Emotion-Check

By using visual images, educators can engage students in exploring and developing key SEL skills. For example, comparing images that depict different emotions can help students identify and understand their emotional responses, allowing them to reflect on how different photos make them feel. When educators lack SEL competencies, ineffective formative assessments contribute to developing negative attitudes and perceptions toward assessments from teachers and students. By incorporating SEL, educators can provide a visually stimulating and thought-provoking approach to developing essential self-management skills in the digital age.

Social-emotional learning (SEL) plays a critical role in the context of innovative digital pedagogies. As education increasingly integrates digital technologies, the importance of SEL becomes more pronounced for several reasons:

1. Enhancing Student Engagement and Motivation
2. Fostering Collaboration and Communication
3. Supporting Mental Health and Well-being
4. Building Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills
5. Promoting Inclusivity and Equity
6. Enhancing Teacher Effectiveness
7. Preparing for Future Workplaces

Incorporating SEL into innovative digital pedagogies is essential for creating a holistic educational experience. It ensures that students are not only academically proficient but also emotionally intelligent, socially skilled, and prepared for the complexities of the modern world. By integrating SEL with digital learning, educators can create supportive, engaging, and effective learning environments that cater to the diverse needs of all students.

The Pyramid of Digital Literacies

Reproductive thinking refers to the cognitive process of recalling and applying previously learned information and established methods to solve problems or perform tasks.

Social-emotional thinking is integral to the holistic development of individuals, encompassing the ability to understand and manage emotions, build positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.

Self-regulation strategies and practices are essential for managing digital use effectively, enhancing learning outcomes, and maintaining well-being. By setting boundaries, managing time, fostering healthy habits, and continuously developing skills, individuals can navigate the digital world more proficiently and responsibly.

Information thinking can empower students to become critical thinkers, ethical users of information, and effective communicators in digital environments. This approach not only enhances academic achievement but also prepares students for lifelong learning and success in a digitally driven society.

Branching thinking; and real-time thinking are essential cognitive processes in digital literacy, enabling individuals to navigate complex digital environments, process information effectively, and engage in meaningful interactions.

Photo-visual thinking enhances learning new technologies by providing learners with visual tools and strategies to explore, understand, and apply concepts effectively. Educators can leverage this approach through interactive multimedia content, digital storytelling, and collaborative visual projects to foster engagement and deeper comprehension among learners

The key pedagogical design principles for online courses regarding social-emotional thinking are:

• fostering a positive learning community where learners feel comfortable communicating and sharing ideas
• structuring collaborative assignments that require different levels of teamwork from information sharing to true collaboration
• helping students cope with individual ownership over learning outcomes and develop a sense of shared ownership within the learning community.

Five Competencies of SEL

Self-Awareness

Self-Management

Responsible  Decision-Making

Relationship Skills

Social Awareness

SEL involves teaching children to solve problems and manage stress both individually and collaboratively. While SEL is sometimes explicitly included in the curriculum, it can also be integrated subtly, with students learning social-emotional skills indirectly. For instance, when students work in groups to create a science presentation, they are learning to make decisions, solve problems, manage stress, and collaborate. This indirect learning extends beyond the classroom to extracurricular activities, where after-school programs help children develop social skills and emotional regulation. Thus, SEL is deeply embedded throughout the school curriculum.

References

Abdo, A., Brown, A., Koresky, J., McMahon, M., & Michie, S. (2022). Social and emotional learning. Classroom Practice in 2022. Retrieved from https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/educ5202/chapter/social-and-emotional-learning/

Blau, I., Shamir-Inbal, T., & Avdiel, O. (2020). How does the pedagogical design of a technology-enhanced collaborative academic course promote digital literacies, self-regulation, and perceived learning of students? The Internet and Higher Education, 45, 100722-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2019.100722