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In todays’ post I want to explore the point where technology meets pedagogy, and what it looks like when we blue those lines. Does pedagogy and technology mix? Can they combine into a new form: techno-pedagogy, perhaps? Or will we see something like oil and water? Two liquids that push each other away and refuse to mix (unlike alcohol and water – to conclude the science analogy!)?

The emergence of ChatGPT and other generative AI programs has brought about a whole new set of conversations on the role of technology in schools. It’s my opinion that this conversation should have happened (different content though) when we returned to the building after COVID – a number of schools (and teachers) wanted everything to return to normal – but what they really meant was ‘the way it was before COVID’ and have since dropped many of the ways they taught students during COVID, ignoring that many pupils benefitted from some of these methods in ways they couldn’t in the classroom (we can rewind a video, but try getting a teacher to repeat themselves more than twice). Other educators are still trying to determine the right approach to tech integration after the challenges (and device proliferation) of the remote-learning period during the pandemic. We have school initiatives in the Republic of Ireland and in England to ban mobile phones in schools (story from Ireland is here, story from England is here). Which is another topic in itself, but if we ignore the issues and focus on what we can do with mobile technology to empower students and help them become lifelong learners, they may be being used to distract schools, teachers and parents from the real issues – underfunding, teacher retention, provision for pupils with additional learning needs and teacher time budgets to complete their duties.

I will certainly return to some of the issues raised above in future posts, but is there a middle ground – an area where both technology and pedagogy can co-exist, or even thrive together in a symbiotic relationship that enhances the learning experience for everyone?

That’s the aim for today’s post. Let’s find out if these two ideas can co-exist, or even better, work together.

Technopedagogy

Like all good academics and scientists, you have never really made it until you make up your very own word. Today is my day. I’m going to coin a phrase: techno-pedagogy.

Except that I didn’t! It already exists [insert unhappy emoji face here]. The earliest reference to it I can find on a Google search is from 2020, so while it’s still a young phrase, it’s relevance to the topic of utilising technology together with pedagogy is still in it’s development and understanding among teaching professionals. Priyamvada (2020) defines techno-pedagogy as:

“the use of technology for making the teaching [and] learning process effective and attaining educational goals. It is nothing but the potential to make utilisation of technology efficiently in teaching. It consists of three regions of knowledge: content, pedagogy and technology.”

Techno-Pedagogical Skills

This refers to a skills demand that integrates technology into teaching for effective and developed pedagogical reasons. These skills will consist of the following skills:

  • Assess the potential and limits of technologies for learning.
  • Carry out a needs analysis to introduce technologies in a pedagogical sequence.
  • Handle basic tools and applications, and solve simple technical problems.
  • Design appropriate tasks.
  • Design for intersections inside and outside the classroom.
  • Embed new and interactive technologies that are congruent with the specific subject.
  • Manage time and optimise the full integration of technologies.

Techno-Pedagogy as an Approach of Skills Development

In this approach, the main focus will be given to provide direction in the general use of ICT by pupils and teachers in an educational setting. To achieve this, specific knowledge about hardware, software and their uses is needed.

Techno-Pedagogy as a Pedagogical Approach

In this approach, there will be a specific plan to integrate ICT skills into subject-specific areas. This will enhance pupil learning as they develop greater understanding in how various concepts, skills and learning outcomes can be achieved using ICT. This will be based on a constructivist approach that builds upon previous learning and experience to develop into new forms of learning.

Techno-Pedagogy as a Practical Approach

All ICT usage should be practical! In this approach, we will want to use technology as an integral part of how learners access knowledge across subject areas. There will be a clear and intentional focus on pupils using the tools to develop and build upon their learning. The use of technology here will be as the vehicle to access information, make new connections to pre-existing knowledge.

Techno-Pedagogy as a Subject-specific Approach

In this approach, technology will be seen as an integral tool that can be accessed by pupil and teacher alike to learn subject-specific knowledge. These resources will enhance learning and improve the understanding of learners by making difficult parts of a lesson clearer and easier to understand (for example: this could be through lesson content being made available on YouTube for students to watch to help with understanding).
 

