Decoding digital pedagogy

Blog posts here and here.

So, it seems that digital pedagogy has made us all worse teachers. Finally, something to blame. The blame bubble is quite big, since people still can't arrive at a consensus on what digital pedagogy actually is, but the blame bubble is there and I'm not in it. So all's well.

Actually, that's not true. According to the blog posts, bad/non-existing digital pedagogy makes us worse teachers. Not so cool anymore, since the blame bubble is shrinking, and it seems to be shrinking in on me.

What's the problem? Well, it seems that, on the one hand, we forget that there is a difference between being a teacher and being a pedagogue. Pedagogy is a skill (albeit a skill which can become very meta if you think about it too much). And it is a skill that one developes over many years of constant questioning, examining, experimentation, and some more questioning.

Blame bubble shifting somewhere else. Good news.

On the other hand, teachers (and pedagogues)... well, they become lazy. They throw everything at the digital wall and see what sticks and then they don't have to work or worry about it ever again. They give up, because the work has been done and the powers that be are happy. And in the context of online learning, they don't have the human interaction with the students anymore, so that motivation - and guilt - is taken out of the equation as well. The essence of what makes a good pedagogue, the ability to reflect, be critical about a lesson and try something new if it didn't work, evaporates.

Fly, blame bubble, fly!

It's not all doom and gloom, though. The blog posts suggest that a lot of the problem is trying to unlearn pedagogy that isn't useful in a digital sense, and replacing it with pedagogy that is (or spending time trying to create pedagogy that is). And when it comes to digital pedagogy, I'm a tabula rasa, a clean slate. So half the battle is won, right?

I think what it boils down to is playing with your toys and breaking them and then putting them together in new ways. Mindful ways that will enrich your teaching, not detract from it. Just because PowerPoint has some really sexy bullet points, doesn't mean you have to use them. For example, I once observed a microteaching lesson by a Korean elementary school English teacher. She made a picture dictionary. PowerPoint. Nothing new there. Until we came to the word comb (v). Now, how do you explain that verb? How do you explain it with a picture? She used an animated GIF. (Yes, PowerPoint is great for viewing those.) Magic! The motion is there, students instantly know what is happening, the teacher doesn't have to stand in front of class and pull her fingers through her hair. The teacher took an old and busted toy and gave it new hotness, which ended up enriching her teaching.
(Yeah, probably not the best example, but it is Monday, so be kind.)

I guess there's no need for a blame bubble, because there is no excuse. The most important things about creating an effective digital pedagogy are tinkering with toys, bucking conventional wisdom, and realising that if you don't need it, don't use it. But if you do use it, don't be lazy about it. Be critical. And have fun.