ELT532 Critical Reflection

This practical subject is welcoming to participants engaged in technology and learning. Its optimistic presentation of academic theory uplifts long-suffering students. I remember the frustrations expressed on the discussion forums – the struggle to make headway against hardware and software issues, network interference, and uninterested or overwhelmed colleagues. It’s one clear aspect of this subject: the task of building an effective online Digital Learning Environment (DLE) is complicated, and success depends on various criteria. Another important understanding is that there is no one perfect DLE; they are as varied (Wheeler, 2015) as the needs of students. Best practice argues we choose the elements which will work in our specific organisation (Casey & Evans, 2011).

created by poetics (2016)

If building an effective DLE was easy there would be little need for subjects like this. Completing a subject called Digital Citizenship in Schools, while not working full-time wasn’t my best decision, but we don’t need to be in a school to learn about participating online. We now live part of our lives in virtual communities, and our experiences can be transferred to those we teach. Students benefit from open and honest dialogue about developing safe, positive online identities (Boyd, 2014). Although I didn’t contribute actively to the forums that delved into leadership teams, perceptions of librarians, and the best language to use when articulating IT policy, I do sympathise with everyone’s points of view. It seemed redundant to post, ‘I feel your pain’, or ‘Wow! It’s great when you can see the change you inspire!’ with little else to contribute.

My posts reflect my reality of studying and volunteering. They show I struggle with what to give of myself. While not any less digital, my online life is certainly less pedagogical. I posted much about The Children’s Book Council of Australia because it demonstrates I am engaging in a digital environment, requiring collaborative and technical skills (Karbach, 2015) that can be transferred to education. This organisation trusts me (among others) with its public digital face, and I constantly debate how I present it to the world. My initial post about Will Kostakis was fuelled by anger, and it demonstrates how our online lives are linked into culture and society. Only ten years ago there was no option for such strong, immediate reaction, or the easy platform for Will’s thankful response.

Every deliberate interaction with online spaces makes me a better digital citizen. I benefit because I’m more informed and aware of the subjects in which I participate. Also, my contributions add to other’s views. Most importantly, all who interact positively are role models to younger people (Hollandsworth, Dowdy & Donovan, 2011), who should see that the best contributions they can make are ones that show them in a good light, and lift others to be better too.

I also enjoyed visiting other people’s blogs, reading their reflections, and finding ways to comment insightfully. Those most likely to blog are those who are confident with social media. I picked social media as the topic of the first assignment and can see that people who speak up without resorting to ridicule or self-promotion, are better equipped to navigate digital waters (whatedsaid, 2015). It makes sense this would be also true for young people (Lindsay & Davis, 2010). I’ve learned it’s far better we teach and guide students by letting them take a few risks than we ban, obstruct, and deflect (Schaffhauser, 2016). That won’t happen if we focus on the negative ramifications.

Teachers in the library, still students themselves, are immersed in the language and theory of education in the digital age. They are leaders, innovators, and worthy role-models. By building my online presence through the opportunities this course offers, I have joined their ranks. I am not currently working full-time, but in my next role I know I will be better prepared and more informed because of the challenges of ETL532.

References

Buckley, P. (2016). Coordinated Social Media Campaign. Retrieved from http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/missusb/2016/05/21/coordinated-social-media-campaign/ [Blog Post].

Buckley, P. (2016). Digital learning environments beyond school. Retrieved from http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/missusb/2016/04/11/digital-learning-environments-beyond-schools/ [Blog Post].

Buckley, P. (2016). ETL523 What is digital citizenship? Retrieved from http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/missusb/2016/03/03/etl523-what-is-digital-citizenship/ [Blog Post].

Bailie, H. (2016). Digital Irony, retrieved from http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/hbailie/2016/03/31/digital-irony/ [Blog Post].

Boyd, D. (2014). It’s Complicated: the social lives of networked teens. Yale University Press.

Casey, G., & Evans, T. (2011). Designing for Learning: Online Social Networks as a Classroom Environment. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 12(7), 1-26.  Retrieved from http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ963966&site=ehost-live.

