Solitude or co-existence – or learning-together-apart with digital dialogic technologies for kids with developmental and attention difficulties

An overall political vision of a prosperous society is one in which everyone has the same access and possibilities of participating in democratic processes, and in which everyone has equal access to the resources, life and learning – a society grasping the potential of diversity. This study reports on research into the impact of digital technological interventions for including kids with attention and developmental dificulties into school class contexts. The paper describes, how the authors have approached the challenge of researching inclusion of kids with attention and developmental deficits for communication, collaboration and knowledge sharing. Some of the questions addressed in the study are: How – and in what sense - may technology and technological interventions be utilised to enhance this approach with our focus learners? In which situations does it occur in the case study? The data analysis assesses the potential of interventions with digital technology for acting as stimulating enzymes for life and learning. On the basis of a thorough discussion of the analysis and findings, the authors assess the degree to which interventions with digital technologies may promote inclusion through stimulating the participation in life and learning of kids with attention and developmental deficits

Technology-enhanced learning and teaching: Narratives of secondary English teachers in Western Australia

This qualitative study explored teacher beliefs, decision-making, and pedagogical practices for using digital technologies in Western Australian secondary English classrooms. Driven by technology and the assumption that technology integration enhances student learning, the secondary school education landscape is undergoing a period of rapid change. While some stakeholders view teachers’ pedagogical practice as integrated with technology-enhanced learning (TEL), the literature identifies that the contrary is often true: technology use and deployment can be uneven and unsystematic. This study aimed to understand these perceptions via three research questions, that explored TEL's effects on secondary English teaching, both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic home learning experience. Six secondary English teachers were recruited via professional networking. Employing a narrative inquiry methodology, semi-structured interview questions were designed to encourage participants to share their pedagogical approaches and experiences with technology. The interview data were analysed using narrative thematic analysis and dominant themes were identified. The analysis found that teacher participants articulated stories of change and adaptation when using TEL, which gave insight into both personal and professional beliefs regarding education technology. Additional findings report that the home-learning experience during the pandemic has opened up possibilities for new digital pedagogies. However, this was counterbalanced by reinforcement of traditional beliefs about behaviour management, student learning, and teacher agency. The study concludes that if the knowledge gained from home learning in 2020 is utilised in positive ways to further integrate digital pedagogies into curricula, all educational stakeholders are likely to benefit. Furthermore, findings may have implications for twenty-first century in-service and pre-service teacher education to ensure that TEL functions as an enhancement to learning in its broadest sociocultural context

Digital Literacies

With our increasing use of digital and online media, the way we interact with these forms of communication is having an enormous impact on our literacy and learning. In Digital Literacies, Julia Gillen argues that to a substantial extent Linguistics has failed to rise to the opportunities presented by studying language in digital contexts. Assuming no existing knowledge, and drawing from a wide range of research projects, she presents a range of approaches to the study of writing and reading language online. Challenging some of the existing concepts, Digital Literacies traces key ideas through both the history of literacy studies and contemporary approaches to language online, including linguistic ethnography and corpus linguistics. Examples, taken from real life studies, include the use of digital technologies in everyday life, online teenage communities and professional use of Twitter in journalism. Within each chapter, the relevant research methods used are explored and then tied to the theory underpinning them. This book is an innovative and essential read for all those studying and researching applied linguistics, particularly in the areas of literacy and multimodality, at an upper undergraduate and postgraduate level. The title will also be of interest to those working with new media in the fields of Media and Communication Studies, Cultural Psychology, and Education

Transitions in teacher education and professional identities: proceedings

The University of Minho, Braga, Portugal, was the host for the 2014 Annual Conference of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE), which took place in August, from the 25th to the 27th. The Conference focused on Transitions in Teacher Education and Professional Identities looked at the transitions in teacher education and analysed different experiences in professional identity of (student) teachers from an international perspective. Three keywords may be identified: challenges in teaching, dilemmas in teacher education and in teacher educators’ role and current trends that are shaping teacher education in different contexts. Similar dilemmas and even contradictions have been identified in different settings with different modes of government intervention in teacher education in which content, structure and duration are also diverse but with similar features. Another key theme discussed at the Conference was the complexity of the concept of identity and also the contested nature of the transitions: transitions for what? How? Why? These transitions and shifts in teacher education and professional identities need to be examined within the context of current policies but also in the light of the complexities and contradictions of teaching as a profession. Teacher educators are also facing transitions in teacher education curricula but also regarding their own identities. These are complex processes that may include resistance and turbulence because transitions may be troublesome for many reasons. In this regard context and language matter but also the kinds of policies and practices that exist within teacher education. There are questions that remain unanswered. However, despite the differences, the dilemmas, and even the contradictions, teacher education can make a difference in professional identity development as was the case of successful experiences that have been described in the Conference