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Media Manager, Mediator, Mentor & Maker

4 Key Roles for Educators in the Multi-Screen, Multi-Touch Digital Age

Tennessee Child Care Resource & Referral Network

Chip Donohue, PhDAmanda Armstrong, M.S.

TEC Center at Erikson Institute

@chipdono @AArmstrong_CD @TEC_Center #TechEarlyYears

To review – What do educators need? Digital media literacy = Attitudes, knowledge,

experience, competency, fluency

Child development, DAP, Family and Culture

3Cs of digital media – Content Context Child

4Ms of digital leadership – Manager Mediator Mentor Maker

5Es of technology integration – Exchange Enrich Enhance Extend Empower

Pre-service, In-service, Professional development

Hands-on play time and tech playgroups– “use tech to learn how to use tech”

Research about effective practices

Effective, appropriate and intentional use with young children, parents and families

Connected learning

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21st century educator = 21st century learner

What types of 21st century tools do you use to build your professional growth and learning network?

Being a 21st century learner matters• Learn everywhere-all-the-time

• Let the digital experts teach you

• Lifelong and lifewide

• Formal and informal

• Personal and professional

• Social and connected

• Digital media literacyLearning that is…active, relevant, real-world, effective, hands-on,

networked, inquiry-based, innovative, personal, transformative

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Lifelong and lifewide learning ecology• Learn with anyone, anytime, anywhere, on any device

• Blend formal and informal learning

• Mobile access to on demand and just-in-time learning

• Open information and free education

• Social learning and professional learning communities

• Connect personal and professional

• Are you leaning back or leaning in?

“…now we can watch a newspaper, listen to a magazine, see a phone call…”

Social learning• Social Media / Networks• Participatory culture• Peer-to-peer• User-contributed content • User ratings, rankings and reviews• Crowd sourcing• Communities of interest / practice

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We’re wired for connection• Digital tools for communication and collaboration

• Social media has penetrated our lives

• Social media is ubiquitous, immediate and “always on”

• Low barriers to entry – free, easy to use, fun

• Has transformed how we work, communicate, collaborate, teach and learn

• The world of ECE at our fingertips

• ECE is all about relationships

We can be/are always connected

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One educator’s connected journey

http://mccormickcenter.nl.edu/140-characters-me-leveraging-twitter-for-advocacy/

Reflecting on connected learningWhat are your thoughts about Kara’s connected educator journey?

How have technology tools helped your enhance your learning and professional role?

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Becoming a connected educator matters21st Century Learning for 21st Century Teaching• Jump in!

• Use your smartphone

• Set aside time to get connected

• Try a new tech tool each month

• Form a technology playgroup

• Follow like-minded people

• Share your story

• Go from lurker to participant to contributor

A connectivist approach…for constructivists

Building digital citizenshipDigital citizenship refers to the need for adults and children to be responsible digital citizens through an understanding of the use, abuse, and misuse of tech as well as the norms of appropriate, responsible, and ethical behaviors related to online rights, roles, identity, safety, security, and communication.

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Digital citizenship matters• Teacher and parent involvement

through dialogue and questions

• Establish guidelines for sharing and interactions

• Awareness of digital footprint

• Critical consumer of information

• Appropriate sources of data

The 4Ms for digital age educators

1. Manager

2. Mediator

3. Mentor

4. Maker

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Managing media in the classroom

http://youtu.be/gy0a2LZp9NQ

5 tips for mindful media managers1. Be a good digital media role model and

enthusiastic tour guide – follow the children

2. Do your homework – your digital media literacy matters

3. Be intentional – use DAP and guidelines to select, use, integrate, and evaluate technology tools

4. Curate content

5. Know when to say when – connect real/virtual

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Being an active media mediator

http://fg.ed.pacificu.edu/cldc/microscopes.html

5 tips for mindful media mediators1. Be a great digital media playmate and co-explorer

2. Be tuned-in and attentive, keep it interactive, stay engaged

3. Match the tools and content to the individual child

4. Use tools to enhance and extend activities and promote pro-social behavior

5. Use tech to let children do something that they couldn't do without the technology

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Media mentorship

http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/How-the-iPad-affects-young-child

5 tips for mindful media mentors1. Guide the way

2. Emphasize technology tools that encourage pro-social behaviors, interactions, relationships, and joint engagement

3. Give children choices and control

4. Help children progress from media consumers to creators

5. Promote digital media literacy

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Meaningful media making

http://mpowerstech.edublogs.org/2015/02/11/mrs-leachs-class-sends-love-across-the-ocean/

5 tips for mindful media makers1. Explore ways to make media so that you can

model and mentor children as media creators2. Nudge yourself from consumer > adopter >

adapter > creator3. Start with familiar technology – take digital

photos, videos and record audio – use open-ended storytelling apps

4. Create makerspaces – encourage tinkerer scientists

5. Have a play – join the maker movement

Do something, learn something, make something

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Our analog knowledge, skills, experience and passion as educators are the foundation for digital age curation to select, use, integrate and evaluate tools and media for young children.

• Reflect on what you know about child development and early learning

• Identify your best practices with digital technology and media

• Apply Developmentally Appropriate Practice

• Follow the NAEYC/FRC Joint Position Statement

• Look to Mister Rogers

Analog curators >>> digital age curation

• Does the media support my learning goals?

• Are the interactive media developmentally appropriate? (Support cognitive abilities, motor skills, social-emotional needs, and interests of the child?)

• Is the technology playful and open-ended?

• Is the physical environment configured to accommodate the technology?

• Does it offer kids opportunities for joint engagement or collaboration?

• Does the tool encourage kids to connect with the non-digital world?

• Does it encourage kids to explore real-world issues or learn new content?

• Is the technology cost effective?

• How will I evaluate its use?

PA Digital Media Literacy ProjectChecklist for identifying exemplary uses

Digital age curators want to know…

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• Give educators and parents time to research, play and reflect

• Help them create guidelines and practices that work for their program or home

• Utilize a technology tool to communicate

• Encourage professional/personal learning networks

Supporting digital age curators

The recipe for 4M educators Choose only the highest quality ingredients

Combine research, theory and developmentally appropriate practice

Stir in opportunities for interactions and pro-social behavior

Blend in relationships and mix in lots of joint engagement with media

Fold in the 3Cs of quality media – Content, Context, Child

Bake in your understanding of the reciprocal influence of parents, families, culture and community on children’s media use

Top with digital media literacy for children, parents and educators

Don’t forget the secret ingredient – being a 4M connected educator

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What is essential is invisible to the eye

The closer we get to know the truth of that sentence, the closer I feel we get to wisdom, That which has real value in life is very simple. Very deep and very simple!

It happens inside of us – in the “essential invisible” part of us, and that is what allows everyone to be a potential neighbor.

What is essential is invisible to the eye

Mindful Media UseNo matter how helpful computers are as tools (and of course they can be very helpful tools), they don't begin to compare in significance to the teacher-child relationship which is human and mutual. A computer can help you learn to spell HUG, but it can never know the risk or the joy of actually giving or receiving one.

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TEC Curation – Favorite Resources

TEC Curation – Trusted Sources

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For slides and resources, visit us atwww.teccenter.erikson.edu