Hollandsworth, R., Dowdy, L., & Donovan, J. (2011). Digital Citizenship in K-12: It Takes a Village. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 55(4), 37-47. doi:10.1007/s11528-011-0510-z.

Lindsay, J., & Davis, V. (2010). Navigate the Digital Rapids. Learning & Leading with Technology, 37(6), 12-15.  Retrieved from http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ886385&site=ehost-live.

Lucas, A. (2016). Online Trolling, retrieved from http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/liblog/2016/04/14/online-trolling/ [Blog Post].

Karbach, Med. (2012). 33 digital skills every 21st century teacher should have. Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. Retrieved 23 May 2016 from http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/06/33-digital-skills-every-21st-century.html (now updated to: The 20 Digital Skills every 21^st Century Teacher Should Have’ (March 2, 2015).

Morschel, B. (2016). 4.1 Globalisation of information and learning, retrieved from http://bmorschel.edublogs.org/2016/04/02/etl523-digital-citizenship-in-schools-module-4-notes/#comments [Blog Post].

Schaffhauser, D. (2016). Researchers: Forget Internet abstinence; Teens need some online risk.  Retrieved from https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/05/16/researchers-forget-internet-abstinence-teens-need-to-face-some-amount-of-online-risk.aspx.

whatedsaid. (2015). Can you teach digital citizenship if you are not an active digital citizen yourself?  Retrieved from https://whatedsaid.wordpress.com/2015/05/08/can-you-teach-digital-citizenship-if-you-are-not-an-active-digital-citizen-yourself/ [Blog Post].

Wheeler, S. (2015). Making learning personal Learning with ‘e’s: Educational theory and practice in the digital age. United Kingdom: Crown House.

Coordinated social media campaign

Yesterday the CBCA announced its yearly Book of the Year Awards Short Lists. While the official lists go public on the website at midday, there is always concern about overloading the site, and this year there was the addition of approximately 300 people together at the conference hearing the announcement live.

With such pressures, we plan a coordinated social media campaign to share the message to a range of relevant platforms, primarily to relieve some of the burden from the website, but also to reach people through their preferred medium.

This is another example of the power of digital environments by showing flexibility for their audience. We are aware that the people most interested in the Short List are educators, public libraries and book sellers. While social media may be not available through government school networks, that is not true for businesses or libraries. Allowing them to access the information through Twitter, Facebook or even Instagram, means fewer people are on the website, allowing those whose only means is through that channel, to have quicker access.

With four different people working on different platforms simultaneously, the lists were shared through a consistent series of images.

On Twitter:

For over 2 hours, we were trending on Twitter. I suspect it helped that the conference attendees were also tweeting madly. 

 

Although not as popular on Instagram, we received ‘likes’ from people not on other platforms, or who came to this one first.

 

 

 

Facebook was a similar story. Each post received somewhere between 11 and 36 ‘likes’ and between 2 and 13 ‘shares’. Not sure why the Eve Pownall list was so popular. Perhaps because it was posted last, and by that time people realised their own power to engage.

Lastly, at approximately 5 pm, we posted them to the Reading Time blog, to coincide with the newsletter distributed to our subscribers once a week. This way, it would be the top post, allowing it to reach another group of relevant persons.

Finally, a quick look at the hourly statistics for the website yesterday.

Just after midday we hit a peak of over 1 000 hits, with the overall number approximately 4 500 across the whole day. [stats by Google Analytics].

Such a plan requires collaboration and preparation. While not strictly a digital ‘learning’ environment, it is a situation targeting people in the business of teaching and learning, and is often administered and organised by educators in their own time. Having to work with people I have never met in person, who live all across Australia is my current reality, and puts me in good stead for when I return to a library and a school, because all of our experiences in a virtual space can translate to real life, and can allow me to connect with students who are clearly living these online lives in myriads of ways.

 

 

 

 

Digital Learning Environments beyond schools

It is not only educational institutions that seek out user-friendly apps and software to allow students and staff to connect, not just within classrooms and across schools, but also across borders and oceans. Volunteer not-for-profit organisations also need ways to develop projects and partnerships, and it’s more likely they are dealing with people not even in the same industry.

