PiE 2015 Volume 33 Issue 4

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http://hdl.handle.net/11660/2443

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Browsing PiE 2015 Volume 33 Issue 4 by Author "Mitchell, Claudia"

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    Connecting with pre-service teachers’ perspectives on the use of digital technologies and social media to teach socially relevant science
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2015) Mudaly, Ronicka; Pithouse-Morgan, Kathleen; Singh, Shakila; Mitchell, Claudia; Van Laren, Linda
    As an interdisciplinary team of educational researchers we explored pre-service science teachers’ perspectives on using digital technologies and social media to address socially relevant issues in science teaching. The rationale for teaching socially relevant science was embedded in the concept of renaiscience, thus underscoring the need for science to be perceived as a human activity. We drew on generational theory to consider the educational significance of digital technologies and social media. Two different activities were used to elicit the pre-service science teachers’ perspectives. First, we invited them to reflect on a digital animation that we had produced, and they highlighted the advantages of digital animation as a medium to communicate a socially relevant message more appealingly to the Millennial generation. We then engaged these pre-service teachers in a structured concept-mapping activity to consider how digital technologies and social media might be used to address social challenges in South Africa. They drew our attention to the affordances of digital technologies and social media as a means to facilitate critical thinking, cater for diverse learning styles, and make high-quality scientific knowledge more accessible. They highlighted that teaching socially relevant science using digital resources can be cheap, convenient, collaborative, and creative.
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    Editorial: critical perspectives on digital spaces in educational research
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2015) De Lange, Naydene; Mitchell, Claudia; Moletsane, Relebohile
    Abstract not available
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    From spaces of sexual violence to sites of networked resistance: re-imagining mobile and social media technologies
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2015) Hart, Laurel; Mitchell, Claudia
    To date, much of the work on mobile and social media in the context of sexual violence has focused on its threats and harmful effects, particularly in relation to cyber-bullying and other forms of online harassment. But what if we think of such technologies as technologies of non-violence? In this article we make a case for exploring this work in rural South Africa, where, in spite of some challenges of access, the availability of technology is increasing the number of possible ways of addressing sexual violence. Building on what we offer as a primer of technologies currently available, we consider the implications of this work for researchers (especially those in education), interested in how technology can help to address sexual violence.
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    Seeing how it works: a visual essay about critical and transformative research in education
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2015) De Lange, Naydene; Mitchell, Claudia; Moletsane, Relebohile
    As visual researchers in the field of education we have initiated and completed numerous participatory projects using qualitative visual methods such as drawing, collage, photovoice, and participatory video, along with organising screenings and creating exhibitions, action briefs, and policy posters. Locating this work within a critical paradigm, we have used these methods with participants to explore issues relating to HIV and AIDS and to gender-based violence in rural contexts. With technology, social media, and digital communication network connections becoming more accessible, the possibilities of using visual participatory methods in educational research have been extended. However, the value of visual participatory research in contributing to social change is often unrecognised. While the power of numbers and words in persuasive and informative change is well accepted within the community of educational researchers, the power of the visual itself is often overlooked. In this visual essay, we use the visual as a way to shift thinking about what it means to do educational research that is transformative in and of itself. As an example we draw on our visual participatory work with 15 first-year women university students in the Girls Leading Change1 project to explore and address sexual violence at a South African university. We aim to illustrate, literally, the possibilities of using the visual, not only as a mode of inquiry, but also of representation and communication in education and social science scholarship.