Information and digital literacy in education via the digital path

Technological innovation has improved the quality of life for many people with disabilities, delivering more independence and greater equality of opportunity. Jisc subject specialist Julia Taylor and National Star College student, Murray Field, assess the impact.

Psychological well-being as measured by self-esteem, life satisfaction, and happiness suddenly decreased amongst students after 2012. This decrease in psychological well-being and increase in anxiety levels are linked to the advent of smartphone technology and screen time.

A new study that involved more than a million American high school students, found that adolescents who spent more time on screens (e.g., social media, the Internet, texting, gaming) and less time on non-screen activities, experienced lower psychological well-being. Adolescents who spend little time on electronic communication were the happiest.

There was a thought provoking article about educational technology in a recent edition of The Economist called ‘Together, technology and teachers can revamp schools’.

The article suggested that up until recently the relationship between technology and education has been tenuous. And that technological advancements, programmes and innovations, which seemed at first to be an exciting leap forward, often became a disappointment in practice. This has mainly been because of professionals’ reservation about using it and lack of necessary skills, as well as scepticism about its benefits.

In almost any school in the country today, you can find an app or program that claims to change education as we know it. Yet schools are littered with products that have not changed anything beyond teachers’ desktop screens.

As researchers focusing on education technology, we see this often: interactive whiteboards covered in posters, desktop computers holding up plants, older devices that do not work with a newer assessment system. The list goes on.

Our work at the nonprofit Education Development Center’s Center for Children and Technology focuses on how education technology can be used to support learning. The truth is edtech products that foster more learning than would happen in analogue settings can be difficult to find. When we get to see effective edtech products in practice, the view is exciting: We see kids engaged, teachers energized about the kinds of thinking their students are generating and strong learning outcomes that result from well-made

Understanding the role of digital technologies in supporting effective teaching and learning.

Some strange things seem to be happening in the learning technology and T&L debates at the moment. There appears to be a growing presence of an anti-tech resistance, challenging the efficacy of technology (and those who use it). Some of these ‘think pieces’ question the motivations of those using technology in their class (both students and teachers), demean the status of social media as an active and fertile ground for intellectual debate, try and institute blanket bans for the good of the learner and actively argue that we need to ‘get back to chalk’. These have become battle lines in a fake war between protectors and challengers, defenders of the faith versus the barbarians at the gate. The innocent victims in all this posturing and puffery are the engaged teachers and learners (thanks @antonycoombsHE for the input).

With the use of technology on the rise, online learning continues to develop into an accessible, practical education option. Students of all ages and education levels are learning through internet-based courses instead of face-to-face in a physical classroom. The many applications used in online learning programs — from learning management systems to videos — provide educational information to students at a distance. The chance for students with geographical barriers, jobs, personal commitments, and/or financial limitations to learn remotely is gaining footing in the realm of education.