The Children’s Book Council of Australia is about to launch its new website. All the content remains essentially the same, but we are aiming for a fresh look, an easier environment in which to work, and a better way to link into the numerous social media accounts we have built up over the years. I have been part of the National website team since about 2008, and it wasn’t much later than that, we started talking about upgrading, up-styling, up everything.

(If there’s one thing annoying about technology, it’s the need to keep upgrading constantly. Nothing stands still.)

As with most not-for-profits, money is tight, so the website stayed as is for many years, longer than it should have, to be honest. While others moved on to weeblys, or wordpress sites, we maintained our site as best we could, and started using other means to communicate with members and interested parties. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (admittedly, that is my Qld Branch Instagram account).

We also moved into the digital world with our printed journal ‘Reading Time’. Subscribers dropped to below 1 000, and it wasn’t financially viable for us to continue. We set about creating an online review site, that after two years, boasts an audience of over 10 thousand page views per month.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(statistics via Google Analytics)

While it hasn’t been a decision that everyone liked (Disappointed to have lost access to our printed journal was a typical response in the early days), we just couldn’t justify such an outlay, given how few people were reading it. We now appear on Google searches, we have an email for subscribers, and people can comment and link back to our reviews from their sites. This has such potency and such reach only afforded by a thriving digital environment (Ito, et. al., 2012).

Back to the website. Over the past 6 months, I have been part of a team that stretches from South Australia to Queensland. Deb is in NSW, and the two web consultants who have been with us from the beginning, Murray and Dave are based in Melbourne.

Initially we communicated primarily through emails, but the threads reached so far back, it was impossible to keep track of who was attending to what, and precisely which tasks had been completed by whom. We then included skype meetings once every couple of weeks, where we able to talk, and view the website on our own screens, as we discussed various design issues, and the implementation of features that allowed best viewing on mobile devices.

The Object Media team also introduced us to Trello.

This collaborative platform made it possible for us to target specific jobs and allocated relevant persons, who could then update the rest of us on progress without needing to send emails. Its layout design is user-friendly and it’s easy to see all the elements at a glance. We could also ask each other questions, and if anybody made any changes, an email notification ensured I was aware, allowing me to choose a time to view the Trello board at my convenience.

These digital environments are only just a few that can be accessed while working through a project. This example demonstrates why it is necessary to use collaborative online web 2.0 tools with students. They will be required to work on them after leaving school, so anything educators can do to ensure students learn to communicate appropriately in the virtual world, will assist them, and make their working life better (Greenhow, 2012).

Our new website is now live.

It has been a lot of work behind the scenes. One of my main jobs has been to insert the last three years (2013 – 2015) worth of Book of the Year award winners into a searchable database. It is hoped that with continued entry of backdated awarded books, this will have the potential to be invaluable to librarians seeking quality Australia literature within a defined subject category. A long term goal.

References:

Cyberlearning Videos (2012, February 6). Christine Greenhow: Help from my friends: Social network sites and the future of cyberlearning [Video file]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/zk9GA1KErc4.

Ito, M., et.al. (2012). Connected Learning Summary. Retrieved from DML Hub: http://dmlhub.net/sites/default/files/ConnectedLearning_summary.pdf.

Group Collaboration

I have been very happy with our group’s collaborative efforts. Adam, Adele and Nat are terrific workers, excellent thinkers, and very supportive colleagues. We have a 20 page Google doc, where we have, for the past week, shared our thoughts on the topic and our individual understanding of it, and what we want to achieve. There are four different colours representing four speakers and mostly there’s purple.

Yes, that’s me. I tend to say/write/ramble a lot. It’s not –

‘we should do this…’

‘I think this is right’

It’s more –

‘maybe this might work…’

‘what do you guys think?’

‘Julie says …’

‘I read somewhere that….’

And while it’s sometimes frustrating not to get an answer straight away, it’s terrific to look back and see how much we have interacted, we have all had our say, and we have come up with a hypothesis that somehow fit all our specific needs.

