What is the nature of the relationship between technology and pedagogy and does it favour one
or the other, or are they balanced?
Defining pedagogy and technology
My initial thoughts in regards to the questions asked about the relationship between technology and pedagogy, and whether the research favours one of the other, was going to be a matter of making notes around the balance of technology and pedagogy. It was clear in my practice when using technology in the classroom, that there needed to be a focus on both technology and pedagogy as a balance, in meeting the needs of the students. At the start of the readings it became apparent that pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge and technological knowledge were important for a teacher to have, however, technology was a tool that supported and enhanced learning, rather than helped to achieve learning outcomes. Much to my surprise, technology could also constrain the students in achieving the learning outcomes (Koehler, Mishra and Cain, 2013) when the teacher is not equipped with the deep pedagogical and technological knowledge required to implement this tool effectively. This misconception raised questions about the definition of pedagogy and technology, and the skills teachers develop over the years, that become a natural part of who we are. Effective teaching requires pedagogical knowledge about the curriculum, classroom management, how learners learn and best practice in specific content. For these reasons the focus should be on pedagogy and less on technology.
What is pedagogy?
Vygotski introduced the Zone of Proximal Development framework, a concept which refers to the
gap between what a learner has mastered and what they can potentially master with the help of a “more knowledgeable other”. The concept emphasises the social aspects of learning and the important role of teachers in order for learners to reach their full potential (Hickey, 2014). Teachers require a deep pedagogical knowledge about how students learn, classroom management, lesson planning and assessment (Hamilton, Rosenberg and Akcaoglu, 2016) in order to meet the social and cognitive development of the learners, in a collaborative learning environment. A teacher’s presence and content knowledge allows effective social interaction and dialogue to occur, resulting in students mastering new skills (Cleveland-Innes, Garrison and Vaughan 2019).
What is technology?
As Koehler, et al. (2013) suggest that technology is a tool that can be used to create, configure,
store, reuse, transmit or modify information which allows for the analysis and adaptation of the intended learning outcomes. Students are able to develop different ways to meet the learning outcomes that otherwise would not be possible. Technology can also be used anytime and anywhere, allowing students to access the world in real time, bridge the gap between distance learning and provide social contexts in a community of inquiry (Hickey, 2014).
Relationship between technology and pedagogy
When integrating technology, its purpose should be to enhance and support student learning
(Hamilton, Rosenberg and Akcaoglu, 2016) rather than improve learning outcomes (Hickey, 2014). Higgins and Roskind (2005) point out that the effective use of technology strongly depends on the nature of the teacher, learner, students and task in order to meet the learning outcomes, rather than on the technology itself (p. 437). An example would be an integrated social studies, maths and technology lesson that I had taught to Year 6 students in order to develop a collaborative classroom culture. It was important for me as the teacher to plan a lesson that was engaging and to provide a meaningful context. So I decided to have the children mark their home address on google maps using a shared document. The technology and lesson provided a social context for the students to make connections with those who lived on the same street, the distances from each other and how easy it would be to plan play dates. The dialogue within this social context needed to be facilitated by me in order for the discussions to be inclusive and focused on the learning. It would have been just as easy to use a local paper map, however, the technology allowed the students to transmit information instantly, create a pin or picture to show where they lived, modify the distances between their friends' houses and analyse the information in order to meet the learning outcomes. It is clear that the implementation of technology in this lesson was more to provide another medium of being able to enhance and support the student’s learning and that the pedagogical and content knowledge needed to be initiated and delivered by me as the teacher.
What are the implications for teaching?
Teachers need to develop their technological knowledge which requires a deeper understanding of information technology for processing information, communicating and problem solving. A study by Ertmer et. al, (2012) found that one of the main reasons for teachers not implementing new technology into their teaching was from a lack of professional development. It is important for teachers to develop a deeper understanding of the technology that is used in the classroom and the software programmes that are constantly on offer. Professional development in the use of technology should be an important staff focus as most classrooms have evolved into one-to-one devices or at least moving towards it.
Pedagogical and content knowledge requires teachers to understand how students learn, apply classroom management skills, develop lessons that are engaging and assess the student’s progress, in order to meet the social and cognitive development of the learners, in a collaborative learning environment (Cleveland-Innes, Garrison and Vaughan 2019).
Ertmer et.al, (2012) also found that the skills, attitudes, beliefs and knowledge skills of teachers, who were not confident with technology, was also a major barrier. Implementing technology is unlikely to occur unless it is consistent with a teacher’s existing pedagogical beliefs (Koehler, Mishra and Cain, 2013). A teacher’s pedagogical beliefs, that is their teaching philosophy, impacts on how and for what purpose technology is implemented. It is important for teachers to self reflect and recognise legitimate variations on excellence in teaching.
References:
Hickey, G. (2014). The importance of learning philosophies on technology selection in education. Journal of Learning Design, 7(3), 16-22.
Hamilton, E., Rosenberg, J., & Akcaoglu, M. (2016). The Substitution augmentation modification redefinition (SAMR) model: A critical review and suggestions for its use. TechTrends, 60(5), 433-441.
Cleveland-Innes, M., Garrison, D. R., & Vaughan, N. (2019). The community of inquiry theoretical framework: Implications for distance education and beyond. In M. G. Moore & W. Diehl, C. (Eds.), Handbook of distance education (4th ed., pp. 67-78). Routledge.
Koehler, M. J., Mishra, P., & Cain, W. (2013). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK)? Journal of Education, 193(3), 13-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/002205741319300303
Ertmer, P. A., Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. T., Sadik, O., Sendurur, E., & Sendurur, P. (2012). Teacher beliefs and technology integration practices: A critical relationship. Computers & Education, 59(2), 423–435. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.02.001