Reflection six

 

Digital tools (Small, 2023).

This reflection is in response to Online Activity 4.1:Digital tools for teaching and learning glossary

Artefact:

This task asked for us to explore a digital teaching tool applicable to an educational context of interest to us - mine was an adult distance learning context which allowed for asynchronous work. The tool I selected was Canva.

Canva is an easy to use design platform which allows users to create digital products such as presentations, graphics, websites, videos and documents on most devices. In an educational context, this tool would enable teachers to quickly create visually appealing presentations with customized graphics, and include elements such as pre-recorded video across each slide. Canva offers the option to create blank designs, or start from a wide variety of templates to make the process even quicker. There are a number of 'elements' (images) that can be added to projects, as well as the option to upload personal images. Further, there is an auto-save function which saves the additional hassle of losing work or remembering to save progress.

A key affordance of Canva for learning is the ability to collaborate on projects. Educators can create a virtual classroom and invite the learners into the document to collaborate in real time with the addition of online video conferencing tools such as Zoom. The platform also offers tools such as tables and charts which are completely customizable to aid in certain learning tasks and present information clearly. 

Canva also offers a large range of digital tools for developing teachers understanding of using Canva in the digital or face-to-face classroom, including instructional videos for teachers and students - linked below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwyXoW2TP_k&list=PLATYfhN6gQz_YJssoYx-YrBG6QYss1XQu

A key limitation is the inability to host a virtual classroom without linking with other video conferencing tools such as Zoom. Further, if using Canva to create learning resources it must be understood that all projects created on Canva are legally the Intellectual Property of Canva, and as such cannot be sold, licensed, rented, modified, distributed, copied, reproduced or publicly displayed. For a full list of the Proprietary Rights, see the Terms of Use.

https://www.canva.com/policies/terms-of-use/

Reflection

Canva is a digital tool which hosts a range of affordances across its offerings; from creating presentations, documents and whiteboards, to videos, websites and social media postings, it offers something for most contexts. At the time of writing the artefact, I had only used limited functionality of Canva - creating images for assignments as well as presentations in my organizational context. I decided to look a little closer at its affordances as part of my responsibilities as an educator - which prompted this response. 

Of its many affordances, Canva supports online, multimedia slide shows which can hold auditory and visual aids, as well as interactive components that link natively to other digital applications (I used Miro and Jotform to test this out). While these affordances offer increased functionality, what I realised was that on its own this tool did not encourage learner engagement or communication - rather, it offered a means of delivering the content at risk of being devoid of the pedagogical and social contexts. Reading Davidson-Shivers and Rand (2023), what I noticed was that the collaborative element was not effectively supported through the affordances of the digital tool in isolation, rather strategies would need to be employed to support cognitive engagement in the learning process. Without active interaction such as those defined by the theoretical pedagogies such as constructivism and connectivism collaboration cannot occur (Bozhurt, 2015, as cited in Davidson-Shivers & Rand, 2023). Further, the influence of cognitive, social and teaching presence on eliciting optimal learning outcomes and student engagement, as described by the Community of Inquiry framework (COI), is one way to facilitate student engagement (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 1999; Cleveland-Innes, Garrison & Vaughan, 2019). What this means for practice is that while educators must be cognizant of the affordances of digital tools, they must also consider how learners will interact with the technology, interact with each other, and with the content (Davidson-Shivers & Rand, 2023). It is well and good having a slide show on Canva which is visually appealing and integrates multimedia tools and interactive elements, but without careful consideration of the social collaborative element, some risk is presented in learner engagement. 

A method I have utilised for distance short courses since the creation of this artefact is to integrate Microsoft Teams as a communication tool, and purposeful collaborative activities to lean into learners' individual experiences therefore increasing the relevance of the learning by leaning into their individual contexts and knowledge bases. Using the relevant theories and studies through this course my practice has shifted to consider not only the content that must be delivered, or the technology which must be utilised to convey such content - but to look at where the learner is situated amongst these. Learning in the NZDF can easily fall into the trap of becoming singularly focussed on what learners must know to perform their jobs, or the technology which must be used (such as simulation or specific computer applications which align with security goals) - it is thinking about learner engagement and how they are situated that can fall to the wayside. This reflection demonstrates a shift in awareness from what must be delivered, to how learners are engaging with it.

References

Bozhurt, A., Akgun-Ozbek, E., Yilmazel, S., Erdogdu, E., Ucar, H., Gulelr, E., ... Aydin, C. H.

(2015). Trends in distance education research: A content analysis of journals 2009-2013. The

International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 161, 330–363

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 (Eds.), Handbook of distance education (4th ed., pp. 66–78). Routledge.

Davidson-Shivers, G., & Rand, A. (2023). Asynchronous Tools for Interaction and Collaboration. In O. Zawacki-Richter & I. Jung (Eds.), Handbook of Open, Distance and Digital Education (pp. 1003–1020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2080-6_56 Retrieved from https://rdcu.be/c5egx

Garrison, D. R., Cleveland-Innes, M., & Fung, T. S. (2010). Exploring causal relationships among

teaching, cognitive and social presence: Student perceptions of the community of inquiry

framework. The internet and higher education, 13(1–2), 31–36.

Small, L. Digital tools [digital visualization on the internet].  https://www.canva.com/design/DAFiWt95zOo/ZHQqThqIRoXlV77QxDTtdw/edit?analyticsCorrelationId=f6407db3-4d08-4d69-8877-3718ee38f0e7