Monday, 22 February 2016

digital pedagogy, online teaching and the pedagogue



After reading the articles by @slamteacher and @jessifer I have also come to realize that digital pedagogy is not just online teaching, since digital pedagogy is a direction towards education that is not necessarily predicated on the use of digital tools. Online teaching in its essence is teaching via the use of a computer and the internet. Without these digital tools, online teaching cannot take place. But coming back to the matter of why every teacher is not a pedagogue. The term pedagogue at its core means “to lead a child”. And to lead a child does not mean just providing them with all the answers before a test, any person with knowledge, who can guide a child/ learner to obtain certain skills (life skills) can be considered a pedagogue. The child needs to be stimulated and guided through the process of learning to obtain knowledge, they should also be given an opportunity to figure things out on their own.
Digital pedagogy surpasses the limits of online teaching, it allows for combining different methods of teaching. The use of the internet, books, slideshows or even role playing can be used in digital pedagogy, there are also many more creative ways of teaching that can be incorporated.
Digital pedagogy breaks down the traditional paradigm of teaching. Interaction does not solely take place between teachers and students, students can also interact with each other, exchanging their knowledge and different perceptions.
As @jessifer states, within the paradigm of digital pedagogy we get to rethink the power relations between students and teachers. I feel that learning will also be made less of a burden, since in the context of digital pedagogy it is disguised in the process of communication with others, for example, Blogging about your perceptions on a certain topic and then reading other responses to it.
In essence digital pedagogy is not online teaching, it is so much more, because it entails the use of any tools to aid individuals in obtaining information. And being a pedagogue does not mean you have to be a teacher by profession, learners, students or ordinary individuals can assume the role of a pedagogue.

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