The LearningWheel: A Model of Digital Pedagogy

I was delighted to be invited by Deborah Kellsey and Amanda Taylor to write the Foreword for their book The LearningWheel: A Model of Digital Pedagogy. Having been a LearningWheel contributor on a number of occasions I was familiar with and a great admirer of Deborah's work (and have written about this previously).

The pair met through the inaugural Social Media for Learning in Higher Education Conference in December 2015 at Sheffield Hallam University. Deborah was there presenting a paper on the 'LearningWheel' and Amanda a paper on 'When Actual Met Virtual' which was about the use of book groups in Social Work education. A serendipitous mix-up in train journeys on their way home led to further conversations and the successful collaboration leading to this book. 


DESCRIPTION

Given the influence of digital technologies on the world at large education and educators are yet again being forced to consider their educational practices.  Not all educators have been socialised professionally to use technologies and therefore knowledge gaps exist.  This book adds to emerging conversations about the use of technologies to support and indeed replace traditional teaching methodologies in a range of educational settings.  It offers an example of innovative approach ‘LearningWheel’ to bridge the aforementioned knowledge gap and provides an opportunity for readers to engage with technologies for teaching and learning purposes.


Beginning with an outline of how technologies are shaping the learning landscape more broadly each subsequent chapter takes on a layer of the LearningWheel and sets it in context from a theoretical position. An example wheel is included in each chapter, as are stop and pause questions to prompt educators to engage with the content in a very real sense.  By the end of the book, readers will have had the opportunity to connect with the LearningWheel (VCoP) in the development of a Learning Wheel unique to this book.



BOOK REVIEW

Denise Turner has written a review of the book in Social Work Education. Amanda alerted me to the mention of my Foreword contribution. A welcome addition to my 'happy file'.  

BUY THE BOOK

You can purchase a copy of the book from Critical Publishing here:
http://www.criticalpublishing.com/the-learning-wheel

The collaborative #LearningWheel led by @DebMillar24

A few weeks ago I was included in the Tweet below and introduced to an amazing and ever growing resource that has contributions from educators across the UK. It's called the Learning Wheel and there are a number of these 'wheels'. 

#LearningWheel by @DebMillar on #Prezi https://t.co/ny7SfxDi2F #UKEdChat @juandoming @edtech #edchat @Pulselearnstyle @suebecks @padmasree

— Deborah Millar (@DebMillar24) July 26, 2015

When I took a look at the Prezi Deb Millar had created, I was immediately enthused and recognised this was a valuable resource. The #LearningWheel focuses on four key areas. 

• Learning content
• Assessment
• Communication
• Collaboration

The Learning Wheel is described as a simple graphic to help bridge the gap between traditional teaching methods and contemporary digital learning content and resources via four modes of student engagement and three modes of delivery. 

Examples of completed wheels include How to use Twitter, Blendspace, QR Code, Moodle and Assistive Technologies to engage students.There are also contextualised wheels which map curriculum content to individual resources and wheels. Examples include How to use Twitter to engage learners studying subjects such as Maths, English Language, Illustration, S and PE, Graphic Design, Hairdressing. Education Studies and ESOL.

The Learning Wheels are focused at FE learners but there is much that will transfer to both schools and higher ed. 





However my engagement didn't end there as I was invited to contribute to a new Learning Wheel. How could I say no! Tweets went out to ask other educators to collaborate and contributions came pouring in. The collaboration to build the 'arms' of the wheel all took place in a Google Drive. The latest wheel is titled 'Using a range of OERs/DRs for FE level Research/Library'. It can be viewed on Google Drive. 

Deb has done a sterling job both crowd sourcing contributors but also in the fab way she has acknowledged each individual who has collaborated by sharing ideas, both on the poster itself and through Twitter. It just goes to show what can be achieved when many hands pull together. 


  

NEW RELEASE #FE #Library #Research #learningwheel http://t.co/6Zus68JviG by @jamboy1977 @juandoming @suebecks TY :) pic.twitter.com/qq4puYyYDh

— Deborah Millar (@DebMillar24) August 13, 2015

I am sure this latest release won't be the last! Be sure follow Deb on Twitter @DebMillar24 and #LearningWheel.