A Toolkit for Action: Translating Theory into Practice

Abstract

Educators are increasingly being asked to promote 21st century skills in their digitally-enhanced classrooms, supporting students’ development of critical and creative thinking, problem-solving skills, and to learn to collaborate as productive members of an increasingly netwoked society. Educators, tasked with the oversight of increasingly active and digitally-enhanced learning spaces, are in need of practical methods and tools capable of supporting theoretically informed practices in design for learning. In this paper, our aim is to translate recent theoretical developments in the learning sciences into methods and tools for action, in order that the rich opportunities for learning that these spaces offer, do not go to waste. Central to this research, is the need for analytical tools that facilitate conversations about learning theories and design practices, between different members of increasinlgy diverse educational design teams. The paper introduces A Toolkit for Action, as a tool and a method for mediating conversations about designing for learning in the digital age.