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22440 results in Education

Page 357 of 1122

  • Chapter 17 - Making learning visible through digital forms of assessment

  • from Section 4 - Student learning
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 214-228

  • Summary

    Introduction

    For most of us, when we start as a student in a new course or class, the most important information we want to know is on what we will be assessed and how this will be achieved. This interest in assessment starts from a relatively young age, with concerns about ‘what is in the test’. Most teachers, when planning for a new course or class, start by thinking about what they are required, or want, to assess, and how they will go about doing that. It could be argued that assessment drives pedagogy and the curriculum of schooling. Therefore, if schooling is to meet the needs of students (by engaging them) and meet the needs of the community of today and the future (by being relevant), then assessment practices should align with the curriculum to meet these needs. This chapter addresses this concern by initially discussing the nature of assessment and alignment with the curriculum, with particular reference to the problems concerning validity and reliability of assessments. This is followed by a discussion of the ways in which digital technologies could be used to address these problems. Finally, a range of digital forms of assessment is presented, along with a discussion of the potential of learning analytics and tips for getting started with e-assessment.

  • Chapter 21 - Digital literacy in theory, policy and practice: old concerns, new opportunities

  • from Section 4 - Student learning
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 266-281

  • Summary

    Introduction

    The increasing ubiquity and use of digital technologies across social and cultural life is a key challenge for educators engaged in helping students develop a range of literacies useful for school and beyond. Many young people’s experience of communication and participation is now shaped by almost constant engagements with digital technologies and media, as well as with global digital cultures. This increasing access and use has given many young people the opportunity to engage deeply with global media cultures via popular music, television and film franchises, the worldwide computer games industry, or countless other subcultures that connect fans and interested others from around the world via the internet. ‘Digital literacy’ is often the term associated with the ability to traverse these, and other, online and offline worlds; the notion has long been synonymous with the idea that digital technologies now mediate perhaps a majority of our social interactions. These forms of engagement with the world have important implications for educators and school systems which have historically recognised only a very narrow set of legitimate literacies.

    CRITICAL QUESTIONS

  • What is the relationship between new technologies and literacy?

  • What concepts and tools can educators use to understand the role digital literacies might play in formal education and in young people’s out-of-school lives?

  • Chapter 18 - Learning with digital technologies

  • from Section 4 - Student learning
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 229-239

  • Summary

    Introduction

    Understanding how digital technologies might be used to support learning depends upon first understanding the nature of learning. Ideas about what can be learned, what should be learned, and how people learn are important as foundations for thinking about theories of learning and how they relate to digital technologies. Over the past seventy years digital technologies have seen major increases in storage capacity, computational power, and accessibility. During that same period there have been parallel developments in our understanding of learning. Although newer digital technologies have supplanted the old, newer approaches to learning with digital technologies are better viewed as complementary rather than complete replacements.

    CRITICAL QUESTIONS

  • What do you understand by learning?

  • What theories of learning are there and how are they related?

  • How can theories of learning be applied to learning with digital technologies?

    • The nature of learning

    Before we can consider the relationship between learning and digital technologies we need to clarify what we understand by learning. A simple definition of learning from the perspective of educational psychology would refer to a change in behaviour that results from the interaction of an organism with its environment.

    The behavioural change might be manifested immediately, as when even a simple organism responds to something in its environment by moving toward or away from a light source. Such responses can be considered to be learning at its simplest.

  • Chapter 3 - Learning, teaching, technology: confusing, complicated and contested!

  • from Section 1 - Being critical of our assumptions: learners, learning and digital technologies
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 22-34

  • Summary

    Introduction

    After decades of ‘computers in education’, there is still considerable dissonance at all levels and across many countries about the worth of digital technologies for learning and teaching. As a consequence, much tokenistic use occurs and doubts about the efficacy of computers to enhance teaching and learning linger. Further, despite advances in our understanding of how people learn and what effective teaching looks like, there is a widespread reluctance to move away from hackneyed and inappropriate instructional methods and practices. Why is this so? Surely we can be confident that our research and accumulated wisdom provides an appropriate pedagogy for 21st-century learners. Unfortunately, like many things related to the human condition, and education in particular, it is not as straightforward as many like to think; in fact, quite the opposite – it is confusing, complicated and contested.

