scholarly journals Special Issue Editorial:

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Aileen Park ◽  
Pablo Ramirez ◽  
Paul Sparks
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Digital Inclusion ◽  
Multicultural Environment ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Learning Platforms ◽  
Facilitated Learning

The global pandemic has brought about fundamental changes in education. The abrupt closing of schools has disrupted the teaching and learning processes and presented challenges for schools worldwide. This Special Issue explores “digital inclusion” through the use of technology-facilitated learning platforms and modalities within the multicultural environment of schooling. It especially gives attention to cases that highlight the responses of parents, teachers, administrators, and students in countries that have the digital infrastructure and technological advancement and in those that do not in order to question the “digital divide” and the challenges and implications that this disparity brings to education.

Bring your own device or organisation provided device classroom: problematising the issue of the digital divide in teaching and learning contexts in Poland

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-64
Author(s):  
Lucyna Kopciewicz ◽  
Hussein Bougsiaa
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Bring Your Own Device ◽  
Digital Inclusion ◽  
Video Ethnography ◽  
Case Research ◽  
School Settings ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
One Year

This comparative study contributes to new knowledge on how digital inclusion can be supported in two differently designed school settings through the meaningful use of technology to enhance the students’ learning and their overall skills development. This study is a comparative, empirically grounded case research conducted over a one year period in two primary schools in Poland. Our research involved a number of methods, including video-ethnography and interviews, which were used to gather qualitative data from headteachers, teachers, students and parents. The results problematise the issues of the digital divide in teaching and learning practices in both formal and informal contexts. We have checked in what way both OPD and BYOD influence the existing divides in the area of learning processes.

Devastation and innovation: examining prison education during a national pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandria Bradley ◽  
Bill Davies
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Prison Education ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Learning Platforms ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Educational Delivery

Purpose This paper aims to highlight the impact that Covid-19 has had on the quality of education in prisons. This study considers the restrictive approaches taken by Her Majesty’s Prison Service during this challenging time, to argue that prisoner education is not being adequately prioritised. This study highlight issues relating to the digital divide in prisons and the lack of technological advancement, which could improve educational continuity and in-cell learning. Design/methodology/approach This study provides an examination of the broad impact the national pandemic has had on prisons and punishment, Covid-19 National Frameworks and policies relating to prison restrictions, the movements within prisoner education policy, scholarship and reflections from delivering Learning Together in HMP Full Sutton, to argue that prisoners are at the bottom of the educational hierarchy in terms of delivery, innovation and prioritisation of learner needs. However, this study proposes that some of the technologically enhanced learning is a potential solution, to transform educational equity and to reduce the digital divide. Findings This study highlights that education in prisons has taken a sudden and substantial deterioration. Findings suggest that there are few signs of this improving in the immediate future due to ongoing national restrictions. The Covid-19 prison restrictions further demonstrate the neglect of prisoners' educational needs. In addition, the national pandemic has highlighted the lack of use of technology within educational delivery in prisoners. However, findings suggest that through engaging digital learning platforms and the greater inclusions of technology in prisons, they can enhance educational opportunities and inclusive experiences for isolated learners. Research limitations/implications This is a study piece with support from a review of policy and scholarship. This is not based on data collected with serving prisoners during the national pandemic. Originality/value This study provides an overview of the current restrictions and lockdowns in prison associated with the national pandemic. Contemporary consideration to this underexplored area is essential to highlight the severe deprivations of prisoners and the fundamental impact this has had on educational delivery and much anticipated progression. Nuanced approaches to increase the use of technology within prison education are considered, in light of the challenges the pandemic has spotlighted.

Emotional Elements in Learning Platforms in Open and Distributed Environments

2019 ◽  
pp. 125-148
Author(s):  
Lazarus Ndiku Makewa
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning System ◽  
Distributed Environments ◽  
Classroom Engagement ◽  
Learner Centered ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Learning Platforms ◽  
Multiple Challenges ◽  
Facilitated Learning

E-learning is viewed as an innovative approach for delivering quality-designed, learner-centered, interactive, and facilitated learning environments to all, anywhere, any moment by putting in use the skills, knowledge, and resources of diverse technologies together with other teaching and learning resources suited for open, and distributed learning environments. Success story in an e-learning system involves a clear process regarding planning, designing, developing, evaluating, and implementing online learning courses where interaction is actively encouraged and facilitated. Emotional experiences can easily provide multiple challenges to students' online and classroom engagement and academic performance. For example, academic fears have wide-ranging effects, affecting strategy use, classroom and/or online performance, and subject choice. This chapter will therefore discuss emotional elements and their impacts in learning platforms in open and distributed environments.

