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ExCEL Fest Keynote Address: Thinking Ahead: New Literacies for Uncertain Futures by Dr Helen Beetham

 The speaker spoke of 4 types of thinking:

1. Computational Thinking
2. Design Thinking
3. Data Thinking, and
4. Hybrid media thinking (Curate, Create, Connect)


According to her, teaching is Design Science that is focused on user experience and almost always collaborative in nature. This resonates with our continued discussions on the use of PS2.0 and STP to help guide our design considerations for the learners.

There is so much richness in the data world today. Instead of becoming desensitised to the information we receive each day, how can we make use of these multi-modal texts to further enrich our learning and understanding of the texts? E.g. it is no longer a must for students to read a hardcopy textbook or head down to the library to conduct research. They have the options of e-books, visual media (YouTube tutorials, etc.) that may even encourage more immersive learning experiences (through AR/VR, etc.). It encourages learners today not to just be consumers of information, but to become creators of new content (applied knowledge-learning through making). Just think about all the YouTube/ Instagram Influencers who create new content on healthy living, good food around the hood, or user experience reviews (with/without endorsement).

It is true that digital shifts can have the potential to upset the traditional worlds, and that some 'old' texts ad forms of learning may eventually become obsolete, but can there be greater constant in our values system, as the speaker suggested? Will we able to reconcile the differences in opinions with regards to the speed of change? 

Speaker shared on the Digital Literacies outlined by the World Economic Forum.


The Importance of Digital Resilience

The young ones have what it takes to imagine how their lives will be like in the future, and they definitely will be living in this world for a much longer time than us.


Questions to think about

How can we create safe community spaces for our students to explore what's right/ wrong? Are there safety checks that we can put in (be it peer support leaders, or cross reference checks for reliability) to help students navigate through the large amounts of information they can find.

As rightfully put by the speaker, teaching is not just about taking the syllabus and delivering it as it is. How can we more consciously include the development of the skills and attitudes we want our learners to have as they learn the new knowledge? Our role as Teacher Designers will then command us to design a safe space for them to explore different perspectives/opinions, and even to consider possible empathetic solutions to resolve/ overcome the challenge(s) presented.

I agree that it is important to build digital resilience. Similar to building resilience in other areas, it really has to trying, failing, and trying alternative ways feeling undefeated, through learning from the previous mistakes we might have made, in order to eventually build a stronger self (resilience).

If I were to think of an analogy, our learners are just like AI. Through new experiences, they build and modify their algorithm for better user experience. In their process to become superior, they may need to throw out old codes that may no longer work as well, and activate the steps that have allowed them to achieve more positive outcomes based on trend analysis. 

In order to achieve the above, as we enter the world of Design Thinking, it would be useful for us to consider how we can similarly put our learners in the position of Designers, instead of just being passive end-users. I think we have started on this journey, esp in our Lower Sec GI/HI. In the IBL/PBL approach, e.g. when they are encouraged to think about how they can improve a neighbourhood to encourage greater sense of belonging, or how they can help play a more active part in making our green spaces more sustainable, they need to consider possible solutions that can be applied, and how these proposals would be met with the possible response/reactions by the community. 

I guess, unlike deep learning for AI, deep and meaningful learning requires the deep emotions to be evoked from our learners (which links back to yesterday's keynote address, see previous post.)






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