    This chapter explores the possible reasons for the conflicting ideas and confusion, how the research about technology in education should be considered, and the notion that well-informed professional judgement is the key to making high quality decisions about learning and teaching with technology. The chapter also discusses the notion that making a distinction between learning and teaching and learning and teaching with technology is a contradiction that further adds to the confusion and nurtures reluctance to change. Learning and teaching and digital technologies are now inextricably linked. So are we better served by doing away with ‘learning and teaching’ and ‘learning and teaching with technology’ as contrasts and just considering the notion of contemporary learning and teaching and what that means for students, teachers, schools and systems?

  • Chapter 20 - Numeracy and technology

  • from Section 4 - Student learning
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 253-265

  • Summary

    Introduction

    This chapter focuses on the concept of numeracy, how it is dealt with in the Australian Curriculum, and what role technology might play in developing numeracy. Numeracy, along with literacy, ICT capability, critical and creative thinking, personal and social capability, ethical understanding, and intercultural understanding, is listed as a general capability (GC) in the Australian Curriculum. This means that numeracy (and the other six GCs) should be developed in all learning areas as an integrated concept. The GCs are obviously interrelated, complement the content learning areas, and ‘… assist students to live and work successfully in the 21st century’ (ACARA, 2014).

    Current thinking dictates that education should be about learning how to learn and applying that learning to solving problems, not just about regurgitating facts on an exam paper. This may seem confusing, especially when there is a vehement call from some sections of society for a return to the basics, more direct instruction, and a greater emphasis on numeracy and literacy. As a teacher, you can help to reconcile this tension by looking closely at the structure of the Australian Curriculum and understanding what it is trying to achieve, especially in relation to general capabilities.

    So what is numeracy? Why is it listed as a general capability? And what role, if any, do digital technologies play in developing numeracy?

  • Chapter 12 - Mobile learning: what is it and what are its possibilities?

  • from Section 2 - Technological affordances: what’s so special about digital technologies?
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 142-154

  • Summary

    Introduction

    There are now more internet-connected mobile devices in the world than desktop and laptop computers (The Economist, 2012), with mobile internet traffic already constituting more than 25 per cent of global traffic (Meeker, 2014). In the developed world, multiple device ownership is increasingly common, and among those devices there are likely to be one or more smart devices, like smartphones or tablets. Mobile devices can be used for much more than making calls or sending messages. For many people, they have become a preferred way to access information, build knowledge and share understanding. Indeed, nowadays we hear more and more about mobile learning, or m-learning. But what exactly is m-learning? What are its benefits, how can it be implemented, and what might its drawbacks be? This chapter addresses these questions.

    CRITICAL QUESTIONS

  • What is m-learning and how is it different from other kinds of learning?

  • What are the potential benefits of m-learning?

  • How can m-learning be implemented inside and outside the classroom?

  • What drawbacks of m-learning need to be considered?

    • What is m-learning and how is it different from other kinds of learning?

    A useful rule of thumb for differentiating portable from truly mobile devices is that the former are typically used at Point A, powered down and moved, then opened up again at Point B, while the latter can be used at Point A, Point B and everywhere in between without stopping (Puentedura, 2012 ). Mobile phones - ranging from feature phones to smartphones, which run on mobile operating systems and are largely app-driven - are of course included in the mobile category, as are tablets, but laptops are generally excluded. The mobile category also includes gradually disappearing older devices like PDAs (personal digital assistants) and MP3 players, as well as emerging devices like i tness bands, smartwatches and smart glasses.

