Showing papers in "Digital Education Review in 2020"

A Critical look at Educational Technology from a Distance Education Perspective

Abstract: This article focuses on educational technology as applied in the context of programs and institutions that offer completely distance education courses. All education in the 21st century is digital education in that the use of networking, text and image creation and editing and search and retrieval of information punctuates the life of almost every teacher and student. However, the context of distance education – where all the interactions are mediated, creates a unique and heightened context of digitalization. This paper focuses on two questions: (1) What aspects have not been completely satisfactory in the transit and transformation that education has undergone, from its more traditional, campus-based conception, towards its new configuration marked by the continuous use of digital technologies and environments? (2) In order what are the future challenges that distance education must deal with to support sustainability of this teaching model? From a theoretical and interpretative analysis, based on the review of relevant articles and documents on distance education, some critical dimensions (limitations, unkept promises and future challenges) the use of digital technologies in distance education is identified and subsequently analyzed. These dimensions evidence how the initial (sometimes excessive) enthusiasm about the insertion of digital technologies in distance education has not (yet?) been fully reflected in reality.

Digital technologies in support of students learning in Higher Education: literature review

Abstract: Digital technologies are an integral part of Higher Education teaching, revealing a set of technologies chosen to integrate formal learning contexts, and therefore being used by students in support of learning. This paper presents a literature review mapping the digital technologies set for higher education students to use in formal education contexts, over the last five years between 2012 and 2017. Results show a pattern of technologies reflecting teacher’s choice for methods combining face-to-face and at distance learning, frequently in relation to the adoption of flipped classroom methods. Mapping the digital technologies used by students, showed a pattern of three most used in a total of nine types identified. Institutional Learning Management Systems mainly support a wider access to information and learning materials, followed by technologies that promote publishing and sharing content related to class activities, and a broad range of technologies categorized under ICTs. The overall impact of use of technologies in students learning process and outcomes revealed to be positive, used with the intention to promote students’ active engagement and participation in the learning process inside and outside the classroom walls. The data also revealed digital technologies to support more transmissive ways of teaching, facilitating students individually to Access, share and publish information, and significantly lesser used to promote collaborative and cooperative learning.

What are teens doing with media? An ethnographic approach for identifying transmedia skills and informal learning strategies

Abstract: The emergence of new media, devices, narratives and practices has compelled media literacy scholars and professionals to review their theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches. Based on a new conception – ‘transmedia literacy’ – that moves from traditional media literacy to informal learning and participatory cultures practices, the research program behind the present article tries to understand how new generations are doing things with media outside schools and how they learnt to do the things they do. The article begins by describing the transformations of media literacy in recent years as a consequence of the mutations of the media ecology and, in that context, proposes a methodological approachfor analysing the acquisition of transmedia skills in informal learning environments by teens. The article describes, analyses and evaluates the development and initial implementation of this methodology working with teenagers in a high-school in NAME CITY. It ends with a Research Kit that includes surveys, creative workshops, interactive interviews and media diaries with teens between 12-18 years old. The article also describes the evolution of this methodological approach from its original formulation to the evaluation of the model after it was tested, and reflects on the possibilities of developing specific research devices to be applied in transnational research.

Epilogue: Rethinking digital literacy: Media education in the age of digital capitalism

Abstract: Advocates of digital education have increasingly recognized the need for young people to acquire digital media literacy. However, this idea is often seen in instrumental terms, and is rarely implemented in any coherent or comprehensive way. This paper suggests that we need to move beyond a binary view of digital media as offering risks and opportunities for young people, and the narrow ideas of digital skills and internet safety to which it gives rise. The article propose that we should take a broader and more critical approach to the rise of ‘digital capitalism’, and to the ubiquity of digital media in everyday life. In this sense, the paper argue that the well-established conceptual framework and pedagogical strategies of media education can and should be extended to meet the new challenges posed by digital and social media. This article presents some reflections as an epigraph of the special issue "Digital learning: distraction or default for the future", whose final result has allowed us to group a set of critical research and analysis on the inclusion of digital technologies in educational contexts. The points of view presented in this epigraph is also developed in more detail in the book "The Media Education Manifesto" (Buckingham, 2019).

