Digital Citizenship and Collaboration: A reflection

Use of digital tools for collaboration

The powerful collaborative capabilities of digital tools, platforms and licences had been underutilised in my practise up until now, however, this is an area I feel confident to develop further. My learning around Creative Commons licencing and open resource media has redefined the ways I will use, model and teach digital responsibility (Park, 2016; Woodall, 2017). I feel confident in my abilities to comply with copyright laws (Smith, 2015) and use Creative Commons licences effectively to use, promote and share my original work and the work of others (Fasimpaur, 2011, p. 28). These skills add to my sense of positive digital citizenship within the broader global education context.

Overcoming challenges

Collaborating with unknown colleagues online to complete a group assignment was challenging (Gouseti, 2014). Firstly, it was difficult to collate varied ideas to develop a cohesive assignment proposal. Secondly, it was frustrating that some participants were less active in communicating with and contributing to the group (Lindsay & Davis, 2013, p. 135-139). Fortunately, I developed a positive working relationship with one other participant and we shared ideas, resources and digital tools, whilst also providing feedback. This was a rewarding and productive relationship and helped to alleviate the sense of isolation associated with online study. Ultimately, successful development of this learning module required two participants in the group to take leadership roles to draft the proposal, develop a website framework, and facilitate the contributions of others. In future I feel establishment of clear roles and expectations, including leadership tasks is important to support success (Lindsay & Davis, 2013, p. 135-139).

Translating skills to school contexts

This experience has reinforced by belief that teacher librarians have a responsibility to actively collaborate within their school and wider community (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, 2011, p. 1-28; Australian School Library Association, 2014, p. 1-22). Given the workload of educators, face to face collaboration is not always possible or practical. Therefore, use of tools such as What’s App, Google Drive, Google Docs, and Weava can help colleagues to curate material, share ideas or co-create material in digital spaces with positive learning outcomes.

I am still growing into the teacher librarian role and therefore my efforts to engage and collaborate with colleagues have brought varied results. Development of digital tools for my learning module has encouraged me to consider options outside of the traditional methods like email or slide presentation, such as websites, infographics and YouTube videos to communicate with my colleagues, students, and professional learning networks.

Broadening my digital horizons

Learning in this subject, and the recommendations of colleagues has challenged me to join the social network, Twitter, and also establish a professional channel on YouTube (Lindsay & Davis, 2013, p. 41-42). Having a professional focus for my Twitter account has allowed me to concentrate on my areas of interest, and connect with like-minded colleagues and leaders. To create content for my Powtoon and Kahoot! digital tools, I needed to upload videos to my professional YouTube account, which I have since shared via Twitter. I was surprised at the pride I felt to share my original content with the education community. These small steps into a more public digital space are confidence building, and will no doubt broaden my professional learning networks (Lindsay & Davis, 2013, p. 8).

References

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL]. (2011). Australian professional standards for teachers [pdf]. Retrieved from AITSL website: https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/apst-resources/australian_professional_standard_for_teachers_final.pdf

Australian School Library Association [ASLA]. (2014). Evidence guide for teacher librarians in the proficient career stage: Australian professional standards for teachers [pdf]. Retrieved from ASLA website: http://www.asla.org.au/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/documents/evidence_guide_prof.pdf

Fasimpaur, K. (December, 2011). Sharing made easier with creative commons. Learning and Leading with Technology, 39(4), p. 28. Retrieved from Gale database, CSU Library.

Gouseti A. (2014) Web-Based School Collaboration: The Promises and Problems. In: Digital Technologies for School Collaboration. Palgrave Macmillan’s Digital Education and Learning. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, DOI: 10.1057/9781137372857_1.

Lindsay, J. & Davis, V. A. (2013). Flattening classrooms, engaging minds: Move to global collaboration one step at a time. Pearson/Allyn and Bacon Publishers. Boston.

Lindsay, J. & Davis, V. (2010). Navigate the digital rapids. In Learning & leading with technology, March/April, p. 12-15. Retrieved from CSU Interact2 [ETL523 Module One].

Park, J. (May 4, 2016). What is Creative Commons, and why does it matter? Common sense [website]. Retrieved from Common sense website: https://www.commonsense.org/education/blog/what-is-creative-commons-and-why-does-it-matter

Smith, J. (2015). Copyright for educators. Connections, issue 92. Retrieved from School Catalogue Information Service website.

Woodall, T. (July 21, 2017). The right stuff: Teaching kids about copyright. Common Sense [blog]. Retrieved from Common sense website: https://www.commonsense.org/education/blog/the-right-stuff-teaching-kids-about-copyright