Technology as a creative partner

Unlocking learner potential and learning

Abstract

The value of technology in education is still discounted by many academics. In many instances where technology is considered for learning and teaching, it is done without any pedagogical reasoning or within traditional practices. This limits the role that technology could play in enhancing the learning experience and learning. While the intangible aspect of technology such as communication, collaboration, co-creation and sharing have the potential to significantly impact on student learning, the tangible affordances of technology made possible by 3D printers or Arduino cards can also play a critical role in student cognitive and creative development. Using Pedagogy 2.0 as a framework for the redesign of a first year computing course, this paper discusses the findings of how embedded use of mobile social media, Arduino and emerging 3D technologies, impacted on student and student learning within the proposed participatory design-based research (PDBR) approach. The paper reports on the implementation and findings from the first iteration of a two-iteration PDBR cycle.