Overall, the Digital Technologies (DT) module has been excellent. I feel I have gone from being a digital immigrant to being on the path to becoming digitally native. I have learnt many important, fun, interesting and engaging ways to use digital technologies, by using various different tools and activities. I know how to link in these activities to the curriculum for excellence outcomes and experiences and I can link in various areas of the curriculum into one activity. Throughout this module I have experienced many different activities, some I have enjoyed more than others, but nevertheless I have enjoyed the journey through this module. I couldn’t recommend this course highly enough to future students.
Scottish Government, (2016) states “Digital Technologies can enhance learning and teaching, equip children and young people with vital digital and crucially, it can lead to improved educational outcomes”. Having come to the end of the module and working through all the activities within it I can now reflect on this statement by then Scottish Government and I can completely understand the accuracy of it. This module has most certainly enhanced my learning and equipped me with better skills to become a better student and teacher one day. I truly believe that Digital Technologies has a positive impact on children in education.
Throughout this module we have been interacting with various activities using Digital technologies and linking these into the curriculum for excellence outcomes and experiences. The majority of apps and tools we have been using, I had never used or even heard of, so this module has allowed me to acknowledge and appreciate the benefits of using DT. It doesn’t discriminate and it allows the experience to be personalised for an individual’s needs and I believe that is very important in our diverse society. “The use of digital technologies appreciates diversity of the learners needs and the potential for personalising their experience using technology” Jarvis, M (2015, p129).
In particular I enjoyed the outdoor activity as I believe being outside gives children a lot more freedom with their ideas and allows them to experience the environment opening them up for lots of creativity and excitement. I am also very passionate about health and well-being and the outdoors can link into a lot of health and wellbeing in the curriculum for excellence outcomes and experiences as well as all the curricular areas. “It’s clear that the outdoor environment offers motivating, exciting, different, relevant and easily accessible activities from pre-school years through to college” Learning and Teaching Scotland (2010).
In conclusion, I have learnt the importance of using Digital Technologies within education and the positive impact it has on our children in various contexts. Having had the opportunity to use various different apps and tools, I can see how I can incorporate these into the classroom one day and how to link these into the curriculum for excellence outcomes and experiences. I still have a lot to learn about DT and I will continue to personally develop with this in my own time. I have thoroughly enjoyed this module and have learnt so much. Our lecturer has been amazing and very patient. Thank you.
References
Jarvis, M (2015) Brilliant ideas for using ICT in the classroom. Routledge.
Learning and Teaching Scotland (2010) Curriculum for Excellence through outdoor learning.
Scottish Government (2016) Enhancing Teaching and Learning through the use of Digital Technologies: A Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland. [Online] Available: https://beta.-gov.scot/publications/enhancing-learning-teaching-through-use-digital-technologies/[Acessed:19 March 2019].
