I'm ready to level up.

When I first read the brief for Digital Pedagogies, I had to admit that I was a little worried that the course would simply be teaching us how to use things like Wordle and encourage us to be more tech savvy. While I'm a Millenial (a new word for my vocabulary thanks to the course materials) who knows her way around technology, I know that I sometimes often get comfortable in my current digital knowledge, and resist the call to 'level up' because it's just an effort. I figured that my use of PowerPoint presentations and collaborative research projects in classes during my last prac scored me pretty decently compared to many of the teachers and classes I saw in the school. I honestly didn't think that as a reasonably tech-savvy Gen Y I would have too much to learn. I know, I can be a little conceited sometimes.

I was thrilled (yes, I do get thrilled about uni because I'm a study nerd) to find the course materials drawing on the likes of Sir Ken Robinson (who is my ideal man; he's intellectual, inspirational, creative and British), and neuroscientists (I'm really interested in neuroplasticity even though I only understand about 1 in 3 of the scientific words they use). Even better, the materials offered great practical resources and websites for teaching on a silver platter, which makes the thought of my next prac so much more delightful.

One of the things that kept coming back to me as I watched these videos, was that that the onus is on the teacher to engage students. It's a daunting thought to be honest. I don't think that we, as educators, can sit back anymore and say "well, if they don't want to learn then what else can I do?" The old adage, 'you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink' seems to be one applied to students quite frequently from what I've seen, but have they thought about why the horse won't drink? Maybe the horse has issues getting it's head down to the water. Maybe the water is dirty and undrinkable. Maybe the horse doesn't like water but prefers cordial.

Although I'm only starting my second year in education, I love teaching, I really do. It's like I've found my hidden talent, and realised my full potential. Sometimes though I think about all the effort, all the energy required to become the incredible teacher that I envisage in my head, and I get absolutely exhausted just thinking about all the work I have ahead of me (I have a pretty powerful imagination, so this actually does happen). I then think, is this what I really want to do? But it absolutely is. I had seen Sir Ken's video many times before, but watching it again brought new inspiration to me, rekindled the passion I have for imparting knowledge.

I think the mindset shift I have to make though is from teaching to facilitating, something that Judy Willis and many others have started discussing. Gen Z will not learn from your lectures at the front of the classroom, nor will that style of teaching set them up for 21st century life. They need to learn skills such as researching, critical thinking and reasoning, collaboration, creativity and innovation, and this all has to be done through technology. As the Digital Futures text said, we need to dispense with the 'E'-learning, and just have naturally occurring learning in a digital world.

If I want to become the incredible teacher that I envisage in my head, then I need to change my mindset from that of teacher in a Gen X and Y world, to that of a facilitator in a Gen Z digital world. Thanks to a little kick in the butt from Sir Ken and the rest of the course materials, I've decided that I'm ready to level up.