Most importantly, it’s been fun, productive, and effective. Now onto the hard bit. Making this happen

 

ETL523 What is digital citizenship?

So a thing happened yesterday and I got involved–sort of, as much as I do with anything. It’s the best example I can provide for my understanding of, and participation in digital citizenship. It’s where I’m at right now.

I read Will Kostakis’s new young adult novel, The Sidekicks, in December. Long story short: It was in draft form. I sent him a few emails with suggestions and love (for it), and then my friend and former colleague Megan asked me to review it for her blog. I did that.

On the day The Sidekicks was released, February 29, Kostakis came out on his own blog. I quietly cheered him on. I shared his news with a couple of friends through emails, but didn’t do or say anything publicly. I was even hesitant to share his news privately. Who was I to tell people? Then I decided it was okay because Will posted on his blog. You can’t get more public than that.

Then, yesterday, on the day of his Sydney launch, this happened. Here are the two emails on his blog.

And I got angry. I spent most of the afternoon, posting, sharing, and commenting (Richardson, 2008).

I felt powerful. I felt engaged. I felt connected.

But the whole time I was mindful. I thought about my language. I re-read before I published. I wanted to remain respectful, and not over step any mark, but I did want my voice to be heard. I wanted to show my support.

I wanted to reach out, and hopefully be part of something bigger, but I was also conscious that these posts would always be there, and reflect my ideology. Plus, I needed to be sensitive to Will’s situation, and cautious for myself (Bailey, 2011).

I want to be someone people trust (Richardson, 2008). In the matter of YA novels, I want to be a reliable and knowledgeable expert, someone who people can turn to. I need to protect my brand.

And then I sat back to watch the fall out. It’s a funny thing to say ‘sat back’. Literally, I did no such thing. I was everywhere I could be. Virtually I mean. Of course that’s where I was.

I read lots of articles (I would link to more, but they all say virtually the same thing). I went to Will’s twitter feed for his view. I saw what people I trusted had said. I conferred. I contemplated. I transitioned from my PC to my iPad, and then to my phone when I left the house. I scouted many different social networks, and news blogs, and took note of comments.

By the end of the day, I felt vindicated. Will received so much support. He even went global. In terms of our relatively small community, we were almost viral (for about 4 hours).

Digital citizenship means participation. It means connection. And it fits seamlessly into our life, without any effort. While I was composing these posts and scanning my twitter feed I was reading an article by Richardson, and organising memberships for CBCA. I cooked dinner, and sat in front of My Kitchen Rules, all the while texting and scanning. My online involvement is pervasive and immersive.

And while I sometimes think no one even notices when I put myself out there, I still have to realise my interactions never disappear. When I look at my entire response, it’s actually quite small. But it meant something to me. I am part of it.

This doesn’t have much to do with teaching and learning, I concede. But I am not now in a school. My only connection to students currently is my reputation with educators who might read my reviews and use them to assist readers with book choices. But that doesn’t mean my online life has any less value than others who are. My experience more likely reflects how students are immersing themselves online (Wheeler, 2015). Oh, they probably aren’t being activists for diversity in literature, or campaigning for climate change. They are more likely ‘shipping the latest OTP at Archive of our own, or sharing fan art on Tumblr, or creating playlists on Spotify. The point is they are, like me, finding like-minded individuals who share the same passions. And it’s not anything unusual to them; it’s comfortable, it’s easy, and it’s meaningful.

So for now, I will participate in my online communities as best as I can. I will be kind and tolerant. I will think before I post. I will make a difference.

(I will also be more scholarly next time. Probably.)

References:

Ribble, Mike. (2011). Digital citizenship in schools. International Society for Technology in Education.

Richardson, W. (2008). World without Walls: Learning Well with Others. edutopia. Retrieved from edutopia website: http://www.edutopia.org/collaboration-age-technology-will-richardson

Wheeler, S. (2015). Digital Learning Futures: Mind the Gap! YouTube: INTED 2015.

please note that the people whose names appear on the facebook post gave their permission for their names to be included. The post was also shown to Will Kostakis.