Search

Contemporary schooling is seen to be altering significantly in light of a combined 'digitisation' and 'datafication' of key processes. This paper examines the nature and conditions of the datafied school by exploring how a relatively prosaic and longstanding school metric (student attendance data) is being produced and used in digital form. Drawing on empirical data taken from in-depth qualitative studies in three contrasting Australian secondary schools, the paper considers 'anticipatory', 'analytical' and 'administrative' aspects of how digitally-mediated attendance data is produced, used and imagined by school staff. Our findings foreground a number of constraints, compromises and inconsistencies that are usually glossed-over in enthusiasms for 'data-driven' education. It is argued that these findings highlight the messy realities of schools' current relationships with digital data, and the broader logics of school datafications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although considerable academic interest has focused on serious cyber-crimes, more commonplace Internet misuses (e.g., misrepresentation of self, unauthorized downloading, Internet pornography, online plagiarism, and other "cyber-cheating") have received less attention. Although these transgressions are of minor legal importance, they merit closer academic scrutiny. Based on a self-report study of 1,222 U.K. undergraduate students, this article explores the prevalence, nature, and underpinning facilitators of five examples of Internetbased misbehavior. Although more than 90% of respondents self-reported online misbehavior during the past 12 months, significant differences are evident in gender, Internet expertise, and, to a lesser extent, age. Although respondents portrayed the Internet as a more conducive environment for misbehavior, the survey data report a strong correlation between respondents' propensity to misbehave in online and offline contexts. These data highlight the need to contextualize cyber-deviance in relation to the offline "life world" of the Internet user and the Internet's wider role in everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on survey data from 1222 undergraduate students studying at UK higher education institutions, this article addresses students' engagement with the internet as a source of academic information for their studies. In particular the article explores how academic use of the internet is patterned by a range of potential influences such as students' wider internet use, access and expertise, their year of study, gender, age, ethnic and educational background. Analysis of these data suggests that students' academic internet use is most strongly patterned along the lines of gender and subject-specialism rather than other individual characteristics or differences in technology access or expertise. The article therefore considers how these differences can be addressed by those seeking to encourage ICT-based learning across all sectors of the undergraduate population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses the reports from 1,001 home-based interviews, with adults living in the United Kingdom, to describe their varying patterns of participation in lifelong, learning. It finds that 37% of all adults report no further education or training of any kind after reaching compulsory school-leaving age. This proportion declines in each age cohort but is largely replaced by a pattern of lengthening initial education and still reporting no further education or training of any kind after leaving. The actual patterns of participation are predictable to a large extent from regression analysis using a life order model of determining variables. The key variables are age, ethnicity, sex, family background, and initial schooling, all of which are set very early in life. This suggests that universal theories to describe participation, such as simple human capital theory, are incorrect in several respects. Where individuals create, for themselves and through their early experiences, a“learner identity” inimical to further study, then the prospect of learning can become a burden rather than an investment. This has implications for the notion of overcoming barriers to access, such as those involving technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to use a computer is assumed to be a cornerstone of effective citizenship in the Information Age, with a range of initiatives and educational provisions being introduced to encourage people to become competent with information technology (IT). Despite such provision, levels of computer use and competence have been found to vary widely throughout the general population, and we know little of how different ways of learning to use computers contribute to people's eventual use of IT. Based on data from in-depth interviews with 100 adults in the United Kingdom, this article examines the range and social stratification of formal and informal learning about computers that is taking place, suggesting that formal computer instruction orientated toward the general public may inadvertently widen the digital knowledge gap. In particular, the data highlight the importance of informal learning about IT and of encouraging such learning, especially in the home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on a study which investigated pupil perceptions of classroom and whole-school democracy in Great Britain. Difference in pupils' perceptions of involvement in school processes; Proportion of students that cite a positive democratic environment; Recommendations of the study.

The use of information technology in education is now a political orthodoxy, seen by many politicians and educators as a ready means of widening participation to those social groups traditionally excluded from learning. However, the role of technology in overcoming social exclusion in education and lifetime learning practices has often failed to be objectively discussed, with a tendency for many educationalists to adopt either overtly optimistic or pessimistic positions. From this background, the present article objectively examines both current patterns of exclusion from education and technology alongside the range of ongoing policies and initiatives established in the United States concerned with technology and education. Moreover, based on a range of North American and European research literature concerned with participation in education, the article then discusses the issues and problems faced by U.S. educationalists and policy makers in proactively using technology as a means of reducing social exclusion in lifelong education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As information and communications technology (ICT) becomes more commonplace in educational settings the use of computer mediated communication (CMC) between teachers is increasingly being seen as a valid form of professional dialogue and support. Indeed, the promotion of online discussion groups as "virtual meeting places "for teachers has formed a central part of the UK government's _GCP_l billion drive to make ICT use part of day-to-day practice in British schools. However, amidst the enthusiasm for creating "virtual communities" of teachers, little is known about how educational professionals are using such resources in practice. To this end the present paper reports on a study of UK teachers' use of an established online discussion group over a two-year period. It shows that, although the online forum was widely being used both as an information and empathetic exchange resource, many of the claims of establishing collectively focused virtual communities of teachers remain exaggerated as the forum was limited by a number of caveats associated with CMC groups in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the digital technologies that taught postgraduate students engage with during their studies, what these technologies are used for and how useful they are perceived to be. The article draws upon data gathered from a survey of 253 masters and postgraduate diploma/certificate students across two universities in Australia. Analysis of these data contrasts the varied use(fulness) of ‘official’ university technologies such as learning management systems and library resources against ‘unofficial’ technologies such as Wikipedia, Twitter, Facebook and free/open education resources. In particular, the data highlight notable differences between students by subject area, domicile, mode of study and academic performance. The data also highlight the perceived benefits of this technology use – with students primarily finding digital technology useful in terms of supporting the logistics of university study rather than matters of learning per se. The article concludes by considering what is missing from these current forms of technological engagement, particularly in comparison with wider discourses about the educational potential of recent digital technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]