Dough Pedagogies - an approach for course design

Abstract

The key to a good loaf of bread is the kneading; firmly folding in the edges of the dough allows the ingredients to react, producing pockets of air that provide structure, strength and flavour. Dough comes to life through the attention given to this kneading process.

Technology is often seen as an addendum in learning: something that is additional to core teaching, requiring specific training or staff development. Whilst the view espoused about Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) may be ‘pedagogy, supported by technology’, in practice this often becomes “we have this technology: so now what can we do with it?” Moreover, when designing a curriculum, TEL tools and spaces are relegated to what students do in between face to face sessions with separate – perhaps lesser – learning taking place in digital spaces.

The TEL unit on the MA Academic Practice aims to offer a different approach to this dichotomy: its design is based on the pedagogy of ‘dough’, in which ‘education’ is the subject, and technology the medium through which learning is explored.

This paper presents an explanation of the design and continued development of the TEL unit, identifying the learning challenges and therefore the requirement for kneading in technology-supported solutions to cultivate knowledge, understanding and enhanced approaches to learning in a post-digital society. Attendees will be encouraged to reflect on their own curricula, following practical demonstration of the broader pedagogic affordances of technology.