As I mentioned in my reply to Payal’s Learning Theories discussion post, I have always thought of knowledge as a social construct that occurs as a result of our experiences and interactions with the world around us. What I found fascinating however, was to see that same philosophy come to life with my two young boys. I remember saying to them when they were young, maybe 2 or 3 years old, “You are so handsome, you are so smart” and their responses and our conversation were always the same, “I’m smart?”, “I’m handsome?”. I would then say, “Yes of course you are”! Eventually when the same comments were made, “You are so handsome, you are so smart!” there was no more questioning, their response shifted to “I know!”.

As stated by Polly, Allman, Casto, and Norwood in reference to Vygotsky (1978), “Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological)” (2018). This is of vital importance for us as educators to consider as we must not forget the social aspect or level of learning. As a Transform Learning Coach, I had the pleasure of facilitating and observing teachers undergo pedagogical shifts in their practice. Seeing teachers move from primarily an, “I do, now you do” Behaviourist knowledge acquisition framework, to a much more Social-Constructivist, I do, we do, you do it collaboratively with your peers (the most often missed step), now you try to do it independently, approach. From an Educational technology lens, this really highlights how important it is to integrate aspects of embedded collaboration, teacher facilitation and feedback, and self-reflection.

As a Learning Coach, I was also responsible for organizing and leading various Professional Learning Community (PLC) “Passion” Groups which were formed based on a combination of teacher passion and one of 10 recommended pedagogical shifts to enhance student engagement and learning. Some of the Educational Technology groups that were formed included:

  • Technology Integration
  • Flipped Classroom
  • Makerspace and Design Thinking
  • Digital Documentation as Formative Assessment

When developing new Communities of Practice, it is important to, “Ensure that the community can evolve and shift in focus to meet the interests of the participants without moving too far from the common domain of interest” (Bates, 2019, Chapter 4, Section 4.6.3.1).

With the onset of COVID and shift to at home learning, we have been ramping up and continuing to utilize all aspects and features of the Google Classroom Suite for Educators. Students have been sending and receiving comments and feedback, working collaboratively on assignments and projects, sharing their research findings using a variety of APPs such as Padlet and Flip Grid, and joining Google Meets to review, discuss, or clarify any wonderings they may have about the Scientific topic of the week we have been exploring. This has allowed the students and us as teachers to tap into all aspects of what Garrison, Anderson, and Archer refer to as the Community of Inquiry core elements: cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence. (2000, p.88).

Kind Regards,

Keri

 

References

Bates, A. (2019, October 10). Teaching in a Digital Age – Second Edition. Retrieved May 23, 2020, from https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev2/

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical Inquiry in a Text-Based Environment: Computer Conferencing in Higher Education. Retrieved May 23, 2020, from http://cde.athabascau.ca/coi_site/documents/Garrison_Anderson_Archer_Critical_Inquiry_model.pdf

Polly, D., Allman, B., Casto, A. and Norwood, J., 2018. Sociocultural Perspectives of Learning. In R. West (Ed.), Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology (1st ed.). Available at https://lidtfoundations.pressbooks.com/chapter/sociocultural-learning/.