– by Noluthando Makhaza
“Pedagogy refers more broadly to the theory and practice of education, and how this influences the growth of learners. Pedagogy, taken as an academic discipline, is the study of how knowledge and skills are exchanged in an educational context, and it considers the interactions that take place during learning. Pedagogies vary greatly, as they reflect the different social, political, cultural contexts from which they emerge” (Guofang Li: 2012[1]).
At our recent Blended Learning workshop, which was an introductory session aimed at Digital Teaching in Higher Education for UKZN lecturers/academics, various pedagogic exercises were introduced by the facilitator – Dr Blewett.
Dr Blewett is a Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Information Systems & Technology under School of Management, IT and Governance at UKZN. He has been involved in Higher Education for over 20 years and his interest is in the convergence of Educational theory and Technological platforms. He is currently lecturing postgrad courses in Computer Mediated Communication and Special Topics.
The various pedagogic exercises were intriguing and a lot of fun for most delegates as they didn’t know what to expect next. Some exercises required physical activity while others required a lot of thinking. “The purpose of such teaching methods is to stimulate creativity in the classroom and move away from the culture of copy and paste”, said Dr Blewett. These exercises certainly brought out the child within each academic in the classroom. After the one day classroom workshop, the programme will run online where Dr Blewett and the academics explore the digital teaching space a bit further.
This is an exciting space for both academics and students as Higher Education is undergoing transformation globally, which with developments in technology is disrupting traditional teaching and learning methodologies. For more info on this programme, please contact:
Percy Sishi
E: Sishis@ukzn.ac.za
T: +27 31 260 1853
[1] Li, G.,(2012) Culturally contested pedagogy: Battles of literacy and schooling between mainstream teachers and Asian immigrant parents. Suny Press.
