Student and Lecturer Reflections on Merging the Physical and Digital Classroom with a ‘Tech and Tactile’ Approach

Abstract

This paper shares lecturer and student reflective accounts of a ‘tech and tactile’ approach to delivering BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies and BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies with Early Years Teacher Status courses. The ‘tech and tactile’ approach combines gamification, playful pedagogy, digital, creative and tactile methods of facilitating learning. Every task has a concurrent physical and digital counterpart, or the digital and physical tasks are purposefully sequenced. The paper shares examples of reflections that convey that students are not sedentary or attached to their device. Instead, the embedded digital and physical elements enabled attendance and engagement to be magnified. Furthermore, the approach accommodates multiple learning styles, preferences and needs by allowing a choice of subject content based on context and digital literacy. The approach was well-received by students who value its tacit, multi-modal and self-referent nature. The paper proposes a cyclical approach to curriculum planning and reflective questions which are transferable across disciplines for lecturers wishing to adopt the ‘tech and tactile approach.