Learning in a digital age/Resource web links/Grainne's draft of digital tech trajectories
Once you have worked your way successfully through the learning activities in this learning pathway, you will be able to:
- outline the key digital technologies which have emerged in the last thirty years or so, and explain how they can be used to support learning
- evaluate your own use of digital technologies
- evaluate your own digital literacies
- explore how you can better use digital technologies for your learning
- write a blog post reflecting on what you have learnt by working through this learning pathway.
Digital technologies provide a plethora of ways in which you can interact with content, and communicate and collaborate with others. Digital technologies are electronic tools, systems, devices and resources that generate, store or process data. These includes social media, online games and applications, multimedia, productivity applications, cloud computing, interoperable systems and mobile devices [1]. Examples of ways in which digital technologies can be used to support learning include:
- interacting with rich multimedia to gain a better understanding of a topic
- testing your understanding through completing a multiple choice test and receiving formative feedback
- communicating with peers and tutors through a variety of social media
- reflecting on your learning by writing a blog post
- collating an annotated list of resources relevant for your learning
- triangulating understanding by reading a number of resources on a particular topic
- interacting with rich multimedia and videos to enhance your learning experience.
Digital learning is any type of learning that is facilitated by technology or by instructional practice that makes effective use of technology. Digital learning encompasses the application of a wide spectrum of practices including:
- blended and virtual learning
- engaging in game-based learning
- accessing digital content
- collaborating locally and globally
- conducting assessment and reporting activities online
- participating actively in online communities
- using technology to connect, collaborate, curate and create.
Atwell argues that a Personal Learning Environment (PLE) is comprised of all the tools we use to support our learning. EDUCAUSE defines it as the:
- "tools, communities, and services that constitute the individual educational platforms learners use to direct their own learning and pursue educational goals. A PLE is frequently contrasted with a Learning Management System (LMS) in that an LMS tends to be course-centric, whereas a PLE is learner-centric. At the same time, a PLE may or may not intersect with an institutional LMS, and individuals might integrate components of an LMS into the educational environments that they construct for themselves. A typical PLE, for example, might incorporate blogs where students comment on what they are learning, and their posts may reflect information drawn from across the web—on sites like YouTube or in RSS feeds from news agencies. While most discussions of PLEs focus on online environments, the term encompasses the entire set of resources that a learner uses to answer questions, provide context, and illustrate processes. As used here, the term refers not to a specific service or application but rather to an idea of how individuals approach the task of learning".
- Read the blog post - Reviewing the trajectories of digital technologies (http://e4innovation.com/?p=791)
- Pick three technologies and write a blog post summarising how they can be used to support learning, also reflect on the extent to which you use these digital technologies to support your learning
- Read at least two other blog posts by the your peers and leave comments
- Draw your own Personal Learning Environment (PLE), showing what technologies you use on a regular basis and why, consider how your PLE has changed in the last ten years.
- Write a blog post summarising this, if you can upload an image of your PLE.
