Education today stands at a crossroads. For years, the phrase ‘pedagogy first’ has echoed through staff rooms and conferences. It’s a reassuring stance for teachers wary of being swept up by each new edtech trend. But placing technology last in the learning design process doesn’t solve the problem. In fact, it creates a new one.
When we put pedagogy or technology at the front while sidelining the other, we miss the real complexity of education. It’s not about who leads, but how they move together.
The illusion of choosing one over the other
Tim Fawns (2022) calls this the pedagogy–technology dichotomy. In his model of entangled pedagogy, he explains how both perspectives ‘pedagogy first’ and ‘technology first’ are oversimplified. They create the illusion that learning outcomes can be controlled by linear choices. But learning is messy, dynamic, and deeply context-dependent.
Pedagogy-only approaches risk ignoring the material and social impacts of technology. Technology-only strategies risk creating gimmicks, shiny but shallow solutions with little educational grounding. Either approach alone often leads to determinism: assuming that either pedagogy or technology inevitably causes outcomes, without considering the complex interplay of factors involved.
Why the Gap Matters
Imagine rolling out a brilliant pedagogical model through a clunky, inflexible online platform. Or adopting immersive techology tools without considering how students interact with them, or what values they embed. In both cases, something breaks. The method doesn’t fit the medium. The message gets lost.
This disconnect became starkly visible during emergency remote teaching. Many institutions tried to replicate traditional classroom practices online, relying on familiar teaching methods without adapting to the digital environment. The result? Frustrated teachers, disengaged students, and missed opportunities for meaningful learning.
The case for entangled learning design
Fawns offers a better way: entangled pedagogy. This approach acknowledges that pedagogy, technology, context, values, and purpose are all mutually shaping elements. None comes first. None can be separated from the others.
In this model, teachers don’t just choose tools to deliver their methods. They work with students, IT teams, and other stakeholders to design learning experiences that reflect the full reality of the learning environment. This includes everything from institutional infrastructure to students’ home lives and devices.
Driving real learning outcomes
Bridging the gap between pedagogy and technology means moving beyond tech gimmicks and method nostalgia. It means recognising that effective learning design doesn’t start with either/or decisions. It begins with questions:
- What are we trying to achieve?
- What do our students need?
- What values do we want to express?
- What’s possible within our context?
When we engage with these questions, pedagogy and technology stop competing. They start co-creating.
Where I Start: The Educator and learning outcomes
In my own practice, It starts with building rapport and trust. Before we talk about tools or delivery methods or tech, I take the time to understand the educator, their goals, pressures, teaching style, and comfort with change. Supporting learning design means supporting them first.
Every educator brings something unique to the table, and I see my role as meeting them where they are. Whether I’m working with someone new to teaching or an experienced researcher, I approach the relationship with curiosity, respect, and patience. It’s about creating a space.
Once trust is established, we can begin to explore the intent behind the learning outcomes. What do you want students to walk away knowing, doing, or becoming? From there, we co-create the learning experience together.
My background in immersive technology and media gives me a strong toolkit, but that comes after the conversation. I don’t push technology for its own sake. I lead with empathy, previous applications and practical solutions, aligning pedagogy and tools to what actually supports student outcomes, and what the educator feels confident using.
It’s about empowering the educator, honouring their expertise, and helping them feel supported.
Final thought
The future of education isn’t about choosing sides. It’s about embracing complexity. Entangled pedagogy gives us a way to do just that, helping us design not just better courses, but more responsive, ethical, and effective learning experiences.
Fawns, T. An Entangled Pedagogy: Looking Beyond the Pedagogy—Technology Dichotomy. Postdigit Sci Educ 4, 711–728 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-022-00302-7
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