http://hortdigital.net

Thank you,

The Digital Orchard team

In the Digital Orchard course, teachers and facilitators work together to propose, discuss and test innovative approaches to using technology in the classroom, focusing on Web 2.0 tools, and promoting the personalisation of learning by means of social and collaborative tools. Following a Living Lab approach, we started by conducting interviews with the high schools’ principals and heads of departments, in order to get to know a little about their environment, their experience, and their needs.

One of the common themes that emerged was the need for help and training in implementing the use of ICTs in the classroom. Only then we showed them our proposal and decided to go ahead with the project, and we have been adapting and changing it according to the participants’  feedback and needs.

The project was inspired by the MediaZoo at the University of Leicester (www.le.ac.uk/beyonddistance/mediazoo/), but we choose a different metaphor, an orchard. An Orchard is defined as a “a piece of enclosed land planted with fruit trees”, and it shares the same root as the Spanish and Catalan words, hortus: the project is called Hort Digital in Catalan, and Huerto Digital in Spanish. We wanted to convey a meaning of ownership, as each individual’s orchard will be different, including the plants and trees (tools and technologies) that the participants choose according to their needs. It changes over time, “growing”, and in time, bears fruit: knowledge, resources, relationships, communities.

This way, the teachers will create bit by bit a “toolkit”, a set of personal learning and teaching support tools. As part of our collaboration with the Beyond Distance Research Alliance, at the University of Leicester, we have proposed Web 2.0 tools as foundations or “hubs” for Personal Learning Environments, and in this case, teachers can create their own PLEs, and later use the acquired knowledge and skills in their teaching. Furthermore, they can also guide their students in building their PLEs, so students can create a digital record of their learning process.

In the end, we want to reach a much wider audience: through the teachers that participate in the project, we want to help students realise the potential of these tools and the impact they could have in their formal and informal learning.

The Digital Orchard is a project developed at Citilab-Cornellà with the support of the i2CAT Foundation, and its main objective is to help high school teachers use technology in innovative ways in the classroom. We envisioned it as a Living Lab for education; we have started working at secondary education level, but we have plans to expand it to other levels and areas. This initiative is a supported by the Department of Education of the regional government in Catalonia, Spain.

We have monthly face-to-face meetings, and we also have a social network based on Ning, where we interact, participate in discussions, help each other and work together. We think that taking this collaborative and social approach, supported by the creation of a community of practice, will have a positive impact in closing the digital gap between teachers and students, help teachers realise the potential of new (and “old”) technologies, and support the new policies being issued by both the regional and national governments in Spain.

We are working with 30 teachers from 4 high schools; so far, the sessions have exceeded our expectations: although most of them had no previous experience with using these kind of applications and tools in the classroom, they have been very enthusiastic and involved with the project, and some of them have already started creating their own social networks with their students. Others have realised the potential of Google Docs to provide personalised assessment and feedback, or to create groups to share experiences and resources. We are looking forward to working together with them during this academic year, and we would like to share this journey through this blog.