The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young People (2008) emphasises the roles rapid advances in technology are having in “changing the ways people share, use, develop and process information” (p. 5) and establishing a need for learners in the digital age to become highly skilled in using and learning with ICT. E-learning is “the use of networked ICT to enhance, extend, and enrich learning experiences, changing access to knowledge and revolutionizing the patterns, cadences, and depth of interactivity” (Glossary, 2003) .
Prensky (2001) coined the term ‘Digital Natives’ to describe generations of learners who have grown up with technology, arguing that students expect and require technology to engage in learning, and interact and manipulate information (Prensky, 2005) . Combined with the need for learning to occur ‘anytime and anywhere’, the accessibility of eLearning devices enabling interaction with a greater audience and knowledge base, confirms the significance of eLearning in teaching 21st Century learners. Web 2.0 tools have revolutionised learning from text based to a virtual learning experience where learners have access to resources and learning materials and the ability to generate knowledge, widening the capacity for technology to enrich learning experiences, some of which will be explored later in this blog (Lynch, Smith, & O'Neill, 2010) . Digital tools can also facilitate the development of critical analysis skills, creative thinking and provide authentic real-life opportunities to complete work (Karchmer-Klein & Shinas, 2011) . Using technology does not guarantee positive learning outcomes, but must be integrated with effective pedagogy, selecting the appropriate technology for the instructional goal (Waterhouse, 2005) . This forms the basis of TPACK, a framework which emphasises the interplay of content, technological and pedagogical knowledge in integrating technology (Koehler, 2011) .
According to social-constructivist theory, scaffolding is essential to developing effective learning tasks to ensure learners engage in meaningful tasks and discussions, which assist with moving students into their zone of proximal development to ensure optimal learning occurs. Marshall and McLoughlin (2000) define scaffolding as a “form of assistance provided to a learner by a more capable teacher or peer that helps learners perform a task that would normally not be possible to accomplish by working independently” (cited in (Rouke & Coleman, 2010, p. 56) . Scaffolds range from soft to hard and can involve guiding questions about topics, formatting for writing, instructions and outlines for students to complete or online chats where learners have access to others and more capable peers can offer assistance (Brack & Van Damme, 2010) .
Working within an online environment incurs numerous legal and ethical considerations, which must be minimised to ensure students operate safely. Copyright rules apply, generally employing the 10% rule; however, the publication of students’ work and photographs requires parent and student consent and ethical considerations of the privacy of the students (Queensland Government, 2002) . Students online can have access to inappropriate material, possible bullying and discussions with strangers particularly in synchronous communication. Therefore, it is essential that students are taught safe behaviours and their activity online heavily monitored to ensure student privacy and safety is maintained. Although schools often block inappropriate sites and many tools enable information to be kept public or private and have education options to enable educators to easily monitor usage, it is crucial that educators remain diligent about student safety.
The Wiki Experience
Wikis are an online space, which anyone can access and edit, making it ideal for collaboration, as learners can gather, discuss and edit work. By engaging in wikis, students are able to benefit from participating in asynchronous discussion where they can argue their perspective, viewing other’s opinions and experiences to further individual knowledge. In a Mobile Phones Wiki whereby learners used de Bono’s Hats to analyse mobile phones in education, I was able to learn through social interaction and actively participate in the learning, an approach which is underpinned by social constructivism (Snowman, Dobozy, Scevak, Bryer, Bartlett, & Biehler, 2009) . De Bono’s thinking hats provided a thinking scaffold which assisted students with developing creative and metacognitive capabilities as they were required to analyse a topic in various ways. Furthermore, the use of this scaffold in an online environment assisted collaboration, supported a range of perspectives and focused thinking which allowed learners to remain organised and on topic whilst providing motivation throughout the learning experience (Gregory & Masters, 2010) .
To read further on the experience of the wiki click here.
To read further about wikis click here.
Blogs
A blog is essentially an online diary in which people post regularly on a subject. “Blogs provide a communication space that teachers can utilise with students whenever there is a curriculum need to develop writing, share ideas and reflect on work being undertaken in the classroom” (Department of Education, 2011) . A blog provides an environment in which the student is engaged in a meaningful task which is situated within a real-life context, thus increasing the motivation and learning of the students. Teachers are able to view student work, assess prior knowledge and engage students in instructional conversation where they can provide scaffolding to allow them to work in their zone of proximal development. Scaffolding is essential to ensure that the task facilitates learning and enables the development of higher-order and creative thinking, whilst ensuring students have control of their learning (Glogowski, 2007) . Within an educational context, Blogs serve many purposes including the facilitation of discussions; the ability to share perspectives on learning and classroom experiences; record learning and thinking; and distribute instructions and notifications. Opportunities for the collaboration of ideas and the interaction of the ‘blogger’ with readers are provided by comment sections where learners can contribute constructive feedback, assisting with developing critical analysis skills and developing the ability to reason and justify disputed opinions (Howland, Jonassen, & Marra, 2008) . This technology can support learning and transform it to ‘learning together’, integrating social constructivist theory whereby learners require collaboration to learn (Selwyn, 2011) .
