SCHOOL OF EDUCATION: Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age

ICT revolution with direct impact on digital economy and society involves new knowledge, skills and competences for students striving to compete and succeed in a technological rich marketplace. The higher education providers are accountable for inspiring and helping students to acquire relevant and updated skills i.e. entrepreneurial and digital skills needed to innovate in the world of work.

Digital technologies and the Internet are increasing in prominence in schooling systems. As schools and teaching evolve as a result of the integration of technologies teacher preparation will also change. This paper examines research exploring the preparation of teachers for the digital age through a systematic literature review of articles published between 2008 and 2018. The findings provide insight into what has and has not been studied across a range of literature and the alignment with the broader context of digital integration in schools.

The professional digital competence (PDC) of teachers is of growing importance in classrooms, now that digital resources and digital media are becoming important parts of teachers’ everyday practice. This study explores how newly qualified teachers are prepared to use information and communication technology (ICT) in their initial teacher education (ITE). We present findings of a nationwide survey in Norway on 356 newly qualified teachers. It explores how these teachers’ ICT self-efficacy is related to how they perceive the quality of, and contributions from, their ITE related to ICT and the development of their PDC.

There's a lot of excitement in education for leveraging BYOD and other mobile technologies, like desktop videoconferencing. But making these technologies work requires more than changing policies or purchasing webcams. Such innovations require robust wireless networking infrastructure. Here, Andrews shares how he and others made it happen in Dysart Unified School District in Arizona despite a challenging budgetary environment.

The dominant roles that digital connective technologies have in the 21st century are causing profound changes in all domains of life, which signal that we have reached a new age: the digital age. Education is one of the fundamental domains of life re engineered to adopt to the changing landscape of what it means to function in this new age. The school paradigm which rests on the conditions and requirements of the industrial age appears to fall short in terms of meeting the needs and demands of the 21st century learner.

Just as elite sports teams are able to analyse what helps to boost performance, learning technologies and data-rich approaches can help identify what works in learning and teaching. This publication highlights some of the key areas in which digital technology can support efforts by higher education leaders and policymakers to boost student outcomes and enhance the
student experience.

Mandatory continuing professional education is accepted across many professions as a re-credentialing mechanism to maintain professional competency. Self-directed learning is a widely recognized type of learning to meet mandatory continuing professional education requirements. The nature and characteristics of self-directed learning has been transformed with the growth in digital and mobile technologies, however there is minimal understanding of the role of these technologies in the self-directed learning habits of adult learners.