scholarly journals Reflecting on food pedagogies in Canada

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Classens ◽  
Jennifer Sumner
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Food System ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Online Teaching And Learning ◽  
Abrupt Transition ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Capital Intensive

The original deadline for submissions for this special issue was March 1, 2020, just days before the destabilizing and disorienting first wave of pandemic-related shutdowns in many parts of Canada. The (r)evolution in food systems pedagogy we were hoping to document and celebrate was promptly preempted by an abrupt transition to virtual learning. In an instant, teachers and learners alike were attending to a pedagogical revolution of another kind altogether. The enduring impacts of this upheaval remain unclear. In the immediate term, though, the shift to online learning presented a crisis (a hasty ‘pivot’ to online teaching and learning) within a crisis (the daily reality of living within the context of a deadly global pandemic). For many critical food systems students and teachers, these new crises layered on top of the already front-of-mind crises propelled by the capital-intensive, industrialized food system. Like peering through translucent nesting dolls, we squinted through layers of pedagogical disruption and pandemic to remain focused on the economic, social and ecological devastation wrought by our dominant food system, and for glimpses of the pluriverse of food systems alternatives that inspire and nourish us.

scholarly journals Editorial: Advancing Non-placement Work-integrated Learning Across the Degree

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 2-8
Author(s):  
Bonnie Dean ◽  
◽  
Michelle J. Eady ◽  
Venkata Yanamandram ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Integrated Learning ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Professional Networks ◽  
Transferable Skills ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Workplace Preparation ◽  
Work Integrated Learning ◽  
The Impact

Work-integrated learning (WIL) is on the rise as many universities adopt strategic targets for student workplace preparation as an element of their tertiary studies. Through WIL, students gain real world experiences, transferable skills and build professional networks. WIL is often understood as a placement activity, whereby students spend extended periods of time in industry, typically at the end or near end of their degree. These placements are designed to encapsulate the theoretical learning of a degree through the opportunity to apply knowledge and practise skills in a physical workplace. While there is much evidence in the higher education teaching and learning scholarship that attests to the benefits of placement-based WIL for all stakeholders, innovation in WIL that integrates work practices with learning is also occurring without time on placement or within a workplace. In recent years, WIL activity has extended beyond limited conceptions as describing only placements, to include a range of simulated, virtual, authentic and industry-based activities. The uptake of non-placement learning activities presents as opportunity to investigate the benefits, utility and innovation of this growing pedagogy to contribute meaningful insights to higher education scholarship and practice. This special issue is being published during the trials of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) emergency. This global pandemic has shattered economies, touching every domain of life, including completely disrupting higher education. The call for papers for this special issue was conceived and advertised well before the universal lock down. There was evidence to suggest universities were exploring and experimenting with new ways of engaging with industry partners and that these models were offering extraordinary benefits to student learning and application of knowledge. The COVID-19 situation escalated these experiments, determining virtual WIL and projects or activities leveraged through technological platforms, as the fortuitous survivors. There is no doubt that WIL pedagogies and programs have been hit hard, however, this hardship for some has been described as cause for a learning revolution. For WIL research, this could be the impetus for questioning dominant modes of WIL and extending our understandings and knowledge of the impact of alternative WIL models.

scholarly journals The use of technology for online classes during the global pandemic: Challenges encountered by the schoolteachers in Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-199
Author(s):  
Nadia Rehman ◽  
Wenlan Zhang ◽  
Mussarat Iqbal
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Educational Activity ◽  
Online Classes ◽  
Online Teaching And Learning ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
The Media

The lockdown after COVID-19 outbreak not only harmed the economy but also shut down all educational activity, resulting in a significant gap in learning and understanding among students worldwide. This mixed method study was conducted to know the media used by the teachers to teach online classes and challenges faced by the teachers' during online teaching in pandemic, which has hampered continued/online education due to interviews from the ten government teachers. Data was transcribed, coding was done, and five themes were analysed. The study showed that teachers mostly use WhatsApp and zoom meeting for online classes. Skype, Voov meeting and smart school is also use as a media for online teaching and learning purpose. Qualitative data revealed that teachers faced numerous problems during online classes, the biggest obstacle was the lack of electric power and low internet speed, along with that the parents and students’ non-serious behaviour also affects the online education system. along with that lack of proper online forum, adversely affect the students’ concepts, knowledge, and communication with their teachers while using the internet as a learning tool. Teachers are overburdened due to the large number of online classes being offered, affecting the quality of education.

