CIRCL Educators at Cyberlearning 2019: Exploring Contradictions in Achieving Equitable Futures

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As CIRCL Educators we’re all excited to collaborate and think together (in the same physical space!) about how we can apply Cyberlearning research in K–16 learning environments. As we get ready to travel to Alexandria, Virginia we have reviewed the agenda, read the Community Report, and looked at Emerging Directions from the Workshop Leaders Summit and white papers from individual workshops. While we’re all focused on applying research to practice, we were all drawn to different things as we reviewed the program agenda and materials for the meeting. We each wrote a little bit about that here.

Pati

I’m looking forward to Angela Booker’s keynote: Ethical Power Relations as an Act of Design. Specifically, I’m interested in hearing her perspective on how we can use cyberlearning insights and tools to increase democratic practice and new media use among youth and families. I first became interested in Dr. Booker’s work when I read the book she co-edited with Indigo Esmonde titled Power and Privilege in the Learning Sciences: Critical and Sociocultural Theories of Learning. In the introduction to that book, the editors describe “power as ever-present in the learning contexts” and urge us to “grapple with the ways our work is situated and mobilized with regard to power.” The book identifies opportunities for scholars to be critical of their own work and encourages them to consider contradictions and tensions in the field. I’m excited to learn more about Dr. Booker’s work and the work of other Cyberlearning researchers at CL19!

Angie

CL 19 will be a different type of conference than I am used to attending. I have attended, presented at, and organized many K12 Learning and Teaching, and EdTech conferences. I recently attended my first research focused conference, SIGCSE 2019 in Minneapolis, and it was a whole new experience to me. I found the content-heavy research sessions exhilarating and exhausting at the same time.

At CL 19, I will be introducing myself with my new role and school. I recently made the transition from a K12 public school educator (first an Elementary ESL Teacher then to a K12 Technology Integrationist) to now a Program Manager at Tufts University for the Early Childhood Technology (ECT) Graduate Certificate program where I teach in early childhood classrooms and online for graduate students. I think my experiences in early childhood, K12, and higher education provide me with a perspective that is valuable to our conversations.

Sarah

I’m excited about the keynote by Mike Sharples because I have learned so much from the Innovating Pedagogy report series he established and from his book, Practical Pedagogy: 40 New Ways to Teach and Learn. In the book, I recognized some teaching strategies I already use but didn’t know the technical term for like Explore First, and I learned more about strategies I want to try like Spaced Learning and Learning through Argumentation. I expect his keynote topic, Theory-Informed Design of Cyberlearning at Scale, to be equally interesting.

Overall, I’m excited to learn more about what’s new in cyberlearning! The fact that our team has been able to meaningfully collaborate online is because of technologies like Zoom and Google Docs. That’s cyberlearning–using technology combined with how people learn to create rich learning experiences that otherwise wouldn’t be possible. I’ve seen cyberlearning work time and again in my classroom using PhET simulations, citizen science, expressive construction, and more. What else is out there that I don’t know about yet? What new tools and strategies will I learn that can benefit my students? There are sure to be exciting posts following our trip–stay tuned!

We’re all excited to meet people whose work we’ve followed for years and collaborate with cyberlearning researchers! Check out the program agenda and participate virtually by registering for the webcast  and using hashtag: #NSFCL19. As always, please share your thoughts with us on Twitter @CIRCLedu and use the hashtag: #NSFCL19