The Undeniable Power at your finger tips!

Right off the bat I can without a doubt agree with the well placed quiz of Vicki Davis. The Quiz, while never explicitly referring to it, promotes the idea that social media is just a new form of communication in an ever updating world. Whenever something new begins there will without a doubt be new dangers and new unexpected consequences which could never have been foreseen. This has been true for many modern communication forms which are taken for granted in today’s technological lifestyle, such as the invention of the telephone, opening doorways for communication with possible strangers by simply dialing an incorrect number which can be done very easily. 

The scary part of this form of communication known as social media is its sheer power over so many aspects of life, be it the director of a company researching your interactions in order to determine who you are before you even get to an interview, or even a current employer keeping track of his/her employees to ensure they are not misrepresenting the company. Social Media’s power is only growing by the day and with the amount of information available to anyone willing to pay the possibilities seem endless for things to go wrong.

Social media does not however have to the enemy. The misconception that it will disrupt the learning process is too wide spread and needs to be redefined. Social media could prove to be an invaluable tool for educating the next generation in a way which is best suited for them. The fact that social media is so vast and we have no idea how far it can extend makes it a perfect platform for learning, where teachers can come up with new and innovative ways to use it in a way which benefits the learners as well as follows the required curriculum.

As a new age educator many of us need to understand that social media is not just a name …

We need to unpack what it really is, a social form of media, we need to understand what this means and that we should not allow ourselves to be constrained by what we are told, but to learn things for ourselves such as how to work with it and not treat it as a distraction. 

Nicholas Provenzano was able to actively include multiple forms of social media in his teaching process not only as a means of keeping the students up to date with their work but also giving them the opportunity to learn more outside the classroom and expand their learning beyond textbooks and exam papers. He also mentions how he has used but a fraction of the social media tools available, if this was possible and successful for one educator, why then would it not be possible for others. 

All it takes is a bit of effort on behalf of the educator, in understanding how to involve the social media correctly and not allowing it to become a distraction.

The Teaching of Learning

Recently I find myself confronted more and more by the notion that digital learning or pedagogy is in no way the same as or on the same level as mere online teaching, online teaching may contain forms of digital learning but the fact that it is online does not necessarily make it a digital learning process.

Not every teacher can be a pedagogue and in the same breath, not every pedagogue is found in a classroom. At the very center of pedagogy you find the key concept of leadership, this leadership can take many forms, be it group leaders in school projects or a speaker at a conference. This leadership transcends the mundane, “teacher is the leader and students follow”, attitude that can be found in most learning institutes. Pedagogy does not favor one learning style over another but instead attempts to do whatever it takes to bring out the best possible result for the individual and not the most correct answer according to the textbook.

A pedagogue should have the initiative and out of the box ideas on how to tailor online technologies to his or her liking. Just as one would tailor their physical environment to their own personal pleasing, so too must one redesign the learning environment. This being done in the physical and online sense.

One need not wait to be in an authoritative position to become a pedagogue, all you require in the ability to inquire and adapt, and to base your practice on the real world which is relevant to the “students” you encounter.

Taking all of this into account, Pedagogy is not something a person can truly learn. It is purely a state of mindfulness in terms of the ever adapting and shifting world in which we live. No person will ever master the art of pedagogy simply because the world advances so quickly. However to become a good pedagogical educator one must be immersed in the world of pedagogical thinking and practice, interacting with the information and not just memorizing the content. Our technological age should not serve to replicate our educational history but to progress it, make it relevant and fun.

A digital pedagogue should not let their technologies dictate to them where and how they can be used, but instead they should make their tools work for then and allow creativity to produce better learning. We need to be more critical about the educational tools that we make use of and how they can be used more effectively.

Along with being bold and moving forward, we must be careful not to become too specialized and not to focus on a single aspect as this could lead to a much narrower view on any problem which could present itself. This fits well with a remark from Cathy Davidson which I am quite fond on, she speaks along the lines of being “perpetual learners”, setting the groundwork for lifelong learning in all aspects of life.

The best way to learn is to encounter something new for the first time, and how better to encounter new things then to forget the old things which hold you back.

Perpetual Sadness

Its is inevitable that one will be sad, be it a dead pet or a fight with with someone you love. Sadness has a way of creeping into your heart. In my opinion, and that is all I can speak from, sadness is one of the only emotions that has the tendency to perpetuate itself, that and anger, but that's another blog topic. By this what i mean is sadness breeds sadness. The initial spark may have been something small, but once it has set in it eats away at your emotional state of being, bringing up other times in which you were sad creating further sadness.



This is not to say there is no happiness as i am a firm believer in the fact that a person can be both happy and sad, and that there is no problem with that.





What i am trying to get across is that it is easier to just fall into your own sadness cycle. Its interesting to note the changes in yourself when you make a conscious effort to smile through sadness. The difference it can make on your mood as a whole. I guess what I'm trying to say is if you can help it, don't be sad, just be awesome instead.