  • Chapter 23 - National and international frameworks for teacher competency

  • from Section 5 - Professional learning
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 295-306

  • Summary

    Introduction

    There are a number of extant standards frameworks that describe national and international expectations in terms of teacher competency with digital technologies. They come from differing sources: some are theoretical and drawn from systematic research while others are systemic policy guidelines or mandatory requirements. They appear to be either millstones or milestones. The millstone is political and can cynically be seen to be part of the ‘quality’ agenda adopted by systems (Dinham, 2013; Pyne, 2012b). The milestone is aspirational and can be seen positively as marking out both personal learning goals and system transformation. This chapter will introduce and critique selected frameworks.

    CRITICAL QUESTIONS

  • What is the purpose of the national and international frameworks that describe and map teacher competency with digital technologies?

  • Do they adequately describe the characteristics of a teacher with a high level of digital competency?

  • Are they useful in guiding individuals towards digital competency?

    • If there is a singular obsession of the late 20th and early 21st centuries in industrialised nations, it is the unprecedented need to categorise people in terms of competence or skill. Measurement, high-stakes testing, and standardisation will come to be recognised as symptoms of the pathological condition of regulatory reification. For example, we subject children to national and international tests divorced from the context of their lives and then use the results of these tests for national and international comparisons as if mathematics or reading were now Olympic events and the playing field was level (Dinham, 2013; McDonald, 2012; Pyne, 2012a).

  • Chapter 25 - Digital technology integration

  • from Section 5 - Professional learning
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 318-331

  • Summary

    Introduction

    This chapter challenges you to examine the often uncritical debates about the use of digital technologies in classrooms. Many of the articles written about digital technology tend to do so in unrealistic terms, providing ‘state of the art’ examples that suggest educational technology has the potential to completely transform schools for the better. For some time, discussions about educational uses of digital technologies have highlighted the potential benefits of emerging hardware and software for teachers who choose to adopt these tools as part of their classroom practice. Teachers, predominantly from developed western nations, have been seduced to take up these technologies through advertising campaigns sponsored by digital hardware and software companies, influenced by aspirational statements made by political parties and compelled to achieve standards set by teacher registration organisations. These occasions have reinforced the assumption that digital technologies have the capacity to enhance society generally and teaching and learning more specifically.

    In contrast, Neil Selwyn’s (2010) critique of schools and schooling in the digital age summarises the tenor of both popular and academic perceptions of digital educational technology, stating that ‘many general discussions of the digital age tend to be informed by a notion that the development of digital technology represents a distinctively new and improved set of social arrangements in relation to preceding “pre-digital” times’ (p. 7). While commenting on the differences in pre- and post-digital social arrangements, Selwyn provides a particular insight, highlighting Woolgar’s (2002) inherent ‘implication that something new, different, and (usually) better is happening’ (p. 3). This ‘pervasive sense of leaving the past behind’ (Murdock, 2004, p. 20) is evident in the work of many researchers in the field of educational technology who are ‘driven by an underlying belief that digital technologies are – in some way – capable of improving education’ (Selwyn, 2011, p. 713). As such, a great deal of effort has been invested in researching the learning potential of new or emerging technologies with many of these research studies focusing on ‘state of the art’ or high-level uses of digital technologies in classrooms (for example, Becker, 2001; Cuban, 2001, 2004; Donald, 2002; Ertmer, 1999; Hattie, 2009; Mumtaz, 2000; Parisot, 1995; Somekh, 2008; Straub, 2009).

  • Chapter 7 - Computational thinking: philosophy and practice

  • from Section 2 - Technological affordances: what’s so special about digital technologies?
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 73-88

  • Summary

    Introduction

    Computational thinking is at the core of the digital technologies curriculum. But what is it? This chapter will uncover some of the hype around this term, and show how it is considered by some to be important for future economic prosperity. A key idea about technological transformation is that continued computer innovation needs to bring together three very important ingredients: software, hardware and liveware. The software comprises the programs – the lines of instruction codes – that tell a computer what to do. The hardware includes the physical microchips, cases, CD-ROMs and other machinery of which a specific computer is constructed. Liveware is us – the people that interact with computers, program them to accomplish tasks, stand in front of the automatic teller machine (ATM). If any part of the equation is left out, the system will fail to work properly.

