It’s December 2020 and I have just completed the course Open Networked Learning (a course aimed at people working in education, interested in exploring possibilities and recommended practices of using digital tools in education). My take away message from the course is that digitals tools should be be used to promote active student learning.

It is now clear to me that the Internet is (and will) changing teaching. In the time before the Internet students were heavily reliant on their teacher for content, exemplified by the traditional classroom setting of a teacher giving a lecture, or telling students what to read. But the Internet changes everything (this Ted Talk by David Wiley describes an important aspect of changes in education in the Internet age, the need for sharing and openness). Teachers are no longer the gatekeepers of information and knowledge. Students can use the Internet as a source of information. So, does that mean that teachers are redundant? No, but it means that it is time for teachers to reflect on how they can adapt their teaching practice. As I have previously written this changing role entails the teacher becoming a facilitator, in supporting students in becoming active learners (https://briansweden.wordpress.com/2020/12/01/design-for-online-and-blended-learning/).

Active learners are able to work collaboratively to construct knowledge, but need the support of both their teacher and learning community (i.e. student group) to support this (Gilly Salmon’s Five Stage Model is a good demonstration of this: https://www.gillysalmon.com/five-stage-model.html). The good news is that the digital tools that I have seen can all be used to support active learning, for example by facilitating collaboration and connectedness. In my opinion, someone employed in supporting teachers in their use of digital tools should be aware that their role is not only to show how digital tools can be used practically, but also how also how the tools can be used to promote active student learning. If not, the risk is that teachers use digital tools to only deliver more content, thereby missing out on the tool’s potential and possibly even adding to the teacher’s workload.

So, my message is that testing digital tools is a great way to develop teaching. Not only should you test the tool, but get help in understanding how the tool works. And remember, that help should also involve suggestions of how that tool can be used for promoting active student learning.