Beyond cybersafety: The need to develop social media literacies in pre-teens

Abstract: Cybersafety has been a mainstay of digital education since computers arrived in classrooms in the mid 1990s. Whether schools encourage students to be ‘cybersmart’ (Australia), ‘netsafe’ (New Zealand) or to be aware of ‘cybersecurity strategies’ (Mexico and Chile) most now devote a relatively large amount of time and money to teaching young people how to ‘stay safe’ online. In this article, we argue that it is time for schools to move beyond the cybersafety discourse to encourage students to think more critically about the digital media they use. Reporting on the digital practices of 276 pre-teens aged 7-12 years in Australia and Uruguay, we contend that the everyday digital challenges young people face are now beyond the scope of most cybersafety programs. Our findings highlight that many of the issues pre-teens are negotiating call for more nuanced and sustained educational programs that support the development of critical social media literacies. In particular, with the proliferation of mass user platforms and artificial intelligence, there is a need for schools to educate students around managing and protecting their personal data. The article concludes with a discussion of the digital learning required for young people in an increasingly datafied society.

Technology adoption in Malaysian schools: An analysis of national ICT in education policy initiatives

Abstract: Educational change, particularly change involving the adoption of educational innovations, is a complex process. In Malaysia, the significant role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in promoting digital education is reflected in the national ICT in education policy. Nevertheless, studies in the Malaysian educational context have shown that the policy implementation resulted in varying degrees of success. Through a discourse analysis approach, this paper aims to examine the evaluation studies on large scale initiatives introduced to digitize the Malaysian education system, from the Smart Schools programme to the incorporation of the Frog Virtual Learning Environment in classroom. The rationale behind these top-down initiatives and how they affected the stakeholders at the micro level, namely, teachers and students, are reviewed and analysed. The analysis informs our understanding of the factors that contribute to the successful and unsuccessful implementation of these initiatives and guide the planning of future policies.

La transformación digital de los centros escolares. Obstáculos y resistencias

Abstract: En este articulo se presenta el diseno y resultados de un estudio de casos sobre 40 centros publicos de Educacion Infantil y Primaria, y de Educacion Secundaria, en el que se analizo el nivel o estadio de integracion pedagogica y organizativa de las tecnologias digitales en cada uno de los mismos. Para el analisis de los datos se elaboro una matriz de valoracion con cuatro estadios o fases de transformacion digital (iniciacion, aplicacion, integracion, transformacion) y ocho dimensiones de integracion pedagogica y organizativa de las TIC. Los principales factores inhibidores u obstaculos identificados fueron: la escasez de dispositivos suficientes para el alumnado y el profesorado; conectividad limitada; la inestabilidad de claustro; la falta de liderazgo que impulsara el uso de las TIC en el centro; y la ausencia de una vision compartida del equipo directivo acerca del potencial educativo de las TIC.

Digital learning: distraction or default for the future

Abstract: Today it is not easy to think in the society without the impact (and influence) of digital technologies. The relevance of digital devices and associated indicators are used as proxies to measure the development of societies today. In that context, both top-down and/or bottom-up technology in education initiatives seek to promote different forms of incorporating digital technologies in educational contexts. There are many successful experiences around the world to implement digital technologies in school contexts. However, it is critical to analyze the mismatch between the expectations and the reality but also to enquire how to provide better evidence and analysis to deepen and expand the knowledge in the field of education and technology from the Top-Down and Bottom-Up initiatives. Keeping that in mind, an international call for papers was launched that finally 14 contributions from 12 countries were included in this special issue. The articles shed light about two important aspects: (1) how good technical solutions cannot ignore the context in which these digital technologies are being used or adopted. (2) how the access to technologies can simply amplify the existing inequalities within a society (as well as between different societies) if additional (in most cases non-technical) components are not being carefully considered.

The 'obvious' stuff: exploring the mundane realities of students' digital technology use in school

Abstract: This paper explores the ways in which students perceive digital technology as being helpful and/or useful to their schooling. Drawing upon survey data from students (n=1174) across three Australian high schools, the paper highlights seventeen distinct digital ‘benefits’ in domains such as information seeking, writing and composition, accessing prescribed work, scheduling and managing study tasks. While these data confirm the centrality of such technologies to students’ experiences of school, they also suggest that digital technology is not substantially changing or ‘transforming’ the nature of schools and schooling per se. Instead, students were most likely to associate digital technologies with managing the logistics of individual study and engaging with school work in distinctly teacher-led linear and passive ways. As such, it is concluded that educationalists need to temper enthusiasms for what might be achieved through digital technologies, and instead develop better understandings of the realities of students’ instrumentally-driven uses of digital technology.

