e-Learning and pedagogy

I have been following Michael Wesch online, many of you may be familiar with the videos he has created with his students exploring the impact of new media on society and culture ( "The Machine is Us/ing us" and "A Vision of students today").

While the ideas that they explore are significant, what also challenges me is thinking about Wesch's application of new media in his practice. See a previous post "There are no natives here" Again I would recommend that you invest some time and watch "A Portal to Media Literacy".

Last week Wesch posted a link to some work created by one of his students Kevin Champion. I have watched this video a number of times since ( embedded below) and have enjoyed thinking about the concepts Champion explores around connectedness, the impact of new media and the breaking down of barriers in education that are now possible as a result.

" In education, this is seen in the emphasis on cross-disciplinary, multicultural, holistic, and interdisciplinary studies. It becomes clear that no one discipline and no one perspective can provide all the answers. Over the last 50 years, this theoretical connectedness has been expressed in the physical world through media. Television, cell phones, and the internet have added both a new level of connectivity and new ways to connect." Kevin Champion

What continues to capture my thinking is the question of how Champion's use of new media to explore, share and create his understandings, may have been supported by the teaching actions of Micahel Wesch? During repeat views of the video I have tried to identify links and examples that may reflect effective pedagogy in the NZC specifically e-learning and pedagogy (p. 36).

This exercise has continued to extend and challenge my thinking around "the changing role of the teacher and also our understanding of elearning as a pedagogical practice"...and also what this might mean for how we use assessment to both provide feedback and inform future action.

For me this has been a useful next step from 'A Portal to Media Literacy' and the concepts of what it means to be a teacher in this century. I plan to use this example to further explore the concept of e-learning as a pedagogical practice with colleagues.

Many thanks to both Michael Wesch and Kevin Champion for their inspiration.

"There are no natives here"...

...so says Michael Wesch as he reflects on his use of technology to support learning. His experiences also highlight a key message in the New Zealand Curriculum...to explore new and different ways of teaching and learning. The reference to Prensky's (2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants also challenge some of the assumptions that we might have around our use of technology and student learning.
As a cluster we are constantly exploring the changing role of the teacher and also our understanding of elearning as a pedagogical practice. Concurrently, while we recognise some students may have grown up with the technology and are confident adopters, this may not always automatically transfer to purposeful use that can impact positively on their learning? To engage with the technology simply to entertain without appreciating how it can be harnessed to make a difference to learning and consequently actions that are 'significant' involve development of new understandings about the technology for both teachers and students..."there are no natives here".
Michael Wesch explores these ideas and provides some useful frameworks, understandings and examples of a 21st Century teacher...well worth investing the time to listen and consider.


Thanks to Jo McLeay for highlighting.
More videos by Wesch and his students...Vision of Students Today, The Maching is Us/ing Us etc...