A walk on the wild side: traversing learning contexts and the production of knowledge(s)

Studies suggest students who can leverage digital tools and platforms to think critically and become active, engaged producers of knowledge are more employable upon graduation (JISC 2012, Alexander 2019). These sorts of digital literacies include elements of cognitive and practical skills, an understanding of the social context in which they are being applied, & the capability to think differently and creatively about the world (Mezirow 1997). How to support the attainment of these capabilities within pedagogical practice remains a challenge. This paper reflects on data gathered from the presenters' own teaching experience and research on the potential of using authentic academic digital projects to support the delivery of digital literacies. It focuses on two courses, each of which offers students opportunities to learn while navigating between different institutional, disciplinary, cultural and geographic contexts. One supports students taking 'a step on the wild side', translating their knowledge, skills and experiences within the civic arena, collaborating with a NGO on a research project. The other is organised as a COIL opportunity, drawing together Urban Studies students at a U.S. university with Geography students at an Irish one. This course offers students an opportunity to collaborate online on a comparative urban research project, navigating different cultural, institutional, geographic and disciplinary contexts. The two case studies share in common: forms of authentic learning, that is, relatively ill-defined, complex learning tasks that allow for a diversity of outcomes, have real-world relevance and integrate a variety of forms of collaboration; and scholarly digital storytelling, where students learn through the creation of visual narratives or retellings of information and ideas in a digital format. Key to each case study is the importance of navigating different contexts (institutional, disciplinary, cultural and geographic) in shaping scholarly activity as a creative experience. Our paper suggests the design of these forms of authentic digital storytelling generate complex forms of intellectual, practical and emotional engagement, as students work through questions of agency, authority, culture and poetics in the production of knowledge(s).

Conference Pedagogy: The paper will be presented by the four authors as a form of storytelling, one that unfolds around four interwoven evidence-led narrative arcs. These are based upon the presenters' experience of collaborating on the design and delivery of two courses that intentionally cross institutional, disciplinary, cultural and geographic borders. In the borderlands, it is argued, insight can be gained by student and teacher alike on how context matters in teaching and learning. This will be illustrated with data collected from questionnaire surveys, interviews and online engagement metrics, combined with an analysis of interviews and reflective assessments produced by students.