Teaching Naked in a Technological World

Digital humanities is a term that gets used loosely and is not quite defined, but with all that we can gather from it one thing is certain. You don't need electronics to subscribe to digital humanities. One thing digital humanities has allowed for is that hacking can now be considered a discipline. A discipline in which the question can now be posed, is it possible for education be hacked to expose ways of non-technological digital teaching?

What seems to be holding back the full educational benefits of teaching is the inability to comprehensibly identify with digital and non-digital as two parts to a whole and not two completely separate ideas, which are interchangeable and mixable.  Educators should not be limiting themselves by thinking technology is a mere tool or that digital education must involve a computer. By doing this, the educator cuts off a wealth of resources which may be of great use in the classroom. If digital learning is treated as a tool then it is only as useful as the task placed in front of it, to paraphrase Paul Fyfe, if you have a hammer, your problems would look like nails. This amazing form of education which has potential to be so much more than we allow it to be has resulted in a more narrow view on education due to the ease at which things may be accomplished.

The goal is to get involved in “naked teaching”, being stripped of the technologies that may hinder the learning process. To teach “naked” does not mean free of any form of technology, it merely means removing the electronic part of the digital learning.

Methods of implementation of such teaching could be as simple as a high lighter and a book. Involving two main reading types, intensive and distant. Each of these allows or a different type of learning.

A form of attentiveness in key when doing reading for one to pick up on the subtle and somewhat unannounced themes of a book. This is why any form of learning exercise is crucial to better learning especially in this digital age we find ourselves in.

In some instances it is important to allow for creative flow from students and to realize that the lecturer or teacher is merely a facilitator for the exchange of knowledge. Offering a hands on option to learners who are able to all work through something together which each of them only encounters for the first time in the classroom can allow for amazing results.

Digital humanists should ultimately be an individual capable of multi-faceted teaching and learning. While the world moves forward digitally, it would be to one’s own detriment as well of those being taught, to attempt to teach without digital technology.

Naked teaching is a thing, a fully clothed thing, which should be implemented in more educational institutes.

Potential Slip

Your time is your own. It is no one else's. No one can take away from you what you have and no one can give you any more than you have. Make the most of it while you have it. Don't squander your potential, don't waste your gifts. There is nothing more disappointing then someone who wastes an opportunity or does not put their all into something that they want.

If you want it, work for it. The only thing in life that is easy is dying, that's something they should teach children. You don't have to work hard to die, but you have to work hard to get what you want.
You want that A, you study for it. You want to make the first team, you practice for it. You want to make you life better, you put the effort into it.
Never let your potential slip, hold on to it with all you have because in the end it is all that you have. You need to make a conscious decision of what you want your life to be like.

You are worth every drop of sweat that falls while you work towards what you want, every hour you spend in that book, you are worth it all. If you ever find yourself feeling like you are not worth it, push yourself harder and prove to yourself that you are. Every self help book, 30 day program or accountability partner have one thing in common, YOU, none of those will ever work unless YOU put in the effort. You have more power than you could imagine. You are capable of more than you give yourself credit for. "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure" - Marianne Williamson  

Don't cheat yourself out of success.

Coffee Culture

The idea that we can not function during a day without beginning said day with a cup of coffee is becoming ever more prevalent in today's social media orientated life style. This is a concept that I am sure no income driven coffee sales business will have any issue with, but what is it doing to us as people. There is a seed planted in our minds by constant inspirational posts seen on every newsfeed or virtual wall, which states in some way or form that "you are not human until you have had your first cup of coffee for the day". This is shown to children who grow up believing that the way to start your day is with a cup of coffee. This however is not true, many people are able to function just fine without it. Similarly the idea that one requires a degree in order to be educated is also false, but is constantly told to us as children. many people with degrees are not educated and many people without degrees or even formal education can be the most educated individuals you could meet.
we as a society need to realize this and peruse a new way of thinking and teaching. an all encompassing method which takes into account all education and not just your ability to quote Darwin or verbatim repeat Newtons Laws. This is the challenge posted to modern educators, and one which needs to be taken seriously.  

What it takes.

Do you have it? What it takes. The qualities deeply embedded in the definition of an effective educator. And i say educator, not teacher, because teaching is a profession while education is a life style. A life style that not all are able to maintain. the more time i spend learning about what it takes to be an effective educator and the processes involved in getting there, the more I have to sit back and ask myself.....

Do you have what it takes?

Despite my personal opinion on myself, I would have to admit that I have a very long way to go. That being said, I know i am more than capable of becoming an effective Educator. All it takes is effort!

Be Water

Education is no one-way street, in order to educate, a certain level of openness is required. A willingness to accept that, despite your qualification, you may not be the most knowledgeable person in the room.In order to be a good educator you should be adaptable both in the classroom and when outside.

"Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. If you put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash, be water my friend." - Bruce Lee

This quote sums up, to me, the life of an educator. As a person who is open to others opinions, you allow them a safe environment to learn and question things which they do not agree to. An educator has the means to make or break a child based solely on how they interact with the child. For this reason alone it is important for an educator to be a human being and not just a "teacher".