9 Unit 1 The digital learner and educator and discourses
PBL unit workflow overview
Introduction to unit
In an increasingly interconnected and technology-driven world, the roles of learners and educators are evolving rapidly. This unit explores the dynamic landscape of digital education, focusing on how individuals engage with learning across personal, lifelong, and lifewide contexts. Through the lens of personal learning environments, we examine how learners curate and navigate digital spaces to support their development. Concepts such as “visitors and residents” offer insight into digital presence and participation, while the unit also addresses the essential digital competencies required by both students and educators to thrive in contemporary educational settings. Together, these themes provide a foundation for understanding and shaping educational practices in a digital society.
Individual warm-up activities
Activity 1: Familiarise yourself with the concept of Personal Learning Environments (PLE) (Attwell, 2023) and visualise your own PLE as a digital output. You could simply draw on paper and take a photograph, or use a drawing app such as Tayasui Sketches or a mindmapping tool. Even Padlet could work. The following will help you reflect on your PLE as a learner (student and educator):
- The contexts in which you learn (a course, personal interest, work etc.)
- The reasons for learning and your goals
- Where you learn
- The time you have to learn and when you learn
- Others you are learning with
- The digital tools you use
- The resources you use
- How you reflect, record and share your learning
- How you apply your learning
Activity 2: Familiarise yourself with the concept of Digital Visitors and Residents (White and Le Cornu, 2017) and create your own visual map as a learner (student and educator). You could use a new digital tool. Which one could you use? After you have created your map, think about the following: What do you notice? Are there any differences in the spaces you visit and reside as a learner and educator? How do you explain this?
Activity 3: When you have completed Activity 1 and 2 think about the future and alternative possibilities for students and educators in your professional context. Ask yourself 3 “What if” questions and attempt to answer these critically and creatively. Identify at least one of your peers you could engage in a conversation about these and theirs. You may then wish to go to Microsoft Copilot and invite genAI to ask you three critical questions based on one of your “What if” questions and the response you gave. Avoid adding personal details into Copilot. What did this exchange enable? How did your engagement with genAI compare to the conversation you had with your peer(s)? Revisit this activity after the group task for this unit.
Sharing
When you have completed the warm-up activities share these with your group and discuss. What do you notice? Capture three learning points.
Scenario
Choose a scenario from Part 2 that links with this unit or generate your own based on tailored parameters that closer align to your professional context as a group. You can do this manually or use GenAI. You will find instructions there.
You will need to save the scenario your group decides to use (e.g. the collaborative space in Teams). Add it to your collaborative learning space so that you can all easily access it.
Once this is done, continue with the tasks that follow.
What would you like to achieve as a group?
This will be really important to agree as a group as it will be driving what you will be working on as a group and put a plan together on how you can be successful in achieving what you set out to do. Consider using a coaching model such as GROW (Whitmore, 1996).
Group unit learning outcomes
After reading the scenario carefully and discussing in the group on which aspect of the scenario you will be focusing on, define your learning outcome(s). You may find the following resources useful when defining your group unit learning outcomes (Churches, 2008; Hogle, 2025).
LO1
LO2
Using Step 1: Focus, from the FISh model will help you with this (See section Working with FISh).
Module learning outcomes
Explain how your learning outcome(s) relates to the module learning outcomes.
On successful completion of the module you will have demonstrated the following Learning Outcomes (LO) relevant to the subject:
LO1: Critically assess key contemporary debates of digital technology, education and society in your professional context.
LO2: Apply specific learning theories relevant to digital education in your professional context.
LO3: Critically reflect on a range of digital technologies and practices in your professional context.
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
SLO1: Critically reflect on the use of digital education in your own professional practice
SLO2: Expand your professional network of digital education practitioners and become an active and valued member of such communities both online and in person
SLO3: Collaborate effectively online using a range of digital communication tools with other digital education practitioners
SLO4: Use appropriate digital tools to present and communicate information
Group plan
Use this table to capture all information relating to your work linked to this unit. Using Step 2 and Step 3 of the FISh model will help you with this (see section Working with FISh).
| What would you like to achieve as a group | |
| Timeline | |
| Who will do what and by when | |
| Digital tools needed/used | |
| Final output, format | |
| Assessment criteria for group evaluation
(Use the ones agreed for the module) |
|
| Group reflection and learning | |
| What resources can we use | |
| What other resources do we need | |
| How can the tutor support us |
Literature
Attwell, G. 2023. Personal Learning Environments: looking back and looking forward. RED. Revista de Educación a Distancia, 23(71). http://dx.doi.org/10.6018/red.526911
Armellini, A., Teixeira Antunes, V. and Howe, R. 2021. Student Perspectives on Learning Experiences in a Higher Education Active Blended Learning Context. TechTrends. 65, 433–443. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-021-00593-w
Bayne, S. 2023. Digital education utopia, Learning, Media and Technology, 49(3), 506-521. 10.1080/17439884.2023.2262382
Jackson, N. 2021. Enriching and Vivifying the Concept of Lifelong Learning through Lifewide Learning and Ecologies for Learning & Practice, White paper, Lifewide Education, available at https://www.lifewideeducation.uk/uploads/1/3/5/4/13542890/white_paper_.pdf
Selwyn, N. 2023. Digital degrowth: toward radically sustainable education technology, Learning, Media and Technology. 186-199. 10.1080/17439884.2022.2159978
Weller, Martin 2011. A pedagogy of abundance. Spanish Journal of Pedagogy, 249, 223–236. https://oro.open.ac.uk/28774/2/BB62B2.pdf
White, D. S. and Le Cornu, A. (2017). Using ‘Visitors and Residents’ to visualise digital practices. First Monday, 22(8). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v22i8.7802
Multimedia resources Food for thought series created with our students
External multimedia resources
Personal Learning Networks
https://youtu.be/zRUYcbn3aPU?feature=shared
What is digital competence for teachers
