About

The Need

In a recent global survey of almost 10,000 K-12 educators (Schoology, 2017) 95% reported that digital learning has a positive impact on student achievement and 92% see increased teaching effectiveness. Not surprisingly, the #1 challenge teachers face is juggling too many digital tools and the #1 challenge for administrators is providing relevant and effective professional development to those teachers. Add to this, professional development formats such as professional learning communities and coaching are currently not meeting teachers’ needs (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2014b). In the US these challenges are compounded by a distressingly underfunded, under resourced public education system (American Federation of Teachers [AFT], 2018) that can result in sub-optimal professional development experiences for both teachers and administrators.

Professional Development

With the high-value placed on digital learning and the consequential need for accompanying 21st-century digital literacy skills, effective and efficient professional development is crucial. Teachers report they prefer collaborative learning experiences that are energizing, supportive, and hands on; focusing less on presentations and lectures and more on opportunities to apply learning through demonstrations, modeling and practice. (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2014b) To address these concerns this 10-week professional development curriculum was created to support teachers who wish to acquire digital literacy skills to improve their teaching with an interactive, situationally relevant, fun, and frugal learning experience that is both effective and efficient.

The Curriculum

The curriculum incorporates a playful medium of digital storytelling- the practice of using computer-based tools to tell stories that facilitate student engagement, reflection for deep project-based learning, and the effective integration of technology (Barrett, 2006 as cited by Sadik, 2008). By inviting course participants to imagine themselves teaching a subject at a fictional Nissaba School of Sorcery, a context recognizable from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry created by J.K. Rowling (1997), teachers are learning a new form of “digital magic” that will develop their digital literacy skills in preparation for a lesson exchange program with a non-magic school.

Digital literacy can be understood as the ability to find, evaluate, share and create content using the internet (Gilster, 1997; Levy, 2018; Spires, Casey & Kerkhoff, 2018). What is required in digital environments is similar to traditional literacy skills, reading, writing, speaking, and listening, but not identical; Digital literacy involves "more than the mere ability to use software or operate a digital device; it includes a large variety of complex cognitive, motor, sociological, and emotional skills. " (Eshet-Alkalai, 2004)

Learning is more effective when skills are developed within the context of actual use and include strong social-emotional, collaborative, and shared practice components (König, 2013; Eshet-Alkalai, 2004; Hague & Payton, 2010). This digital literacy curriculum provides an instructional learning environment that encourages the emergence and continuance of a Community of Practice (Wenger-Trayner & Wenger-Trayner, 2015)- which is supported by a Pedagogy of Play (Project Zero Research Team, 2016) with imaginative, playful assignments that utilize only a small targeted subset of free and easy to use digital technologies. The digital artifacts produced by participants are directly applicable to the teacher's real-life classroom activities with the intent of encouraging collaboration in a fun and frugal learning experience that will continue to develop digital literacy skills beyond the course itself.

Curriculum Themes

Within the context of digital storytelling the curriculum centers around four major themes: Digital Literacy, Community of Practice, a Pedagogy of Play, and Frugal Innovation as further described below.

• Digital Storytelling: The fun, project-based learning strategy of digital storytelling- using computer-based tools to tell stories- is one the easiest ways to integrate digital technology into the classroom and is an “effective pedagogical tool that enhances learners’ motivation" (Barret, 2006 as cited by Smeda, Dakich, & Sharda, 2014).
• Digital Literacy: Exploring the Seven C's of 21st-century digital literacy skills-
  1. Digital Citizenship
  2. Critical Thinking
  3. Creativity
  4. Collaboration
  5. Content Creation
  6. Consuming digital resources
  7. Effective Communication.
• Community of Practice: The support of a Community of Practice (CoP)- A collaborative, context and content relevant, shared-learning environment (Wenger-Trayner et al., 2015; Pyrko, Dörfler & Eden, 2017)- nurtures digital literacy skills development with on-going training that increases the long-term effectiveness of the PD curriculum.
• Pedagogy of Play: Playful learning, also referred to as a Pedagogy of Play in this curriculum, is a low-risk way to develop cognitive abilities and encourage creativity, planning and problem solving (Lents, 2017; Liu et al., 2017; van Leeuwen & Westwood, 2008). It increases motivation and content retention, and provides the social interactivity, attunement, and meaningful active engagement crucial to cultivating the formation of a Community of Practice.
• Frugal Innovation: By embracing a Frugal Innovation mindset, creatively optimizing the use of technology to do more with less (Kuo, 2014; Basu, Banerjee & Sweeney, 2013), the curriculum takes into consideration the participants' goals and very real financial, technological, material and other resource constraints faced by teachers in our public schools today. The digital resources explored are easily accessible, adaptable, and affordable.

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