher Education has experienced a McDonaldization (Ritzer, 1995).

- The University has become a corporate training ground focused on transferring specific skills for certain jobs (Hayes and Wynyard, 2006).

- Not responded to the rise of the networked society or the evolution of digital citizens.

- Built upon principles of individualization, employment, competition, hierarchy and assessment.

+ Opposite trajectories.- As society becomes increasingly based on collaboration and communication over social networks and more and more of life is carried out within virtual spaces, where creation, collaboration and construction are guiding principles, the university is becoming increasingly concerned with transferring specific predetermined knowledge that is needed for specific industry roles positioning learning as a top-down, standardized and individualized endeavor.

Learning Theory.

+The context that learning is taking place in means Higher Education must change:- Currently based on behaviourism and the transfer of industry defined skills.

- Currently ‘ learning’ is restricted to the physical space of the university and ‘learning’ is an activity chosen to engage with at certain times, this conception of ‘learning’ is perceived as a process with a beginning and an end.

- Not facilitating the creation of digitally literate students prepared for life in the networked society as a digital citizen.

+ What we suggest it ought be:- An education that is continuous and fluid within and through the university, making no distinction between beginning and end.

- An education that positions a cohort of students, and their teachers, in a democratic community where different knowledges are equally valid and everyone in the community has ownership and agency over learning.

- The University has become a corporate training ground focused on transferring specific skills for certain jobs.

- Focused on digital literacy and critical thinking.

-Embraces the ontology and epistemology of knowledge within the digital 21st century.

- An education that places citizenship and collaboration with the other at the core

- We are not talking about E-learning or Moocs here, but rather harnessing the virtual spaces and communicative networks that students use everyday; web 2.0 and social media.

+ Learning theory:- Constructivist and non-linear pedagogy

- Embrace formal/non-formal and informal learning (Coombs and Ahmed,1974)

- Communities of Practice (Lave and Wenger, 1991)

- Zones of Proximal Development and scaffolding (Vygotsky)

Purpose.

+ Explore and develop the theoretical concept of virtual or multi-realm chaordic learning systems and their practical application.

+ Explore how we might reconfigure Higher Education learning around notions of citizenship, digital literacy, collaboration and the appreciation of the other.

+ Explore how technology, practically social media networks and Web 2.0 can enhance the learning experience of university students; a learning experience built upon constructivist ideas of knowledge construction.

+ Better understand how we can equip students for life as digitally literate human beings. By digitally literate we understand ‘being digitally literate’ not just as being able to use new technologies, but also as understanding how they present new interfaces through which to experience the world and new spaces to exist within, which changes the way we understand the self, the world around us and how we interact with the other.

Choardic Learning Systems.

+ A Reconceptualising of Communities of Practice.

+ Problems with CoP in 21st Century Learning environment.

+ What is CLS and why is it different and more suited to learning in the 21st century.

+ Diagrammatic illustration/explanation of choardic learning systems +

Implementation.

+ Powerful Images Conference + Virtual Seminars

+ Twitter + YouTube Video Production

+ Google Hangout Tutorials + Prezi

+ Google+ communities

The Student’s Experience.

Google+ Communities.

Powerful Images Conference.

Virtual Seminars.

Twitter.

Prezi.

YouTube Videos.

Google Hangout Tutorials.

Reflections.

+Digital citizenship + Facilitating (multi-realm) chaordic learning systems

+ Reflective practice + (Digital) citizenship

+ Developing collaboration and student ownership of learning + Engagement

+ Assessment + Power

+ Digital trail + Security

Moving Forward.

+ What are the next steps?

+ Questions?

+ How can we improve these ideas?

+ New ideas?

+ How can we make this more grounding in learning theory and give these ideas greater theoretical rigour?