    If all these ingredients work well together, then computer systems and humans can achieve amazing things – things that are not practically possible otherwise. The challenge is to make this creative synthesis clear and understandable to students. This chapter will explore some ‘unplugged’ activities to expose the possibilities, and then show how students can make the transition into ‘person-plus’, that is, knowing when and how to employ computers to enhance their problem solving capacity.

  • Chapter 4 - Balancing risks and growth in a digital world

  • from Section 1 - Being critical of our assumptions: learners, learning and digital technologies
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 35-45

  • Summary

    Introduction

    The digital world offers a glittering promise of ubiquitous connectivity, with friends, entertainment and information at our fingertips. It is not surprising that young people are choosing the online environment as a principal mechanism for socialising, communicating and exploring. Conversely though, we are told that the internet is a very dangerous place, particularly for the young. A dominant focus of contemporary political and academic investigation relates to the risk perspective of children and young adults using the internet. The goal of this chapter is to question the moral panics that surround social networking and online technologies and to present a more considered and balanced perspective. It should be possible for young people to ‘grow up digitally’ in a protected and supported environment, which minimises risk while building important skills for life in the digital world.

    CRITICAL QUESTIONS

  • What is social networking and what role, if any, might it play in education?

  • What are the risks for children and young adults participating in interactive and social activity online?

  • How can the risks be mitigated so children can be supported in becoming confident and competent digital cyber citizens?

    • The rise of social networking

    The term ‘social networking’ has been coined to describe the use of online sites to facilitate social connections between people. When people first join a social network, they are likely to communicate mostly with people they know in the physical world. However, as they become familiar with the environment, their network is likely to expand to include ‘friends’ who they only know in the online context. The goal of social networking is to build and extend the net of connections.

  • Chapter 6 - Using digital technologies with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

  • from Section 1 - Being critical of our assumptions: learners, learning and digital technologies
    • By Glenn Auld, Senior lecturer in education, specialising in language and literacy, Lena Djabibba, Elder of the Kunibídji community
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 57-70

  • Summary

    My point is not that everything is bad, but that everything is dangerous, which is not exactly the same as bad. If everything is dangerous, then we always have something to do. (Foucault & Rabinow, 1984, p. 343)

    Introduction

    This chapter navigates the complex issue of how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students negotiate the use of digital technologies in schools and beyond. You will read stories from Lena Djabibba, a respected elder of the Kunibídji community in Arnhem Land, about her thoughts of how digital technologies have mediated her social practices over many years. These stories are in text boxes. The remainder of the chapter is a synthesis of ideas by Glenn Auld who taught children in Lena’s community for over 10 years. During this time Lena and Glenn collaborated to design and introduce a number of programs with digital technologies.

    When Foucault suggests everything is dangerous, he is not referring to using digital technology with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. However, this quote is equally appropriate when considering how these students use digital technologies. To understand the danger, we must i rst understand the complexity of the context. There are more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in metropolitan centres in Australia than are living in remote communities (Fredericks, 2013). Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have been forcibly removed from their Country that now manifests in communities, often with contested interests in what is the best way to educate their children.

  • Chapter 8 - Creativity, visualisation, collaboration and communication

  • from Section 2 - Technological affordances: what’s so special about digital technologies?
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 89-103

  • Summary

    Introduction

    The central question of this book is: What critical issues do teachers need to know in order to help them make better decisions in the classroom? Specifically, in helping develop answers to this question, this chapter focuses on creativity, visualisation, collaboration and communication and will encourage readers to understand the opportunities they present. While this chapter also refers to the Australian Curriculum, readers are encouraged to transfer the key messages to their own contextual settings, wherever they might be preparing to become teachers or are already practising teachers. This is important to understand because curriculum differences are likely. Therefore, the examples used in this chapter are not prescribed examples, but used for illustrative purposes to glean deeper understandings in response to the chapter’s intent.