scholarly journals ICT Use and Digital Inclusion among Roma/Gitano Adolescents

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maialen Garmendia ◽  
Inaki Karrera
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Industrial Society ◽  
Digital Inclusion ◽  
Ict Use ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
The Social ◽  
Online Behaviour ◽  
Digital Exclusion ◽  
Post Industrial

This article analyses the way in which the digital divide affects Roma/Gitano minors. This ethnic group is a paradigmatic case among socially underprivileged groups in Spain; excluded from industrial society, they appear to be facing a similar situation in the post-industrial era. We, therefore, sought to explore the digital experiences of minors from this group in order to study social and digital exclusion/inclusion among them. The research strategy took a comprehensive approach, covering both offline and online behaviour. We focused on the results of fieldwork undertaken in Spain during 2017. In all, interviews were conducted with 17 adolescents (aged 11 to 18) as well as with several social workers who were providing support to the minors. Given that the use of technology has become a prerequisite for the welfare of children and for the development of their rights, the issue tends to centre on three main areas, commonly known as the three Ps: provision, participation, and protection. As such, the analysis of inequality was based on these areas. The findings presented in this article illustrate that the use of ICTs can contribute to empowering Roma/Gitano adolescents to improve the position they occupy as a group in the social structure.

Towards a Digital Resource Mobilisation Approach for Digital Inclusion During COVID-19 and Beyond: A Case of a Township School in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Themba Ralph Mkhize ◽  
Mogamat Noor Davids
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Mode Of Delivery ◽  
National Development ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Digital Inclusion ◽  
Digital Resource ◽  
Resource Mobilisation

COVID-19 is affecting the functioning of most countries globally, creating a situation now described as the “new normal”—a time of unexpected educational change. The national lockdown, accompanied by the closure of educational institutions, brought economic hardship and deepened the digital divide between the rich and the poor. Educational institutions capable of transitioning to an online mode of delivery made that shift, while the majority of South Africa’s schools remained excluded due to poverty and lack of technological infrastructure. The educational sector is at wits’ end to find strategies to curtail the growing digital divide. This paper offers a digital resource mobilisation approach as framework to keep schools on the path to achieving the National Development Plan’s aim of ICT capacitation. To consider developmental possibilities and respond to the digital exclusion of township schools, we asked the question: “What are the online teaching and learning experiences of school stakeholders?” Responses to this question assisted development of a digital resource mobilisation theory that is offered as a viable approach to digital inclusion and social change. Data were collected by telephonic interviews with three teachers, three learners, three school governing body parents, and one school principal. Based on the findings, recommendations for digital inclusion are suggested.

scholarly journals Limitations Involved in the Utilization of Computer Based Technologies at Universities’ Teaching and Learning in Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 4651-4663
Author(s):  
Dr. Tahira Afridi, Dr. Kiran Shehzadi, Khadija Sittar
Keyword(s):  
Technology Implementation ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Level Of Involvement ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Technology In Teaching ◽  
Current Scenario ◽  
Faculty Of Education

With the advent of 21st century the usage of technology in every field of life made it inevitable to be used in the field of education as well. It is a familiar fact that the current scenario where technology has made advances by leaps, its usage in the field of education is of utmost importance. Like the rest of the world, the educational institutes in Punjab, public and private, are making efforts to adopt and integrate technological advancement in their teaching and learning processes. The universities in Punjab are no exception. However the hurdles and limitations involved in this process are hard to be ignored. Therefore this study will try to highlight those issues that are causing hurdles in use of technology in teaching and learning at universities in Punjab. For this purpose this study has made use of Ely’s conditions model (1999) of technology implementation theory, which is reflected more appropriate for measuring the barriers in technological applications in academics. This research made an extensive and thorough investigation, based on the opinion of 3397 participants. The methodology used was survey research involving teachers, administrators and students from eight public and private universities' faculty of Education and Business. The responses were assessed by applying descriptive and inferential statistics. This study revealed a number of factors responsible for  causing hurdles in technology adoption, but the major factor as per the respondents was the unavailability of Resources. There were some other factors mentioned as well such as Commitment, Rewards, Leadership, Participation and Skills. The overall level of involvement of these sub scales barriers is above average; therefore, unfortunately universities are still using the conventional method of education and cannot make as much use of technology as they could have.

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