The ‘digital natives’ debate: a critical review of the evidence.

The idea that a new generation of students is entering the education system has excited recent attention among educators and education commentators. Termed 'digital natives' or the 'Net generation', these young people are said to have been immersed in technology all their lives, imbuing them with sophisticated technical skills and learning preferences for which traditional education is unprepared. Grand claims are being made about the nature of this generational change and about the urgent necessity for educational reform in response. A sense of impending crisis pervades this debate. However, the actual situation is far from clear. In this paper, the authors draw on the fields of education and sociology to analyse the digital natives debate. The paper presents and questions the main claims made about digital natives and analyses the nature of the debate itself. We argue that rather than being empirically and theoretically informed, the debate can be likened to an academic form of a 'moral panic'. We propose that a more measured and disinterested approach is now required to investigate 'digital natives' and their implications for education

Intellectual field or faith-based religion: Moving on from the idea of \u27digital natives\u27

For the past decade the general notion of ‘digital natives’ has attracted considerable attention in both academia and the popular media. While proponents of the idea use a variety of labels, such as ‘Net Generation’, or ‘millenial learners’, the claim they make is essentially the same: younger generations have grown up with digital technologies as part of their everyday worlds and so behave and think differently to older generations to whom these technologies have been introduced later in life (Howe & Strauss, 2000; Palfrey & Gasser, 2008; Prensky, 2001; Tapscott, 1998; 2008). This claim has led to the argument that supposedly old-fashioned teachers and outdated education systems are failing to meet the needs of these younger generations of learners (eg., Prensky, 2010; Tapscott, 1999, 2008). This chapter critically examines the idea of ‘digital natives’ by identifying findings from research that can shed light on questions about young people’s aptitude for and interest in digital technologies. We analyze the key features of claims about digital natives and consider their possible implications for education and educational research. In short, we argue that most claims made about digital natives lack a rigorous and transparent empirical basis and do little to progress educational thinking or policy. It is time, we argue, to move this debate on, not simply to more nuanced versions of the idea, such as ‘digital wisdom’ (Prensky 2009), but rather beyond the very notions and ways of thinking that underpin claims made about digital natives. Indeed, we suggest that moving on from the grounds of this debate is necessary to provide firmer foundations for educational technology research as a serious intellectual field and avoid becoming akin to a faith-based religion

Theorising knowledge practices: a missing piece of the educational technology puzzle

Educational technology research has been characterised as lacking theoreticalframeworks that can enable cumulative knowledge-building across the field.This article explores the value of Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) for addressingthese issues by discussing research into the key question of integration ofinformation and communication technologies in education. Specifically, it showshow LCT enables the theorisation of knowledge practices, the basis of educationbut undertheorised by existing research. Drawing on a major study of a technologicalinitiative in all state secondary schools in New South Wales, Australia,the article illustratively uses one dimension of LCT to compare the organisingprinciples underlying the initiative with those underlying the key subjects ofmathematics and English. Analysis suggests that a ‘code clash' with mathematicsand a ‘code match' with English might help explain their different patternsof integration of information and communication technologies. It also demonstrateshow LCT can be utilised with multiple methods, enabling the integrationof research into a wide range of educational topics and thereby contributingtowards building knowledge across the field

Legitimation code: building knowledge about knowledge-building

publisher versionEducation and knowledge have never been more important to society, yet research is segmented by approach, methodology or topic. Legitimation Code Theory or 'LCT' extends and integrates insights from Pierre Bourdieu and Basil Bernstein to offer a framework for research and practice that overcomes segmentalism. This book shows how LCT can be used to build knowledge about education and society. Comprising original papers by an international and multidisciplinary group of scholars, Knowledge-building offers the first primer in this fast-growing approach. Through case studies of major research projects, Part I provides practical insights into how LCT can be used to build knowledge by:-enabling dialogue between theory and data in qualitative research-bringing together quantitative and qualitative methodologies in mixed-methods research-relating theory and practice in praxis-conducting interdisciplinary studies with systemic functional linguistics Part II offers a series of studies of pressing issues facing knowledge-building in education and beyond, encompassing:-diverse subject areas, including physics, English, cultural studies, music, and design-educational sites: schooling, vocational education, and higher education-practices of research, curriculum, pedagogy and assessment-both education and informal learning contexts, such as museums and masonic lodges Carefully sequenced and interrelated, these chapters form a coherent collection that gives a unique insight into one of the most thought-provoking and innovative ways of building knowledge about knowledge-building in education and society to have emerged this century. This book is essential reading for all serious students and scholars of education, sociology and linguistics

The field of higher education : a sociology of reproduction, transformation, change and the conditions of emergence for cultural studies

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Gravité sémantique et apprentissage segmenté la question de la construction du savoir et de la création de détenteurs de savoir

INTRODUCTION Un spectre hante l’éducation : le segmentalisme ; i. e. quand le savoir est fortement relié à son contexte et qu’il n’a pas de valeur en dehors de lui. Dans les champs intellectuels de la production du savoir, le segmentalisme apparaît lorsqu’un nouveau savoir se développe par l’introduction d’une nouvelle approche qui échoue à intégrer et à subsumer le savoir existant. Typiquement, cette nouvelle approche annonce la renaissance du champ mais raconte aussi la même histoire que le..

Technology & knowledge: An exploration of teachers\u27 conceptions of subject-area knowledge practices and technology integration

This paper explores teachers\u27 understanding of subject-area knowledge practices (e.g. curriculum, goals, and pedagogy of a subject area, etc.) and technology integration, through the use of Legitimation Code Theory. Drawing on a major study of a technological initiative in all state secondary schools in New South Wales, Australia, this paper illustratively uses one dimension of LCT to explore the organising principles underlying the key subjects of Mathematics and English, in relation to teachers\u27 perceptions of technology use in learning and teaching. Analysis suggests a \u27code clash\u27 with Mathematics and a \u27code match\u27 with English might help explain their different patterns of integration of ICTs. The research is novel and innovative in both its use of theory and combining the separate fields of educational technology and sociology of knowledge

Recovering knowledge for science education research: Exploring the Icarus effect in student work

Science education research has built a strong body of work on students\u27 understandings but largely overlooked the nature of science knowledge itself. Legitimation Code Theory (LCT), a rapidly growing approach to education, offers a way of analyzing the organizing principles of knowledge practices and their effects on science education. This article focuses on one specific concept from LCT-semantic gravity-that conceptualizes differences in context dependence. The article uses this concept to qualitatively analyze tertiary student responses to a thermal physics question. One result, that legitimate answers must reside within a specific range of context dependence, illustrates how a focus on the organizing principles of knowledge offers a way forward for science education