
Children in today’s digital society are raised in an environment embedded by technology and are digitally expectant of the education provided to them however, I have learnt this expectation is not limited to students. Parents, teachers, governments, employers and the wider community all anticipate children to be taught in an educational environment current with societal trends, enabling them to participate and share in a world now digitally driven (Howell, 2012). As stakeholders of the education system, they drive the necessity for students to exit school digitally fluent (Howell, 2012). A shift transforming teaching pedagogies taught to future educators at university and, the professional development needed for current educators, to a more discovery-based learning format (Howell, 2012; Seely-Brown, 2000). By deepening my understanding of the digital expectancy of student’s and outer school contributors, the view that while more traditional instruction-based teaching techniques still serve their purpose in today’s educational dynamic, I now appreciate the need to acquire newer approaches to meet society’s demands of developing digital fluency in the children I educate.

Facing the challenge of learning these newer pedagogies, teachers must now deliver and teach content in a technology-enriched environment that promotes digital fluency. As digital immigrants who have an uphill battle of trying to match the technical aptitude of our students, the digital natives (Prensky, 2001), we must equip ourselves with current educational techniques to help close that gap. Transforming from information

bearers to co-collaborators is essential, working alongside students applying emerging educational theories like constructivism (Siemens, 2005); a messier and more complex form of learning where students construct individual meanings from experiences (Driscoll, 2000). This aligns with Howell’s (2014) suggestion that digital fluency develops from trial and error and experimentation rather than direct, instructional schooling. Going forward, adopting the principle of enculturation and transferring it to my students, will encourage life-long learning and build digital fluency, through an ability to adapt to the ever-changing technological revolution.
Knowledge is …dynamic, ever changing with our experience”. (Rahman, 2015)
References
Driscoll, M. (2000). Psychology of learning for instruction. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon
Howell, J. (2012). Teaching with ICT. South Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press
Howell, J. (2014). Living and learning in the digital world [ilecture]. Retrieved from https://echo.ilecture.curtin.edu.au:8443/ess/echo/presentation/69320b47-1f26-4f87-ae1c-7ba4e48e0050
Prenksy, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(2), 1-6. Retrieved from https://edorigami.wikispaces.com/file/view/PRENSKY+-+DIGITAL+NATIVES+AND+IMMIGRANTS+1.PDF
Rahman, M.S. (2015). Education for the 21st century. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/MSRahman1/education-for-21st-century
Seely-Brown, J. (2000). Growing up: Digital: How the web changes work, education, and the ways people learn. Change: The magazine of higher learning, (32), 11-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00091380009601719
Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Retrieved from http://er.dut.ac.za/bitstream/handle/123456789/69/Siemens_2005_Connectivism_A_learning_theory_for_the_digital_age.pdf?sequence=1
Woolley-Wilson, J. (2012, December 17). Blending technology and classroom learning: Jessie Woolley-Wilson at TEDxRainier [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0TbaHimigw