Hacia una visión contemporánea de la Tecnología Educativa

Abstract: El objetivo de este trabajo es someter a debate algunos de los temas clave que definen la investigacion y la practica de la Tecnologia Educativa academica (TE) en la actualidad y que explican, en parte, su crisis de identidad. El analisis teorico que se presenta centra su atencion en cuatro temas: (1) la necesidad de un concepto mas actual y matizado sobre que es la tecnologia; (2) una redefinicion del campo de estudio de la Tecnologia Educativa basada en la relacion entre tecnologia y educacion, ampliando su ambito de estudio mas alla de la dicotomia tradicional entre dispositivos y diseno instruccional; (3) la reconsideracion de sus relaciones con otras disciplinas academicas que le sirven como soportes teorico-analiticos; y, finalmente, (4) el analisis de algunas de las debilidades de la investigacion actual en TE producto de las asunciones epistemologicas dominantes en las ultimas decadas, de las metodologias auspiciadas por las publicaciones y del tipo de conocimiento que promueven.

The end of Enlaces: 25 years of an ICT education policy in Chile

Abstract: This article analyzes the reasons behind the end of the ICT in education policy (Enlaces) driven by the Chilean Ministry of Education for 25 years. The argument is that the institution that sought to give sustainability to this policy over time, ended up losing its ability to lead relevant responses to the educational challenges posed by the growing digitalization of the Chilean society. To develop this argument, first we describe the main characteristics, history and results of Enlaces until 2018, and second, we analyze the institutional development of Enlaces in light of the challenges posed to ICT in education policies in the world.

Digital technology as a trigger for learning: promises and realities

Abstract: In the last fitty years, the remarkable development of digital technology, that has permeated practically all social, economic and cultural, political and technological realms is producing several phenomena that have a direct impact in education. In this paper, I discuss first, the fact that more and more we refer to digital technology as just ‘technology”, as if the rest of the many organizational, symbolic, artefactual and biotechnological developments were something “natural”. Second, I refer to the rise and spread of technological solutionism in education and a growing discourse that sees every new digital technology as the arrival of the Promised Land, as the panacea to solve the problems of education. I go on analysing the collateral effects of this discourse in the educational practice, with an especial reference to persuasive technologies and Big Data. The article concludes with the request and the need for researchers, practitioners and education policy makers to avoid the temptation to solve a deeply "wicked" problem such as education with simple solutions.

Pending issues from digital inclusion in Ecuador: challenges for public policies, programs and projects developed and ICT-mediated teacher training

Abstract: The policies of digital inclusion in Ecuador had a rebound since 2007, placing technology as a priority axis for government management. Despite this, there are still pending issues to be developed. This study is based on a qualitative approach that, through documentary research, bibliographic analysis and critical review of literature, can generate contributions that allow the identification of challenges and possible gaps to be faced by government entities in Ecuador when proposing actions that link education and technology. As main findings, it can be mentioned that the impacts and results from the application of the National Development Plans must transcend the figures, which allow to deepen the analysis in relation to this topic, together with initiatives and proposals that regarding digital inclusion cannot be developed in isolation and need to have comprehensive long-term management. Finally, it is essential to understand that it is not necessary to create only platforms, it is relevant to work from integral pedagogical designs that start by understanding teachers from their experiences, accompaniment and motivation for the design of a contextualized training structure on digital mediation issues.

El rol docente en la sociedad digital

Abstract: Este trabajo presenta un estudio realizado acerca de los cambios en el rol docente en el contexto de la Sociedad Digital. A partir de un cuestionario con preguntas cerradas, con una muestra de 151 docentes de distintos niveles educativos, se presentan los principales resultados que apuntan a la necesidad autopercibida de mejora en la formacion del profesorado, convirtiendose en un elemento clave en el proceso de ensenanza-aprendizaje, siendo necesario conocer las competencias y capacidades que el profesorado debe adquirir para una correcta integracion de las tecnologias digitales en el curriculum. Ademas, el estudio indaga el grado de inclusion de las tecnologias en el aula para conocer el uso que hacen los docentes de las tecnologias en su practica de ensenanza.Los resultados igualmente, muestran que la mayoria del profesorado considera que la integracion de las TIC supondra un cambio en la calidad de la ensenanza. Asi mismo, en relacion con el grado de inclusion digital, el profesorado hace un uso diario de las tecnologias digitales, siendo el whatssap la red social mas usada por profesores y profesoras.

