Experiences with Innovative Pedagogies
Q: What are your experiences, if any, of applying cutting-edge pedagogies in your own subject area? Do you have a favourite source of information about new teaching methods? What are your predictions for pedagogies that are likely to have a lasting impact in the next five years? Use the discussion to share your thoughts with your fellow learners.
Podcasts and similar initiatives, or 'talking pedagogies' as I've come to think of them, have ridden the recent wave of the social media and ICT-usage exodus in the developing Pacific. Recently, academia has come to recognize this kind of 'talking pedagogy' as a legitimate form of data collection and analysis. It has been officially dubbed 'Talanoa Method' (the Polynesian word 'talanoa' mean 'to converse' or 'to talk' or 'to speak with'. It is a context-specific verb which refers to dialogue between two or more parties, where both/all listeners and speakers are fully invested in the exchange).
Since 2021, I have done my best to facilitate this style of teaching and learning in classrooms where I have to address complex, content-heavy subjects such as English Literature and World History. We use YouTube, Google Meet, ZOOM, even Messenger Call(s) in my classes. In 2023, one of my senior History students suggested the possibility of an end-of term activity where each person creatively adapts and records a single historical document of their choice. I thought it was an interesting idea, and so I told them that if we did this activity, they must choose from the time period of either 1914 to 1918, or 1939 to 1945 (the 'world war years'). There were to be no overly restrictive limits- students were told only that if they submit a piece, it must be shared via e-mail (for ease of transfer to a Google Drive folder) and via our Messenger Group Chat, so that their classmates may view it. These would count as a Class Discussion/Dialogue.
The student, Francine Ausage, who made the initial suggestion, chose to submit a musical video. I did not realize it at the time, but she had instigated the use of a very new pedagogy in our class, which blended ICT with conversation and artistic expression. I am attaching below her contribution to our 'talanoa': It is a strings version of the beloved Australian wartime melody, 'Waltzing Matilda'. This student is now completing a Bachelor of Arts in History and English at the University of Newcastle, in Sydney, Australia. A link to her video is shared here (and has been shown at several international conferences) with her permission. She is one of only a handful of Samoan students who have received professional training to play a string instrument.
LINK: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AiYMWg0ZEdp23--5qXGgqDvt5b94QRGY/view?usp=sharing
Wow! Well done Francine!
Very innovative Jasmine and I bet your students loved it.
I have an example of using a multimodal pedagogy during covid.
We usually conducted a training day in field safety for undergrads in the geography department before they did their fieldwork activities. As it was no longer possible to gather in large groups, we created an online course which had a mixture of activities, one of which was a peer reviewed workshop.
For the workshop students were supplied with a flexible splint and various bandages. They also had access to various resources showing them what they needed to do. They were then asked to splint an ankle and bandage an arm and upload photos and/or videos of the process and also a text reflection of what they had done.
The students were then all assigned up to five other students and asked to mark and comment on each other's work. Once everyone completed, staff checked the marks and provided feedback. Those who had failed completed the activity again.
The students all really enjoyed this activity and learnt a lot from it.
These are great examples!
I am not currently an educator, but I have co-authored special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) training courses. They do encourage collaborative working, and group discussions, by using activities that put the learner in a situation that would prove difficult for the particular SEND, they also use videos and quizzes. They are delivered in-person and not online. I tried to get away from the usual PowerPoint presentation that the trainer reads. It needed to get the main points across in a more dynamic and interactive way, so attendees would remember it and learn from it; and perhaps be able to envision how differently other individuals may perceive the world around them.
I do think VR and more online learning could have an incredible impact on many SEND learners, especially those who have become disengaged in education. They can be a great tool to reintroduce/reintegrate the learner (at their own pace).
Hi everyone,
An example of a cutting edge pedagogy is Blended Learning with AI. Squirrel AI is one platform that I know about. It offers personalisation through adaptive technology that can monitor and track student performance, then adapt the content for that specific learner.
Slack, Microsoft Teams and Google Classroom can be integrated with AI tools as well.
I think artificial intelligence will definitely feature in "pedagogies of the future". It has the capacity to give real-time feedback, constantly refine and adapt to the learner and provide support and tutoring. We might still have a while to go but it's clear that it's here to stay. I hope that learners will get the very best out of it.
Hi Michelle,
Yes, I think getting away from the traditional powerpoint way of presenting information is a positive, at least for this type of context. Your job sounds wonderful. I've been pondering over an educational context to choose for the TMA01 and I think SEND learners would be a really interesting target audience for the assessment.
I agree that VR has the potential to make a big impact on some learners. I think it has the potential to make a big impact full stop. The cost needs to come down to make it more accessible to a greater number of people though. Wouldn't it be wonderful if every school child could have a VR headset and experience that type of learning experience?
