Challenging Beliefs- Who am I as a contemporary teacher?

What is the importance of digital pedagogies in the classroom to me?

Student interest as stated by Judy Wills in her video 'The science of learning' ,is a large key concept in the ability to purposefully retain information. If a student has a negative emotion towards the subject or pedagogy being used the amygdala reacts engaging the limbic system and not allowing the information to be obtained in a retrievable part of the brain. Therefore if the correct pedagogies and learning tools are used in order to engage students in a positive way the likely hood of students having better outcomes increases. Personally, I have always struggled to feel positively towards technology and its use in the class room with access being a problem. When they teacher said we must use computers for an assessment or group activity i would begin to have a range of negative feelings, as I knew that I would not have access to one and therefore little to no knowledge or technical skills. This negative mind set heavily affected my ability to be motivated to engage and therefore I struggle to remember 'basic' IT skills that many people claim should come easy.

Furthermore, when engaging further with the 'digital pedagogies' unit it brings forth a lot of emotions. I am anxious on falling behind and not being able to understand. I however also try to be positive as I look forward to learning the digital pedagogies available in order to help give my future students the best possible educational outcomes. When evaluating my commitment to understand and processing my emotions about digital pedagogies I am very aware of my negative outlook on technology in class rooms specifically due to past personal experience. I am looking forward to  being challenged in my technology knowledge and digital abilities in order to grow and continue to develop as a life long learner.

What are my values and beliefs and how do they affect my classroom?

I do heavily value and believe in technology use in the class rooms as teachers should not be seen as all knowing. Students should have the creative freedom to research and discover information that hold their interest and increases their pool of knowledge in a range of areas. My personal approach to learning has always been on paper, I write all my papers by hand before I ever type on a computer. I strongly feel it messes with my creative flow and struggle trying to let the words flow. I knew coming into my education degree I was going to have to get with the times and learn in different ways, over come my technology fear and teach in a range of ways (Including technology) which suit an array of students.

Coming from a low socio-economic family and high school the access to technology always fell short with some students having proper access and others not. Operating on the assumption that due to the 'age of technology' we are living in all students should have some form of access to a computer or the internet creates a sense of shame for students who do not have access therefore they can begin to lack motivation to do the work or even ask for help and as previously stated negative emotion can effect what parts of the brain critical information may get stored in. It is challenging to think that all students will have the accessibility to learn this way.  

My personal experience with ICTs in learning in the class room are very little; however, going into this degree it stated students could bring their devices- anything from a laptop to a tablet. This to me was a surprise as when I attended high school in 2018 laptops were the only thing allowed and only when assessments were being done or when the teacher allowed it. In my recent placement in 2021 students all had a laptop, ipad or tablet which could be and was used for every task during the lesson. Each class has a dashboard learning site where they could assess their assessment, weekly task and even spelling list. The kids seemed to love this and be more engaged, although a few struggled with staying on task. 

I will continue to be a contemporary learner in order to become the contemporary teacher every student needs.

Until next time- Just keep learning ✌





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