Are primary education teachers from Catalonia (Spain) trained on the ICT and disability

Abstract: In this work, we present the results of a study that had as an objective to understand the perception of key informants (directors, heads of studies and ICT coordinators from education centers, as well as well as directors and technology managers from teacher’s training centers), on the levels of technological training and knowledge possessed by the Primary Education teachers from the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, with respect to the use of the ICT with students with disabilities. For the methodology, a qualitative research design was used. The information was obtained from an analysis of 68 interviews conducted to professional from the education sector in Catalonia. The results obtained showed that the professionals perceived a low level of training and knowledge of the teachers with respect to the use of the ICT with people with disabilities. The findings showed the need to design and implement didactic training that empowers the teachers.

Practices and Discourses of Academics: Local Lessons to Address the Digital Shift in Academic Management

Abstract: Since the 1980s, accountability, performance measurement and competitiveness have been implemented in universities globally. It is the management logic known as New Public Management (NPM). But the NPM in contemporary academia is not understood without attending to the emergence of digital management devices and platforms (DMDs). It is the combination of both events that we have called the digital turn in university management. The implementation of DMDs is not a homogeneous and fully satisfactory process but is loaded with attempts, fails, and failures that need the voice of academics to be understood in its extension. This article presents the results of 40 interviews with academics about their experience and engagement with DMDs. The results point to the existence of at least three repertoires: 1) device-lover, 2) functional- pragmatic and 3) oppositionist-rejector. Together, these results point out that, on one hand, both the experience and the identity of the academic; and on the other hand, the relationship with the institutional context; both are the key to the successful implementation of the DMDs.

Investigating Digital Distraction among Pre-service Science, Technology, and Mathematics Teachers in Nigeria

Abstract: Internationally, proliferation of digital technologies in classrooms has produced digital distractions among digital natives in this 21 st century. Thus, it is highly imperative to develop a suitable instrument for assessing and measuring digital distraction among higher education students to enable continuing research and practice. While previous studies had treated and measured digital distraction as a sub-component of a multi-dimensional construct and as a test, the present study through instrumentation survey research, developed and authenticated a standalone digital distraction scale among pre-service science, technology and mathematics (STM) teachers in Nigeria. The instrument is constructed by adopting a multidimensional standpoint of digital distraction around a higher-order modelling method. The pre-service STM teachers were recruited from a culturally varied university student population in Nigeria. The results showed a high level of digital distraction among the pre-service STM teachers in Nigeria and the digital distraction is composed of several connected yet distinctive factors (emotional distraction, digital addiction, and distraction by procrastination), with proof backing up a higher-order structural archetypal. More so, empirical evidence confirmed the measurement invariance of the scale with regards to gender and the consistency of the psychometric properties of the digital distraction scale. Finally, a test-retest reliability of the digital distraction scale showed that the scores are not variable over time and that the scale is not sensitive to alterations in the learning milieu. Finally, it is hoped that this tool will be handy for educators interested in isolating pre-service STM teachers at risk of high digital distraction which may cause lack of respect and privation of courtesy for instructors and personal distraction in the classroom.

Lessons from the Training and Support of Teachers in the Development of Digital Skills: A case study of @prende 2.0

Abstract: Since 1997, Mexico - like many Latin American countries - has seen significant public and private investment aimed at incorporating information technology in the classroom. In-class information technology holds the great promise of revolutionizing the teaching-learning process. The reality is different, often showing negligible impact from such efforts. One common criticism has been the failure to properly train and support teachers before rolling out technology for use in their classrooms. This article looks at a recent effort of the Mexican government to address the issue of teacher training and support. @prende 2.0 was a program of the Mexican federal government that involved 2,700 digital trainers who trained more than 63,000 teachers in the use of technological equipment that they would be provided. Analyzing administration information and hard data from @prende, this article analyzes the program’s successes and challenges to fashion a series of recommendations regarding similar training and support efforts.

Ambientes virtuales de aprendizaje y producción de identidad en la formación inicial docente

Abstract: Este articulo tuvo como objetivo analizar la produccion de la identidad docente a traves de posicionamientos, en actividades en ambientes virtuales de aprendizaje. La identidad docente, como fenomeno social, se refiere a un conjunto de posicionamientos organizados en semiosis, interpretaciones de si mismo y tensiones entre yo-otros. Se desarrollo un estudio de caso con un estudiante de formacion inicial docente, que realizo cinco actividades virtuales: dos realizadas en Moodle y tres en Facebook. Todas ellas fueron sometidas a analisis dialogico-tematico, a partir del cual se elaboraron tablas y mapas de posicionamientos. Los resultados indican que las posiciones yo-otro-mundo varian de acuerdo al ambiente virtual y a la especificidad de las consignas de las actividades, y se ponen en evidencia en las relaciones dialogicas en multiples planos: construcciones colectivas individuales de conocimiento; diferentes posiciones yo otro; actuaciones dirigidas yo-estudiante mundo-actividad. Las actuaciones fueran clasificadas como reflexivas y/o practicas con sentidos de: (a) incentivador, (b) creador de estrategias, (c) tradicional, (d) experimentador y (e) mediador. Se concluye que las actividades promueven nuevos posicionamientos y que la identidad docente emerge en el interjuego entre ser estudiante en el presente e ir convirtiendose en profesor.

