DIGITAL PRAXIS - Strategies for Putting Digital Pedagogy into Practice
Incorporating more technology into your courses doesn't mean you must be an expert or teach every technology you use. Teaching every tool is a Sisyphean task that is both ineffective and ill-advised. Instead, consider the following strategies when integrating more technology-based platforms and digital tools into your teaching:
Equip your students with critical frameworks for digital literacy, multimodal composition, or digital genres (see below), and practice using them often.
Bring students into the teaching process through crowdsourcing. Have students investigate new platforms or tools for their uses, qualities, resources, etc., and then share their findings with the rest of the class.
Always tap into your available resources. Just like participation, collaboration, and transparency are vital components of teaching in the 21st century, they are also important for sustaining digital pedagogy. Reach out to colleagues to talk about what you're doing in your courses, check out online resources for assignment ideas, attend professional development events to gain new skills, and ask your students to give feedback on your technology use.
DIGITAL PEDAGOGY - FRAMEWORKS
Use the following frameworks with your students to practice building 21st century skills.
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BEFORE STARTING, STUDENTS ASK:
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What problem do I need to help solve?
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What does my community, organization, classmates, or collaborators need?
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What do I want to learn?
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What knowledge do I want to produce and share?
AFTER DETERMINING LEARNING NEEDS, STUDENTS ASK:
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What genre or format might be best?
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What mode or media to use to develop and communicate your ideas effectively?
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What are the expectations of my audience, readers, or viewers?
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Can you find models or examples of other work that have succeeded in what you are trying to accomplish?
“...students still have a complex relationship with technology; they recognize its value, but they still need guidance when it comes to using technology in meaningful and engaging ways for academics.”
EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research report, “ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2014”
Before students can become producers of meaningful multimodal texts, they should practice analyzing and reflecting on the decisions that other composers have made. Students can use the following questions as a way to understand the choices that other writers make with their multimodal texts.
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What is it?
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What is it comprised of?
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What work does it do?
To understand how a text was made, students should ask:
PRACTICE MULTIMODAL AWARENESS
More information on digital literacy frameworks by Todd Taylor (Professor, UNC Chapel Hill) is available in Adobe Creative Cloud Across the Curriculum.
BUILD STUDENTS' DIGITAL LITERACY
To deepen their analysis, students should also ask:
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Who is the AUDIENCE and how does that shape the design of the composition?
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How does the structure, layout, and DESIGN of the multimodal text signal a particular meaning?
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What are the CONNECTIONS to the text? Are there multiple texts within it? How is it a remediation of a previous text?
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What kind of MEDIUM or GENRE is it composed in? What are the expectations for that particular genre? What can be done in it and what can’t be done in it?
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How is the text INTERACTIVE? How does a reader move through it? If online, does it use the affordances of an online space such as hyperlinks?
INVESTIGATE NEW TECHNOLOGIES OR DIGITAL PLATFORMS
Tech Teacher or Part of the Geek Squad:
Have students investigate different technologies or platforms and then teach them to the rest of the class.
"With a partner, you are going to explore, learn, create, and ultimately teach your assigned technology to the rest of the class. When you return to class, you are required to (1) create a sample work/genre on the website (may require signing up for the free service), (2) lead the class through a step by step navigation of the website, (3) explain what you did or did not like about the website, and (4) give your recommendation for the rest of the class. You should also come back to class with a list of at least one other website (aside from the ones listed) that may be of help in this project."
Platform Detectives
Give students a leg up on learning new platforms by practicing how to do a little detective work (find tip sheets on Google or subscribe to platform channels on YouTube).
