Introduction to Digital Pedagogy

The following BC Libraries  Digital Scholarship Group  resource provides instructors with a basic introduction to digital pedagogy. (More information can be found in our  DS Handbook .) We encourage BC faculty and staff to  contact us  with questions or to request help with digital pedagogy endeavors.

Digital pedagogy is the deeply critical and conscious incorporation of digital tools, concepts, and methods into teaching and learning.

Digital pedagogy ranges in scope and complexity and can be about the incorporation of digitally-driven class assignments and projects (e.g., students creating a website or interactive online map.) Or, it can be about the creation of teaching materials (e.g., digital learning objects) and the use of digital tools in teaching. The critical components include the selection of the methods and tools used, how they are used, and issues around them (e.g., bias in algorithms). Digital pedagogy can be closely related to digital scholarship and digital humanities, a topic that is addressed below in "Related Areas."

As the following video demonstrates, one way to start thinking about digital pedagogy possibilities and design is through the lens of modes (spatial, temporal, exhibitive, etc.) and their respective digital methods (maps, timelines, and digital exhibits). ( video script available )

Accessibility is a key consideration when designing digital pedagogy curriculum components. In this context, accessibility relates to those who have technology challenges due to disabilities, e.g., people with visual impairment or with limited mobility, and those who are affected by the digital divide, meaning those who have less access to technology, e.g., highspeed internet.  Read more about accessibility and other considerations  that should be made when incorporating digital pedagogy into teaching.

As a practice, digital pedagogy fosters multimodal teaching and learning and can provide new and creative ways into class subject matters.

Some compelling reasons for the incorporation of digital pedagogy into courses include:

• Digital pedagogy assignments and activities have multiple learning outcomes and prepare students to be critically engaged with technology postgraduation.
• Digital pedagogical approaches give less conventional learners alternative ways to demonstrate their knowledge and abilities otherwise difficult to show in more traditional coursework.
• Digital pedagogy approaches can be used to make online course content more engaging and interactive.

Digital pedagogy assignments can be created from scratch, be a redesigned existing assignment, or be an additional element added to an existing assignment (e.g., a traditional paper that requires an accompanying digital map). Assignments can be done individually, in groups, or as a class.

• See  assignment examples  and  an overview  that will help with identifying possible assignment approaches.

Some learning outcomes to digital pedagogy based assignments include students having the ability to:

• Use digital tools to investigate scholarly questions
• Digitally present critical and creative scholarship in a variety of modes
• Effectively organize information
• Navigate multiple literacies, e.g., information literacy, data literacy, and visual literacy
• Work collaboratively
• Write for the web and/or public audiences
• Comply with web accessibility standards
• Apply principles of visual design
• Navigate intellectual property rights

Creating digital learning objects or incorporating existing ones gives instructors the ability to create engaging activities for inside and outside of the classroom. Examples of objects include maps, timelines, and 3D models.

One of the more intimidating aspects of incorporating digital pedagogy into classes for both students and faculty is the technology component. The good news is that the technology does not have to be complex.

The following are some lower learning curve platforms (and examples) that are good for getting started:

•  ArcGIS Story Maps * (maps) -  Women's Labor in the 19th Century British Empire 
•  Exhibit.so  (exhibits & annotation) -  Jane Austen: Books and Biography 
•  Knightlab Storymaps  (maps) -  Realities of Travel in Frankenstein ;  Southern Literary Trail 
•  Knightlab Storymaps  (annotation) -  Notes from a Southern Pacific Railway Porter 
•  TimelineJS  (timelines) -  Revolutionary User Interfaces ;  Here all Along, Here to Stay 
•  Voyant  (text analysis) -  The Church in the Southern Black Community collection ;  The Plays of William Shakespeare 

*The resource you are currently exploring was made in ArcGIS Story Maps, which is a flexible platform that allows for more than mapping.

Below is a Knightlab Storymap and Voyant interactive example. Have some fun and play around with them. They are embedded in the page and, like the 3D model above, they can be embedded into other platforms like Canvas and WordPress.

Digital scholarship (DS) is the critical use of  digital methods  and  tools  in conducting research, presenting scholarship, and teaching. Digital humanities (DH) falls under the umbrella of DS and incorporates humanities specific practices and methodologies.  (See the BC Digital Scholarship Group  DS Handbook  for more information.) There is overlap between digital pedagogy and DS /DH in that DS/DH-based pedagogy is a form of digital pedagogy but not all digital pedagogy falls under DS/DH.

The following video provides further insight into digital scholarship and the ways in which Boston College Libraries facilitate DS practices. ( Video script available )

"Open Education encompasses resources, tools, and practices that are free of legal, financial and technical barriers and can be fully used, shared and adapted in the digital environment" ( SPARK ). They are created as part of the Open Access movement and make it possible for educators to Retain, Reuse, Revise, Remix and Redistribute the materials. ( Learn more about OER )

Creating an OER as a class project is a great opportunity to engage students in course materials through digital means and with an eye toward equity. Having that OER not just be textual but also interactive--having it contain digital objects and media such as videos--will make it more engaging for users and allows students to express ideas in more than one mode.

Student created OERs

•  Gender & Sexuality: A Transnational Anthology from 1690 to 1990  was created by students in Mir Yarfitz's HST 114/WGS 377 course at Wake Forest University.
•  The Open Anthology of Earlier American Literature  was created by Dr. Robin DeRosa and student volunteers at Plymouth State University. ( Read more  about Dr. DeRosa's OER work.)

Questions?  Contact BC Libraries' Digital Scholarship Group