Appropriation of ICT in the educational field: approach to public policy in Colombia years 2000-2019

Abstract: This work document presents an approach to the appropriation of Colombian public policy related to the ICTs in the educational field, during the period of 2000 thru 2019. After a walkthrough to the scenario of international initiatives for the implementation of ICTs in schools, some theoretical approaches are presented that configure what in this work has been named the field of digital appropriation in education, which oriented the analysis of data. Subsequently, the analytical results of the public policy milestone documents during the aforementioned period are presented; as well as the testimonies of stakeholders, showing an underlying instrumental digital literacy logic, subordinated to the market, that does not seem to allow the generation of digital culture from the school. Amongst other aspects, it is concluded that, despite the investment made in connectivity and equipment provisioning, public policy has not transformed the practices of educational actors.

The educational use of Social Networks Sites: a comparative analysis between the Spanish and English production

Abstract: Considering the increasing importance and presence of the Social Networks Sites (SNSs) in educational scenarios, this work is aimed at exploring the scientific literature on the educational use of SNSs. Through a bibliometric analysis of 191 journal articles written in English and Spanish, found in 6 different databases (ERIC, Scopus, DOAJ, EBSCO, ISOC, REDIB, and PsycARTICLES), the following variables were analysed: database, academic journal, authorship (including number of authors, country, and institution), year of publication, Social Network Site involved, level of education, study population, and nature of the study. Results showed the existence of a greater number of publications written in Spanish than in English, just as a higher interest in the topic from Spanish authors, academic journals, and institutions. Facebook and Twitter were the most popular SNSs in both English and Spanish articles. Furthermore, the majority of the selected articles were focused on tertiary education and their students. With regard to the selected databases, Scopus was the one which hosted the largest amount of international literature (most of it framed by a qualitative research design). The scientific production on the pedagogical use of social media reveals a considerable and developing interest in the present topic.

Cuatro décadas de políticas para integrar las tecnologías digitales en el aula en Cataluña: acciones, logros y fracasos

Abstract: In most of the European countries, the implementation of digital technologies has been driven through government education policies. In this contribution, we will focus on the analysis of the role of actions promoted by the Government of Catalonia from the 80s to the present taking into account the international studies about digital education. Numerous initiatives and programs have been supported in Catalonia over the years without, in many cases, a lack of continuity and evaluation of the results obtained. However, the new initiatives on digital education in Catalonia open new expectations. For the first time, the focus is not only the integration of digital technology, but also the improvement of education and not focused exclusively on the use of digital technologies.

Modelo para determinar acciones de calidad en la formación virtual

Abstract: En el presente estudio, resultado de un trabajo de investigacion, se propone un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales donde se recogen algunas de las variables que podran determinar acciones de calidad en la formacion virtual. Los datos se recogieron por medio de un cuestionario a una muestra de 640 docentes de la institucion superior de Chile. Entre los resultados se destaca la significacion que el dominio tecnico y didactico del docente, tiene sobre su frecuencia de uso, asi como en la utilizacion de diferentes materiales que en ella se soporta y como, todo ello en interaccion, repercute en las actividades y estrategias desarrolladas.

Learning in the openness: the lost way of the MOOC

Abstract: At the end of the 2000´s, MOOCs broke into the educational field with the promise of learning with features more suited to the demands of our times. Their connectivist genesis provided a provocative expectation regarding the potential of collaboration, sharing, reuse, and free access, as factors of a possible transformation of the current educational system, which has been characterized by being rigid and reluctant to change. Given the relevance and growing participation of MOOC in education, there is a strong interest in understanding both their functioning and structure so that they can be considered as relevant educational options for a networked society. In this sense, a mixed study was conducted on 225 MOOCs based on the four categories that make up their denomination. The results of the study show that the contributions of MOOCs as generators of shared and collaborative learning experiences as proposed in their origins are not reflected in the reality of their current offering.