Have students gather intel on the platform and organize the information by identifying the platform’s:
▸ main uses or properties
▸ stand-out qualities
▸ potential problems
▸ technical support links
Digital Qualities to Consider
When students are learning or creating new technologies, they could consider the following features:
▸ main uses or applications
▸ stand-out qualities/benefits/affordances
▸ potential problems/issues/limitations
▸ technical support resources
▸ visual or graphic design
▸ quality of content
▸ layout or structure
▸ text or language use
▸ incorporation of multiple modes
▸ quality of navigation or usability
▸ attention to rhetorical concerns (audience, purpose, context)
▸ use of multimedia or interactivity
▸ connection to other pieces
To foster 21st century skills, have students practice asking the following questions when they encounter new technologies or are given technology-based writing projects or tasks.
By keeping these questions and considerations in mind as they read and compose multimodal texts, students develop a greater sense of how rhetorical and design choices affect the meaning of texts.
*The first three questions are adopted from Jody Shipka's work on multimodality using three-dimensional object (Toward a Composition Made Whole). More information on multimodal composing and scholarship by Jody Shipka is available.
DIGITAL PEDAGOGY - ASSESSMENT
One of the greatest barriers for faculty members assigning a multimodal or digitally-based project is uncertainty about how to assess or evaluate it. People often feel they know what an "A" paper or traditional essay looks like, but they aren't sure how that translates into something new. However, the way to assess multimodal projects may not be as different as instructors might expect.
While there is not a panacea or specific formula for perfect assessment practices, there are several methods to consider.
Emphasize Process over Product
Since digital pedagogy focuses on teaching before technology, the objective of multimodal or digitally-based projects is to achieve learning goals rather than create perfect products. If students are demonstrating particular skills or content knowledge, but the project may not "look" perfect, it has still achieved your learning goals. Consider increasing the value of the creation process for your projects - both mathematically and pedagogically.
Offer a Rhetorical Lens
While the mode (way) students are presenting their learning process may differ with digital projects, the rhetorical considerations for writing remain the same. As you assess digital projects, consider the student's choice of genre (affordances and limitations), how effectively students communicate their message, to what extent they have achieved their desired purpose, and how they addressed their intended audience and the larger context.
Practice Feedback & Evaluation
Since digitally-based or multimodal projects are often part of unknown territories, it's important to practice evaluation and provide feedback as often as possible. Consider building peer response workshops (digital or in-person) into the process, both as informal "spitball" sessions and more structured drafting feedback. In addition to peer workshops, consider offering workshop days when students can have time to work on their projects in class while individually meeting you for informal feedback mini-meetings.
Integrate Student Input
Bring students into conversation about the evaluation process. If you are requiring a new genre, have students investigate the typical conventions for the genre and build those observations into the project expectations. By bringing students into the conversation, they become stakeholders in the project and will become more engaged in the process as well as have a better idea of what is expected of them.
Create a Drafting Process
In addition to offering multiple opportunities for informal feedback, developing multiple stages and drafts for these projects can be beneficial for students. Since students are also often uncertain about what the final project "should" look like, providing opportunities for them to receive feedback will become invaluable. Furthermore, digitally-based and multimodal projects often take much longer to produce than anticipated - building in drafting stages can help combat that issue.
Incorporate Critical Reflection
To keep students in the assessment conversation and to maintain emphasis on the process, consider incorporating critical reflection into your assessment criteria. Have students reflect the choices they made as they created their final project and why they made those decisions. These critical reflections help students make more informed and purposeful choices in their creation of the project, and it can serve as a guide for you as you evaluate what they created.
Resources on Multimodal Assessment
"Seeking Guidance for Assessing Digital Compositions/Composing" in Digital Writing: Assessment and Evaluation, Charles Moran and Anne Herrington, 2013
"Some Considerations for Multimodal Assessment," Sweetland Center for Writing, University of Michigan, 2020
"Short Guide to Evaluation of Digital Work," Journal of Digital Humanities, Geoffrey Rockwell, 2012
"Evaluating Multimodal Work, Revisited," Journal of Digital Humanities, Shannon Mattern, 2012
"Negotiating Rhetorical, Material, Methodological, and Technological Difference: Evaluating Multimodal Designs," Jody Shipka, 2009