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Images
“The use of images in teaching and learning has benefits to support student comprehension, retention, and application” (Images in Education, 2006) . One of the key benefits of using images is the ability to support learners, in particular spatial-visual learners, who require images to develop conceptual understanding and enhance recall of concepts through the provision of visual memory cues. Visual Literacy is essential in the 21st Century where students are required to make meaning from visual diagrams such as graphs in newspapers, determine bias in pictures and work with visual images on a daily basis, for both social and work purposes. Visual literacy is “defined as the ability to interpret images as well as to generate images for communicating ideas and concepts” (Stokes, 2001) .This engages critical and creative thinking, as it requires learners to interpret and analyse images to make meaning. Emotive images in particular, are powerful tools to enhance learning contexts by providing a visual item to work with, developing further knowledge and critical analysis as learners actually ‘see’ rather than ‘read’ (Stokes, 2001) . For example, images of poverty are more emotive and confronting than simply reading or hearing stories of events.
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Online Concept Mapping
Concept maps are essentially webs with stems connecting and organising information and spatially representing relationships and are appealing to visual learners (Baitz, 2009) . They are used extensively as a learning tool within the classroom and continue to enhance learning within electronic contexts. Marzano and Pickering (1997) emphasise the use of concept maps for organising declarative knowledge, aligning with cognitivist learning where knowledge is internalised through categorising information and assimilating new knowledge with existing knowledge or cognitive structure (Snowman, Dobozy, Scevak, Bryer, Bartlett, & Biehler, 2009) . During the creation of the concept map, scaffolded learning occurs when students perform brainstorming tasks and integrate prior knowledge, enabling them to organise information and thereby make meaning from it, extending and working within their zone of proximal development (Baitz, 2009) . Because of the flexibility of concept maps, learners are able to quickly assemble prior knowledge, build on it and develop new ideas by adding new connections to the main topic, thereby contributing to creative thinking and problem solving (Christodoulou, 2010) . By integrating various perspectives and connecting new ideas, the knowledge contained within the concept map can be enhanced and extended through collaboration, assisting with moving students into the zone of proximal development, where more capable peers assist with extending learning. The social constructivist theory believes learning occurs best through collaboration.
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Glogster
Education Queensland (2008) states that effective digital learners “have developed skills to design, create, share and publish” (p. 10) , which is facilitated through Glogster, an online tool where learners create interactive, virtual posters integrating images, text, video and audio. According to Wittich & Schuller a poster is a "visual combination of bold design, color, and message intended to catch and hold the attention of the passer-by long enough to implant or reinforce a significant idea in his/her mind" (cited in (McCann, Sramac, & Rudy, 1999, p. 373) . The design of aesthetically appealing posters can incorporate multimodal literacy which “refers to meaning-making that occurs through the reading, viewing, understanding, responding to and producing and interacting with multimedia and digital texts” (Walsh, 2010) . Learners manipulate graphics, video, images and text in a creative way to convey meaning, developing understanding of how messages are represented and communicated (Newfield, 2011) . The development of multimodal literacy also engages critical thinking, whereby learners must interpret messages and critically analyse the display of posters.
Education Queensland (2008) specifies that digital learners must “explore new ideas and tools in authentic contexts” (p. 10) , to ensure learners are using knowledge meaningfully and it is relevant and engaging (Marzano, et al., 1997) . Glogster can be used to support new knowledge and engage learners, collate information including expert opinions in one place and encourage students to support their learning with posters to share. Glogster EDU, is created for educational purposes and takes into account legal and ethical considerations, by enabling glogs to remain private or shared with classes. Students must still implement safe internet practices by not posting private material such as photos and names. Click here to read further and see glogster in action.
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Conclusion
Digital technologies accompanied with quality pedagogy can enhance learning by providing learners with access to greater knowledge, diverse perspectives and authenticated learning, whilst providing learners with skills to operate in a rapid, knowledge-based society. Each of the tools discussed facilitates learning contexts in various ways, providing for student participation in engaging learning experiences. This course has extended my knowledge of digital pedagogy and its role in ensuring technology is appropriate to the learning context, as well as developing an understanding of how these tools can be implemented in classrooms. As technology continues to change and improve and students become effective digital learners, effective teaching remains a critical element to ensuring learning experiences are well scaffolded and the required learning occurs. As Piaget said, “The principle goal of education is to create men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done”.
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