Could Professional Co-Learning be the missing element to sustained and rapid professional learning in the content areas of Digital Technologies?

Could Professional Co-Learning be the missing element to sustained and rapid professional learning in the content areas of Digital Technologies?

We are in the midst of a digital revolution. The way we ‘do the work’ of teaching and learning in the CEDP looks different from what it did in 2000, 2010 and of course in 2020. 

Schools were tasked with the challenge of re-imagining learning for students remotely access mode; this reimagining needed to address fundamentals such as ‘how’ to synchronously or asynchronously communicate with students before considering ‘what’ to communicate.

Educators Professional Learning Networks (PLN) increased in intensity and frequency of new information. There was an information explosion across all mediums from email, twitter posts, facebook group posts, youtube videos, ‘how-to’ documents, slide decks, chats, zooms and websites among other examples - the flow of information increased but the capacity or bandwidth of the receiver did not. 

I am particularly interested in the conditions and strategies that afford educators the critical use of information to construct new professional knowledge and I’ve come to realise that most teachers are being asked to design learning in the digital space without having the experience of learning in the digital space. Is this form of experience the variable that has been overlooked?

To what extent could experiencing the learning through the lens of CEDP students empower educators to make sense of the frequency and amount of information they encounter when the laptop is opened in the morning? Would this deep understanding of the student experience support the critical thinking required to filter, accommodate or assimilate new information to existing schema and ‘student-centred’ learning design? 

Whilst it was a time of uncertainty and apprehension I couldn’t help but feel excited about the possibilities for learning. School leaders and teachers were encouraged (and required) to think differently about the core of our work and unleash new ways of prioritising what was key to student learning and wellbeing - I had never felt so inspired watching my colleagues meet the challenge of change when ‘The time is now and we are here’.

This challenge elicited many unique reflections for me:

• The ICT efficacious educator draws on experience to allow more possibilities in the process of reimagine learning 

• Affective Communication amongst teachers/students must not be assumed and explicitly addressed to ensure learners can express their understanding (Send of information) for  teachers/peers to interpret (Receive Information) within the context of learning (Reduce the asymmetry between sender and receiver)

• There’s an abundance of learning technologies (ICTs), professional learning must use content/pedagogy to support the understanding of ‘how’ these technology can enable learning

• Teachers are challenged to design online/blended learning experiences without experiencing online/blended learning from the perspective of the learner 

• Experiences that can allow for greater self-reflection and evaluation 

• Sustained professional learning approaches to Digital Technologies content knowledge and design and production skills need to meet the needs of educators

If the purpose of ‘more’ information is to construct new knowledge, to serve learning now and into the future, what role does ‘experience’ play in the journey of information to construct new professional knowledge? 

The phrase “Design a preferred Future” is an encouraging statement to feature in the Science and Technology K-6 syllabus. This year we have all been faced with the challenge (or opportunity) to re-imagine How we do the work but also Where we do the work. 

Google Classrooms and Canvas engagement increased significantly in Term1 /Term 2. For example, on Friday 27th of March there were 1252 posts to all CEDP Google Classrooms, the following Monday there were 15,602 posts. For a point of reference, CEDP schools had average approx 3000 posts across all Google Classrooms each week day in Term 1. 

If teachers are to deliver blended learning opportunities to enable learning of new content should ‘teacher experience’ within this mode of learning, proceed instruction to enable sustained professional learning? How does a deeper sense of the learner experience within a blended / online learning mode impact professional learning design? If ‘experience’ is a variable to allow for new information assimilation and contemporary learning design, could ’Co-learning’ allow for the acquisition of new content knowledge (such as content aligned to the new Digital Technologies strand of the Science and Technology K-6  and Technology Mandatory Syllabus) as a key objective to drive the design of blended / online learning design?

With the support of Jo Kirby Teaching Educator Contemporary Learning Frameworks. The concept of Professional Co-Learning drove the design of a Stage 3 Digital Technologies learning experience to support learning. The objectives of the project were to:

• Support professional knowledge construction by learning about the “what” and “how” of the digital technologies content knowledge

• Provide an opportunity for educators to experience learning through the lens of the student to gain a deeper understanding of the digital learning space, learning pathways and misconceptions align the to the learning of digital technologies and design and production skills of the Science and Technology K-6 syllabus

• Experience ICT General Capabilities from the student perspective to enable future possibilities for learning

• Identifies and requires a fluent understanding of navigating the online learning space by focussing on ‘How’ to learn in this new digital environment

• Engage with from the student perspective through a learner centered digital space

• Allow educators to model the disposition of expert learners and ‘Walk the talk’ of an Assessment Capable Learner

Chris Maguire