Greeting everyone. I believe I am working in a "technology-based" pedagogy setup at the completely online University of the People. Here, learners go through the reading/listening/visual material and submit their responses as discussion forum posts and assignment activities. We, as course instructors, ensure we give timely feedback, engage them in the discussion forum by acknowledging their contributions and asking questions that prompt them to research further. They are encouraged to use open-access materials either available online or in the university library. In fact, we also have a student achievement assessment team that gathers data to measure student achievement so we could modify our teaching methods/approaches to ensure student learning.
I don't have a go-to place to read about new teaching methods. I look forward to recommendations. I am reading the 2023 Innovative Pedagogy report and I hope I could forward some suggestions to my department chairs.
I strongly believe pedagogies using technologies is here to stay. However, it equally important to add the human/personal touch to it.
My thoughts
What are your experiences, if any, of applying cutting-edge pedagogies in your own subject area?
Cutting edge it probably is not! but I do use interactive tech such as mentimeter,discussion boards in my class. I want to expand this and learn how to incorporate more.
Do you have a favourite source of information about new teaching methods?
No but I think I've just found it in the OU report
What are your predictions for pedagogies that are likely to have a lasting impact in the next five years
AI without a doubt. In the HE sector we need to move ahead of the curve and catch on to utilising AI, as at the minute we are on the backfoot in my opinion.
Helen, I also don't have a favourite place to look for new online pedagogies. I agree with you that the OUs annual Innovating Pedagogy reports looks like a really good one to come back to again and again!
I agree with you about the use of AI in HE.
Margaux Ronquillo Post 8 in reply to 1
• 13 February 2025, 10:27 PM • Edited by the author on 13 February 2025, 10:28 PMThank you for sharing the Talanoa Method, Jasmine! Quite a brilliant approach and definitely had a great impact to your students as evidenced by Francine's achievements. Kudos!
Back when I lived in the Philippines, I used to teach English communication skills in a school that also provided residential care for vulnerable youth. As I navigated through various ways of teaching English to my secondary level students, I discovered that one type of media they responded well to was listening to BBC Learning English audio clips so I paired it up with direct teaching. To assess their language acquisition I applied another cutting-edge pedagogy: collaborative learning. So in one lesson, I asked them to form in groups of five - six and create a skit/short informal performance endorsing a product or service incorporating formal and informal greetings that they have learnt and using objects they can find in the classroom or from their own things. They came up with very good concepts and endorsements for products like "The Bag of the Future" (it doubled as a raincoat), "InVISIBLE" (clear eyewear with earphones attached), and "TBA" (Toothbrush-Advanced, auto dispenses toothpaste with just a shake!) to name a few :)
I thought it was great to see them all work together and come up with these ideas whilst applying a second language they've just acquired. For feedback, we had a roundtable discussion to find out if each group were able to use the greetings effectively in their performances along with their thoughts about the activity. The students seemed to be engaged throughout the whole thing as they freely talked during our discussion and it's safe to say that they enjoyed the activity because they were still talking about our lesson that day for weeks after :D
Wow, some really interesting posts.
Not sure this is innovative but I enjoy using a flipped classroom approach. Students prepare for a session using resources on the VLE (Blackboard Ultra) and then are able to come into class ready to use their knowledge in a simulation.
This is very useful as it encourages student nurses to apply theory to patient care.
Community of Learning
I am teaching an honours research module. I need to assess various graduate attributes in the course, one of which is working in cross disciplinary settings. To develop the students' awareness of other disciplines, I contacted a colleague in a different faculty. We set up a cokmbined class and put the students from different fields into groups and then asked them to develop a research topic on one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). The group first had to select a UN SDG and then flesh out a topic for further investigation.
The students were asked to reflect on this activity and what they had learnt about hearing other voices and perspectives. Some of the students had a clear perception of stronger more dominant players or those in the majority (the classes were unfortunately not the same size!) overruling the quieter voices. Others (perhaps those speaking) were less aware.
Later, they were asked to present on the themes of teamwork with other disciplines, reflecting on their projects completed over the year. It was clear that those who did the developmental community of learning activity were better equipped for the subsequent assessment.
As a lecturer, I also enjoyed the interaction with colleagues in another space (universities are organized in silos) and learnt from their approach to the same topic. So both I am my students benefited from learning across disciplines!
We used a combination of game based and micro learning for wellbeing workshops which worked well in terms of content, context and learner engagement.
Pedagogy and tech
Majority of my teaching is done face-to-face, with the occasional webinar style teaching. I tend to focus on interactive content, where students naturally want to engage, therefore I create curiosity within my syllabus.
My student leaves can be from not being able to read or write, to degree level, with many diverse languages and cultural contexts.
I utilise programmes to collect data, present online but do not use podcast within my teaching. I feel my style may fit in the category of relational and entangled pedagogies, with much focus on engagement, connecting and adapting to the audience within the session.