Technology, pedagogy and digital production: a case study of children learning new media skills

Abstract

This article focuses on data collected from a project called 'Shared Spaces: Informal Learning and Digital Cultures'. The project aimed to build links between young peoples' leisure and learning experiences, by engaging with the content and styles of learning connected with digital cultures in homes and community centres. The article focuses on issues around technology and pedagogy by analysing data collected from computer games making course for young people aged 9-13. The data from the games class is analysed in relation to three models of learning: constructionism, constructivism and situated learning. The article focuses on how these different models explain varying components of the learning environment, and specifically how models work in relation to digital media. The article raises questions about types of software used with this age range and also discusses implications in terms of pedagogy for the use of different software packages.

In search of third spaces in media education: an ethnographic study from fifth graders’ media workshop

“…Obviously, it is necessary to go beyond this 'natural cyberkids' discourse' as Rebekah Willett (2007) calls it. Not all children are digital natives, for example, in terms of being automatically able to use digital authoring tools (Burn and Durran 2007, 168).…”

“…By exploring the functions of the software in imaginative ways, the children, instead of being positioned as media consumers as is general in school (Selwyn 2006), were positioned as authors of the medium. Likewise, the use of the software in the media workshop was not restricted or sequentially tutored (Willett 2007) as in school, in general, and therefore children learnt to use the tool collaboratively and experimentally, as they often do outside school. This kind of positioning in the school context seemed to create a sense of agency: the children felt able to decide what to do and how, for instance to create new props from other props or use imagination and 'non-schooled' language.…”

“…In practice, the teacher showed very briefly with a laptop and a video projector how the storyboard could be constructed with the software, how to choose a background or characters and adjust their positions, and how to write texts in the speech bubbles. As a pedagogical practice this could be described as a scaffolding process in which the teacher assists the pupils to use the software by modelling actions (Willett 2007). But after that first introduction to the software, there was no need to teach the children how to use the tool in the media workshop.…”

A framework for Web 2.0 learning design

“…While there can be process losses incurred by attempting to coordinate such activity online (Neale, Carroll, & Rosson, 2004), the intention is that with savvy learning design the benefits of social interaction (Mayer, 2005) and more active participation (Willett, 2007) outweigh any extra collaborative overhead experienced by collaborating online. These pedagogies can be distinguished by their degree of negotiation and production, as shown in Table 1.…”

“…Inspired by constructivist learning theory, constructionism is argued to improve learning by virtue of engaging participants in personally meaningful productive pursuits over which they exercise a large degree of control (Willett, 2007). Clements (2009) describes virtual constructionism as "understanding the relationship between teaching and student learning, and integrating it effectively with e-learning technologies to support students in constructing meaningful experiences".…”