Time for no RAGRETS. Not even a single letter

I am still very confused as to what digital pedagogy really is. I know pedagogy is the method we use to teach children, so would digital pedagogy then be using technology to teach children?

To make myself a little more familiar with the term, I decided to just Google what 'digital pedagogy' means. Google defined it as 'An attempt to use technology to change teaching and learning in a variety of ways.' At first thought, this seems like a very good idea since we are living in the 21st century where almost every tween/adult I know has a smartphone or tablet. I mean, when I did not know what didgital pedagogy was, my first instinct was to use the technology at hand and google it.

Reading the article on digital pedagogy, Fyfe asks if there can be digital pedagogy without computers? The article also talks about 'hacking', which is adapting or manipulating oneself to make productive use of a given technology, technological context or platform.

Hacking is a good term for teachers to know, as it is always good to adapt as the learners do and make teaching more engaging on their level. Children these days are becoming more techno savvy and learn faster than they ever have before. Therefore, teaching with technology could be really stimulating for the learners, as this is what they're going to be using in their respective jobs one day. Learners will need to know how the internet works, how to do an excel spreadsheet or a word document.

However, in a country like South Africa where some schools cannot even afford textbooks, this is not always possible. Teachers and schools will then benefit from being able to teach digital pedagogy without computers. Some children in South Africa actually don't even know what tablets are, so as teachers we need to teach these children in a language they understand and feel comfortable with.

The article also talks about teaching 'naked', which is basically just teaching with no electronics. Go back to old school teaching where the focus is not so much on how cool the slides are or how many amazing videos are shown, but on the actual learning content. This is what matters most, as the pedagogy can become ineffective if governed by tools.

If I then have to rephrase what digital pedagogy means to me, it would be a form of pedagogy that should be creative, engaging and always changing. Digital pedagogy should be a balance between using technology and 'naked' teaching. Let us change with the generation and focus on the content and not so much the tools. It's time to be bold with our teaching. No RAGRETS. Not even a single letter.