Practical Steps to Developing Your Techno-pedagogy

Ask Big Questions

As Tony Frontier writes, schools have a tendency to use new technologies in ways that are either reflective of the status quo (you apply your current knowledge and strategies to recreate digital processes that are the same as the old processes they have replaced) or transactional (you apply your existing knowledge and strategies but with greater frequency and to different tools that can improve the results and efficiency). With generative AI, Frontier argues, such approaches could prove disastrous, reducing an innovation that has the potential to reshape the dynamics of teaching and learning to a mere secretarial or data-processing function.

To work toward more meaningful solutions, educators can start by asking “big, open-ended questions that discard old assumptions” about how things are done in the classroom. As other contributors affirm, using technology in ways that deepen student learning often requires getting out of instructional ruts. This can be beneficial for the teacher as they have an opportunity to refresh their learning and for the pupil as the lesson content is updated, new or requires them to think about the content in a new way.

Put Pedagogy First

Of course, this doesn’t mean abandoning the principles of effective instruction – although there are times when I think some school leaders and management would challenge this. I took part in a school training day recently where the guest speaker gave an example of how ICT teachers might use technology in their classroom: research a topic and copy/paste the content you find into a report.

There were other Computing teachers around me and none of us could legitimately think of a time when this was something we told any of our classes. So sometimes, people do assume the worst in you – even if, when you rationally think about it, it makes no sense whatsoever.

Bryan Drost outlines research showing that districts in the American school system that had the most success during the pandemic shift to online learning tended to have sound instructional structures in place—including a consistent instructional framework, clearly outlined pedagogical options, and strong formative assessment cycles. As Clare Kilbane and Natalie Milman echo in their article on differentiated instruction, “the goals of instruction … should drive the design of learning experiences and technology’s integration within it.”

 

Make it Active

This is something I am constantly telling my classes – Computing needs to be active! Yes, there are times when I need to speak from the front, but most of the time I prefer my lesson to be pupil-led. I want them to be wrestling with the content – breaking code, fixing it, improving it! I try to leave the lectures until university, but there are times when the content needs to be discussed from the front.

Nicholas Provenzano writes, “I’ve learned there’s one thing educators need to keep in mind [in integrating EdTech into lessons]: The use of technology needs to promote active engagement.” This idea surfaces often in the issue. Technology’s greatest asset as an element of instructional design is its capacity to allow students to engage with and create content as opposed to just consuming it. This can lead to authentic learning experiences and opportunities for transfer of knowledge—both aspects of deep learning.

 

Give teachers more and better support

If school systems want teachers to use technology to create richer instruction, they must provide more nuanced professional learning opportunities that allow for this to be achieved. This may include using Professional Development models for EdTech integration that turn the page on “one-off, one-size-fits-all” events and provide teachers with more continuous support, in addition to opportunities to experiment, collaborate, and engage in active learning of their own.

Ashley McBride writes that well-designed EdTech coaching programmes can also be key in giving teachers more personalised and structured support. That is certainly preferable to the oft-prevailing practice of letting teachers figure things out on their own in the middle of a restive classroom, as “precious instructional minutes tick by.” As this issue also makes clear, to be effective in supporting deeper, richer learning, EdTech-integration initiatives must be well-planned and cohesive, even as they allow space for educators and students to create new pathways for learning.

 

Final Thoughts

The absolute starting point for anything in the classroom needs to be the pedagogy. What are we trying to teach? What theory or practice of learning are we using with our classes?

From the ‘what’, we can then think about the ‘how’. When we have our method of teaching in place (I’ve always been partial to a unique blend of Vygotskian-Behavourism!), we can then look at how we are going to deliver the learning content. We might use a collaborative approach; constructivist; or behaviourist approach, but in here we can also discuss the vehicle we use to deliver the content – digital. How we shape the content to make it accessible to the learner is of vital importance to our chances of success in achieving learning goals and we should be open to using many different methods to help our learners achieve understanding.

 

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