Daniela Gachago

Social media for enhancing student engagement : the use of Facebook and blogs at a University of Technology

This work investigates the promise of Facebook and blogs for enhancing students’ levels of engagement in learning. This issue warrants investigation because there is little published empirical work on the subject. The researchers applied a learning ecology perspective to study the potential of Facebook and blogs in enhancing student levels of engagement in learning. In-depth interviews with lecturers who use Facebook and blogs and focus groups with their respective students were carried out to establish: usage in teaching and learning; the context of use; challenges encountered in usage; and whether these technologies enhanced student learning. A significant finding of the study was that appropriate use of blogs and Facebook groups, if accepted by students as a learning tool, enhances students’ engagement in learning activities of an academic nature on- and off-campus. The article also suggests strategies for the implementation of Facebook and blogs in ways that are likely to have a positive impact on student levels

The use of emerging technologies for authentic learning: A South African study in higher education

It is now widely accepted that the transmission of disciplinary knowledge is insufficient to prepare students leaving higher education for the workplace. Authentic learning has been suggested as a way to bring the necessary complexity into learning to deal with challenges in professional practice after graduation. This study investigates how South African higher educators have used emerging technologies to achieve the characteristics of authentic learning. A survey was administered to a population of 265 higher educators in South Africa who self-identified as engaging with emerging technologies. From this survey, a sample of 21 respondents were selected to further investigate their practice through in-depth interviewing using Herrington, Reeves and Olivers nine characteristics of authentic learning as a framework. Interrater analysis undertaken by five members of the research team revealed both consistencies and differences among the twenty one cases across the nine elements of authentic learning. The highest levels of authenticity were found for the elements authentic context and task, and the lowest for articulation. Furthermore, there was a moderate correlation identified between levels of authenticity and the role played by emerging technologies in achieving the authenticity, showing a potentially symbiotic relationship between them.

Engagement Levels in a Graphic Design Clicker Class: Students' Perceptions around Attention, Participation and Peer Learning.

Research into the uses of personal response systems or ‘clickers’ shows that their use increases students’ engagement levels in the classroom. In South Africa, clicker usage is still in its infancy, with little research published in the field. This study reports on 37 Graphic Design students’ perceptions of the use of clickers and their engagement levels (attention, participation, and active class discussion) in small clicker classes. Clickers were introduced in three interventions in the third term of the 2010 academic year in an attempt to improve students’ participation in class discussions. The devices were used for individual and peer voting. Peer and class discussion either preceded or followed the voting process. The study employed a mixed method research design. Data was collected through open-ended student questionnaires, clicker questions during classes, and one focus group discussion. Drawing on cooperative learning theory, this paper discusses student engagement on three levels. Firstly, clickers seize students’ attention through the simplicity, novelty factor, and fun element they bring to class. Secondly, they encourage student participation through the anonymity they offer, which is especially important when the language of learning and teaching is not the students’ first language. Thirdly and most importantly, clickers encourage peer discussion. Students reported that by being confronted with opposing points of views, which lead to uncertainty or conceptual conflicts, they were propelled to re-conceptualise their own arguments, which then in turn led to more refined and thoughtful conclusions. This resonates with the central tenet of Johnson, Johnson, and Smith’s Controversy Theory (1998), which advocates the benefits of cooperative student learning. Students reported that peer discussions improved their confidence to participate in the class discussions.

'All stories bring hope because stories bring awareness': students' perceptions of digital storytelling for social justice education

Although becoming a more racially-integrated society, the legacy of Apartheid still affects learners’ social engagements in and outside their classrooms. Adopting Nussbaum’s (2010) capabilities framework for a socially just democracy, this paper examines 27 pre-service teacher education students’ perceptions of a digital storytelling project and its potential for recognising and honouring capabilities necessary for engaging empathetically with the ‘other’. Using narrative inquiry, and specifically Bamberg’s (2006) ‘small stories’ approach, the research team analysed 30 stories students constructed in four focus group conversations at the end of the project. In these stories, most of Nussbaum’s (2010) capabilities were evident. We found that, in the collective sharing of their stories, students positioned themselves as agentive selves, displaying the belief that they can make a difference, not only individually within their own classrooms, but also as a collective of teachers. Keywords: capabilities approach; digital stories; digital storytelling; pre-service teacher education; social justice education

Towards the development of digital storytelling practices for use in resource-poor environments, across disciplines and with students from diverse backgrounds

Digital storytelling has entered Higher Education as a pedagogical tool for enhancing students digital literacies in digitally saturated contexts. Increasing access to freely available software programs for video production and the ubiquity of mobile technologies have made digital storytelling viable in resource-poor environments. This paper reports on an on-going project at a university of technology in South Africa employing both quantitative and qualitative research approaches, with the aim of understanding students perceptions of context-specific digital storytelling practices across various disciplines and student backgrounds. Pierre Bourdieus notions of field, habitus and capital as well as Tara Yossos community cultural wealth were applied to understand students perceptions of practices of digital storytelling that emerged from this project. We argue that complex technology projects, such as digital storytelling, are potentially viable in poorly-resourced environments, across disciplines and with students with diverse digital literacies and backgrounds, provided that: 1. technical barriers are lowered to the minimum and technologies are adopted that are freely available, owned by or easily accessible to students, 2. that the appropriate model is chosen based on these students social and cultural capital, and 3. that the community cultural wealth of students is considered in curriculum delivery.

