What a funny word. If I were to guess what that word meant, I would picture it as the state of being a “pedagon”; which sounds a lot like a pentagon. I just picture the Pokemon Porygon, but maybe that’s just the kid in me.

What Pedagogy Means to Me

Unfortunately, that’s not what Pedagogy is. Pedagogy refers to the methods, strategies, and practices of teaching. It is basically the science of education, how one goes about educating others.

While the term is a new one to me, the concept’s importance resonates with me as someone who teaches people Calisthenics on the side. I am sure it resonates with most people, in fact, since most people have to teach others something at some point. I feel it’s an innately human thing.

It being formally defined makes it easier to become better at teaching, since you can research what works and what doesn’t under the umbrella of pedagogy. As a learner, I learn best when given quantifiable metrics to work with, the more details the better. This gives me an idea if I am on track, but maybe that’s just the computer science student in me speaking.

What about Networked Pedagogy?

Okay, this is not funny now. I am sure whoever made up these terms had Porygon in mind.

Networked Pedagogy is teaching methods that leverage digital networks to enhance learning. So basically teaching people online.

As someone who grew up on the internet, I have been exposed to this idea inadvertently through being on the web. Whether that was through going through game installation tutorials, participating in hobbyist forums, or learning on Coursera, I have always been growing my knowledge online.

Creators online who teach people have to learn to be good at what they do if they want to produce quality content. This is why I think they practice Networked Pedagogy even if they do not know of the term.

Learning Theories in Practice

Will I pick Cognitivism just because I am in Computer Science? Yes, yes I will.

Working with computers for a long time makes you relate to them – as sad as that sounds. In computers, there is the concept of a RAM (Random-access memory) which is a computer’s short-term memory.

Hard drives or SSDs would act as the long-term memory. Sometimes, you want to move stuff from the RAM to, say, the hard drive by copying it over. This is similar to how we as humans move stuff from our short-term memory to our long-term memory when we prove it’s relevant to our minds – through repeated practice for example.

The Role of the Instructor

For one, an instructor has to be enthusiastic about what they are teaching. Not being monotone helps people not doze off. They also have to be a good communicator, to make up for people not being able to respond in real-time (assuming they are teaching asynchronously). Being able to use diagrams and non-text material helps as well since we humans love images.

One of the content creators I follow on YouTube that raises the bar of what it means to be an educator online is 3Blue1Brown. He ignited my love for mathematics and saved my grades in calculus. This is one of his best videos:

Digital Spaces: The Good and The Ugly

Digital spaces are great – you can learn anywhere, at any time, only being limited by the amount of effort you put in. However, with that comes its downfall. If you are not disciplined enough to keep active in your learning journey, you will easily fall behind your goals. In person, you have some extrinsic motivation at play with seeing your peers interact with material and being able to interact with your instructor in real-time.

To succeed in a digital environment, you need to be committed to your goals. Set a plan, keep a calendar, and engage with your peers as much as you can virtually. If you do so, you will reap the fruits of being online.

Hello everyone! My name is Mostafa, and I am in my final semester of Computer Science as an undergraduate. I love problem-solving in general, and I lead the UVic Calisthenics Club, which I am very passionate about. Doing so has taught me the value of conveying information to others in a matter they understand, tailoring it to their knowledge background.

One of the reasons I took this course (besides it being asynchronous) is to learn more about education in the digital world. I do a lot of online learning in my own time to better my knowledge in varying areas that interest me, something that I take for granted. I can do a quick Google search and learn about basically anything I feel like learning. The limit to learning is simply how much time and effort you want to put in, as long as you have a computer and an internet connection. This is a fairly recent phenomenon, whereas before the age of the internet, people would have to go out and look for that knowledge, whether it be through finding a teacher to learn from or by indexing information yourself from books in a library.

So with this massive shift from in-person learning to online learning, one has to educate themselves about the digital world and how they can participate in it.

What is Distributed Education?

It is a learning model where instruction, resources, and support are spread across different locations, often facilitated by technology.

One example here that I use a lot myself is Coursera. You can go there, sign up for a course, and learn through pre-recorded lectures set by an instructor. You can find the resources and get support from the instructor through the course. This learning method is unique to the digital world, and is supported by technology.

What is Open Education?

Open education involves educational practices and resources that are freely available to anyone, with no or minimal barriers to access.

I was a little confused as to the difference between Open Education and Distributed Education, but the difference lies on the focus.

Distributed Education focuses on geographically dispersed learners and instructors, using technology to connect them. Its primary goal is to allow teaching and learning to happen across different locations, often through online or blended formats. The accessibility here is more about overcoming physical distance rather than cost or licensing.

Whereas open education focuses on removing barriers to education, making it accessible to everyone, regardless of geography or economic status. It emphasizes free or low-cost resources and open licensing that allows reuse and modification.

Modes of Learning

Different modes of learning exist that have their different strengths and weaknesses:

• Face-to-Face Learning
  • Advantages: Strong sense of community, easier to build relationships with peers and instructors, and immediate clarification of doubts
• Online Learning
  • Can be synchronous or asynchronous
  • Advantages: Flexibility to learn from anywhere, often self-paced
• Blended Learning
  • A combination of face-to-face and online learning, integrating the strengths of both
  • Think: Having a class-room where you are sitting together with peers, and the teacher is presenting on the screen
  • Advantages: Offers the personal interaction of face-to-face learning while providing the flexibility of online components
• Hybrid Learning
  • Similar to blended learning, but with more flexibility, often allowing students to choose between attending sessions in person or online
  • Students can choose to select to attend in-person or online
  • Advantages: High flexibility, accommodating different learning preferences and schedules

My favourite is face-to-face learning when it fits well in my schedule. I love the sense of community it forms, and how it forces you to interact with the stuff you are learning in real time.

At the same time, asynchronous online learning shines when you are internally driven and have a plan set for yourself as to how to utilize it best. For something like this course, this mode of learning is perfect since you practice learning about distributed learning, in a distributed learning environment. This is very meta.

Digital Literacy

It is the ability to effectively and critically use digital technologies to navigate, evaluate, and create information.

If you are able to fully participate in the online world, while being able to learn tools that are new to you, then you are digitally literate. For example, if you are able to navigate the contents of the course and execute them comfortably, then you probably have a high degree of digital literacy.

Digital Identity

Digital identity is very important in an age where anything you do is easily searchable online. I try to manage my digital identity by only posting stuff that is authentic to me and how I want to present myself. I keep my private life private to me and my friends.

Conclusion

I am excited for this course and for getting the chance to practice my blog writing skills. I hope I find my writing style as I write more of these posts, too.