After reviewing the readings from topic 1, the one that drew my attention was “An urgency of teachers: The work of critical digital pedagogy”(2018)  by Stommel. The article begins claiming that digital pedagogy is not equivalent to teachers using digital tools and concludes with questions such as “When do we decide that a tool isn’t working? Can we imagine assessment mechanisms even that encourage discovery, ones not designed for assessing learning but designed for learning through assessments?” (Stommel, 2018). Changes in society, student expectations and technology are motivating schools and universities to rethink pedagogy and teaching methods. As the digital technologies like social media, mobile devices such as smartphones and laptops, students are given opportunities to learn in a more complex and rich environments. I also think the point “going on a quest and getting lost” is very interesting. It seems to be true that the purpose of studying, doing research and papers is to get a high grade. Students often do not have time to discover what they like and don’t seem to enjoy the experience and process of learning, the overall quality of the learning experience has diminished greatly as a result. I am curious to know more from a teacher’s perspective, is educational experience the one that rushes the student?

 

The other reading I found intriguing is about the concept of “blended learning” (Vaughan, Garrison, & Cleveland-Innes, 2013). Nowadays, classroom-based teaching are often combined with digital resources, “the transformative innovation of virtual communication and online learning communities creates new ways for teachers and students to engage, interact, and contribute to learning” (Vaughan, Garrison, & Cleveland-Innes, 2013). With the technology advancements and benefits, people often overlooked issues regarding security and privacy. I also agree that blended learning provides an attentive adoption of communications technologies that can raise the challenges of providing more engaged learning experiences in higher education. I would like to know more about how online educational platforms can track students data.

 

All in all, all three readings gave me different thoughts regarding topics in education and technology. I think all online learners should pay more attention about privacy and security in order to build up a safe and reliable open learning environment.

 

References:

Stommel, J. (2018). An urgency of teachers: The work of critical digital pedagogy. Hybrid Pedagogy.

Vaughan, N. D., Garrison, D. R., & Cleveland-Innes, M. (2013). Teaching in blended learning environments: Creating and sustaining communities of inquiry. AU Press. [Chapter 1]