Podcasts: A technology for all?

While the pedagogical benefits and challenges of podcasting as a teaching and learning practice are well researched, sometimes with contradictory results, literature on the potential of podcasting as a socially inclusive technology is scanty. Using a quantitative survey design, framed by concepts such as emerging technologies, low-threshold applications and nontraditional students, this study investigated students perceptions at a large institution in South Africa on the access and use of podcasts. Findings indicate that podcasting was well received by all students. Particularly nontraditional students, with specific reference to gender, age and home language, were the ones who engaged most extensively with podcasts. Regular recordings of difficult, content-heavy lectures were perceived as the most effective use of podcasting, showing that course design matters in terms of podcasting usage. Findings also challenged the view of podcasting as facilitating passive learning. In our context, which is defined by severe resource constraints and fear of technology among both lecturers and students, the simplicity and accessibility of podcasts promises a successful mainstream adoption of a low-threshold technology for African higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital Storytelling in Industrial Design

With the massification of higher education (HE) globally, widening access to education has changed the face of the student population. Post-apartheid South Africa in particular has seen a rapid increase in so-called Non-Traditional Students (NTSs). These students are often first-generation HE matriculants, mature, juggling work, family and academic responsibilities, and viewed as academically underprepared. Most suggestions for dealing with NTSs are based on a deficiency model—offering remedial and additional support to struggling students. The authors suggest a move away from this deficit approach to one that focuses on designing and offering innovative teaching and learning practices that are meaningful and accessible to all students, including NTSs. This study examined how digital storytelling would mediate some of the challenges NTSs in a first-year Industrial Design course face. How did the digital storytelling practice help the students deal with some of the challenges they face? In particular, the elements of collaboration and flexibility stood out in terms of mediating the challenges the students reported. Instead of negatively labelling NTSs as problematic, the authors call for disrupting current teaching and learning, concluding that learning activities should be designed to engage all students, offer inclusivity, flexibility and choice.

Lessons on Humility: White Women’s Racial Allyship in Academia

In this chapter, I reflect on my experience as white, middle-class, European woman in a mixed-race relationship and mother of mixed-race children in Post-Apartheid South Africa. Against the backdrop of the complexities and messiness of the ongoing student protests calling for the decolonisation of academia, I share my continuous struggle to become a white ally in my personal and professional life. Drawing from feminist literature on allyship, I argue that white academics need to step back, start listening and accept that our knowledge and experience might not be what the moment calls for. What does it mean to give up privilege? How do we decentre ourselves? What are strategies we can apply to become more aware of our own blind spots? How do we fight Whiteness without losing ourselves? Through my own narratives, I will draw my own journey towards allowing myself to feel the pain that Whiteness keeps inflicting on people of colour—despite our best intentions—while at the same time feeling compassion for our continued failings, our white guilt and shame.

The ethics of listening to build community in the commons

Bronwen Low, Chloe Brushwood Rose and Paula M. Salvio’s deceptively small book ‘Communitybased Media Pedagogies: Relational Practices of Listening in the Commons’ (2017) makes a thoughtful contribution to the work on digital storytelling as participatory youth media production. There are three themes in the book which expand our understanding of story work and that I would like to engage with in more detail: (1) the notion of intersubjective listening and whether or how it can be taught; (2) the stories and storytellers who ‘make trouble’; and (3) the question of audience and what it does to storytellers and the stories they tell.

Navigating Ethical Boundaries When Adopting Digital Storytelling in Higher Education

Gachago and Sykes highlight important and interesting ethical questions raised by the introduction of digital storytelling into the higher education classroom. Against the background of pre-service teacher education at a South African university, Gachago and Sykes reflect on a series of “snapshots” or anecdotes that highlight the tension between pedagogical and therapeutic project that confronts digital storytelling in higher education. Gachago and Sykes draw on both educational and psychological literature concerning the role of affect and trauma in education to challenge assumptions about students, facilitators and political projects when introducing personal digital storytelling into the curriculum. The questions raised in the chapter explicitly invite further conversation.