    The key knowledge and skills in using digital technologies are now often integral to contemporary educational policies and curriculums, such as in the Australian Curriculum. To illustrate, the Australian Curriculum’s technologies learning area ‘encourages students to apply their knowledge and practical skills and processes when using technologies and other resources to create innovative solutions, independently and collaboratively, that meet current and future needs’ (ACARA, 2014a, p. 1). In addition, information and communication technology (ICT) capability is one of the general capabilities of the Australian Curriculum, which ‘encompass the knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions that, together with curriculum content in each learning area and the cross-curriculum priorities, will assist students to live and work successfully in the twenty-first century’ (ACARA, 2013, p. 1).

  • Chapter 24 - Teachers: technology, change and resistance

  • from Section 5 - Professional learning
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 307-317

  • Summary

    Introduction

    This chapter explores the way in which a culture of educational technology-related policy and curriculum change has arguably resulted in minimal improvement in teaching and learning. Moreover, it is argued that such a culture of change has instead simply increased teacher disengagement and thereby resulted in teachers being erroneously labelled by policy actors, administrators and technology enthusiasts as ‘resistant’ to change, ‘luddites’ and ‘risk averse’. Accordingly, this chapter challenges these simplistic labels, and offers a more critical perspective of how and why teachers (dis)engage with technology.

    CRITICAL QUESTIONS

  • What are some of the key reasons teachers’ practice has not significantly changed as a result of increased digital technology access and use?

  • What are some approaches schools and teachers can adopt to begin exploring new ways of teaching and learning through digital technologies?

    • The problem of technology-related change

    For decades digital technologies have been heralded as great beacons of hope for new and improved teaching and learning. However, despite signii cant investment and policy initiatives, both in Australia and internationally, there has been little change in the fundamental practices or outcomes of schools, teaching or learning. For instance, over the past decade, there has been widespread installation of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) in classrooms largely supported by school-based initiatives. Also, an increasing number of one-to-one laptop and tablet programs have been supported by state and federal initiatives such as the Digital Education Revolution. These and other technology initiatives have exploded into schools but failed to revolutionise education or dramatically improve student learning.

  • Chapter 13 - Considering the history of digital technologies in education

  • from Section 3 - Policy: curriculum, values and agendas
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 157-168

  • Summary

    Introduction

    Over the past century, numerous key technologies (including digital technologies) have been introduced into education. For the most part, each of them has been expected to revolutionise teaching and learning. However, it is generally accepted that neither dramatic reorientations nor changes in education have happened. Yet, while use of technology over the last 100 years has not resulted in a revolution, several key improvements and advancements in educational access and equity have resulted. The critical focus of this chapter is to look beyond the hype of technology and media over the last century and, instead, critically consider the significance of the changes over time in terms of how we understand teaching and learning with technology today.

    To explore this issue, the chapter examines what we have labelled as three ‘ages’ of technology integration: pre-digital, personal computer and the internet. While these three ages are described, it would be a mistake to assume that this is the only interpretation of a history of technologies in education. Depending on your geographic location, socioeconomic situation, cultural background, literacy and other variables, the history you and your family and community experience is different. For example, internet connectivity and the ensuing changes to education opportunities was available in metropolitan areas years prior to rural communities, and even today is problematic in remote areas. This chapter presents one interpretation by looking at three significant changes in technology provision in education. The technologies of each age were not adopted in education as expected, but they presented a range of benefits. These expectations and benefits will be discussed in relation to some key influencing social trends and beliefs about learning of the time. The chapter concludes by considering how a critical view of digital technologies over time informs our understanding of teaching and learning.

Page 357 of 1122