Welcome Season Two Participants to Tech and Tools! I’m delighted to be your facilitator for this module over the month of June.
Before we jump into suggested approaches to working through the module, I have some quick housekeeping to do:
- If you haven’t yet completed the Setting Your Goals activity from the Intro to Pedagogy module, please do so as soon as possible. Once you have done this, you will be officially moved into the Tech and Tools module. If you aren’t seeing yourself on the home page of Tech and Tools (under Current Participants), it’s because we’re still waiting on that activity.
- Please make sure to update your profile on the website with your Hypothesis username. You can edit your profile at the top of your Portfolio page (button in the main menu).
- Remember that the Teams channel is available if you run into any tech issues, have trouble finding something, etc. In addition at the bottom of every page on the DF website, you will see a “Report Website Issue” button — please use this if you encounter a specific issue on a specific page.
- NEW FEATURE: After a suggestion from some of the Season Two Designers and Fellows, we have added a new feature to the website. When you edit your profile (on your portfolio page), you can now added “Areas of Expertise and Interest.” You can add yourself to areas that have already been created by other users, or you can propose new ones. Once you add them, they will appear in the header of your portfolio. If you click on any of them (on your portfolio or another user’s), you’ll be taken to a landing page for that topic, where you can see who else has added it and where you can have a discussion about. Enjoy!
This week, I encourage you to spend some time on the the topic of the “Technology/Pedagogy Dance.” It’s about considering when we let the teaching lead and when we lean into better understanding the possibilities of a technology.
Relatedly, you should check out this question (and comments from past DFers) about when a technology has inspired you to try something new in the classroom. And, a counterpart, about when you’ve felt the need to resist a technology.
Remember that when it comes to our Resources, we want everyone to try and read/annotate the pieces in “Group Resources.” (And then pick at least one other resource from the “Choice” group to read/annotate). If you’re looking for a reading to start with, check out Cathy Davidson’s “Why We Need Digital Literacies.” (Note: Remember to put your annotations in the “Design Forward” group in the Hypothesis panel.)
Finally, if you’re looking for an activity to dive into, you might check out “Curating Your Tech Toolbox,” but, as always, feel free to explore other activities to get inspired, or just add a reflection to you Portfolio.
Remember that in Design Forward our mantra is “no busy work” — do not spend time on things that do not bring you joy or inspire your thinking. Move onto something else. And if none of the discussion questions are sparking your imagining on any given day, remember you can submit your own!
That’s it for this week!