Welcome to Tech and Tools! I’m really looking forward to the next month of exploration and discussion. As you jump in, I wanted to offer some advice about things to focus on. But before we do that, let me just remind you to to reach out if you have ANY issues finding stuff on the website, annotating readings, participating in discussion questions, or completing activities. The Teams channel is the best place to get help for those issues. The CoLab folks monitor it all the time, so if you ask something there, there’s a good chance one of us will get back to you quickly! In addition, if you run into a problem on the website, please make use of the “Report Website Issue” button that is located at the bottom of every page. That sends an email directly to me, so that I can jump on the bug and squash it. 😁
Remember that in Design Forward our mantra is “no busy work” — do not spend time on things that do not bring you joy or inspire your thinking. Move onto something else. And if none of the discussion questions are sparking your imagining on any given day, remember you can submit your own!
This week, I encourage you to spend some time on the the topic of the “Technology/Pedagogy Dance.” It’s about considering when we let the teaching lead and when we lean into better understanding the possibilities of a technology. I also talk about it a bit in today’s intro video above.
Relatedly, you should check out this question (and comments from past DFers) about when a technology has inspired you to try something new in the classroom. And, a counterpart, about when you’ve felt the need to resist a technology.
Remember that when it comes to our Resources, we want everyone to try and read/annotate the pieces in “Group Resources.” (And then pick at least one other resource from the “Choice” group to read/annotate). This week, check out Cathy Davidson’s “Why We Need Digital Literacies.” (Note: Remember to make sure you’re logged into Hypothesis when you visit these links, so that your comments are put in the “Design Forward” group.)
Finally, if you’re looking for an activity to dive into, you might check out “Curating Your Tech Toolbox,” but, as always, feel free to explore other activities to get inspired, or just add a reflection to you Portfolio.
That’s it for this week!