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Never Mind the Gap! Digital Differences Among Students and Teachers

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Never Mind the Gap! Digital Differences Among Students and Teachers Canterbury Christ Church University’s repository of research outputs http://create.canterbury.ac.uk Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. Tesic, Z. (2016) Never mind the gap! Digital differences between students and teachers. Ed.D. thesis, Canterbury Christ Church University. Contact: [email protected] Never Mind the Gap! Digital Differences among Students and Teachers by Zoran Tešić Canterbury Christ Church University Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Education Year 2016 In loving memory of my mother, Nada (rođ. Gašić) Tešić. ABSTRACT Although there has been an increase in the availability of digital technology and related media (DT&RM) in many educational institutions across the UK, it has been frequently suggested that the barrier to the successful development of an effective digital learning environment is teachers’ (digital immigrants) lack of technological proficiency to take into account the needs of the new digital generation of students (digital natives). With the aim of contributing to this debate, I investigated the adoption of technology by exploring digital differences between a population of students (n = 444) and teachers (n = 158) in a further education (FE) college in South East England, addressing the research question, In what ways do students and teachers differ in how they relate to digital technology in the context of teaching and learning practices? In order to understand more about how students and teachers relate to DT&RM, this study utilised sequential mixed methods research with a collaborative approach to data collection. This entailed giving the participants a voice and an active role in some aspects of the qualitative recording of evidence, as well as enabling a reflection on the processes of the study. The results of the research indicate differences in digital awareness and the ability to use DT&RM among students and teachers. Although observable, those differences are not specific or age- or gender-related. The findings suggest that many participants among students and teachers struggle with and have limited knowledge of technology, and that differences in how they relate to DT&RM are associated with the different roles they play in an educational setting, as well as the role that technology plays in meeting their individual needs. The data also indicates that both groups of participants recognised the potential of using DT&RM in the classroom. Furthermore, they presented critical awareness of technology, seeing the role of technology in education as supportive rather than transformational. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................ iii LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................................. vii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF ACRONYMS ....................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 1 The context of this study ............................................................................................................... 1 The problem statement .................................................................................................................. 9 Overview of methodology .......................................................................................................... 13 Professional significance of the study ......................................................................................... 14 Limitations of the study .............................................................................................................. 15 Organisation of the study ............................................................................................................ 16 CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................................................................ 17 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................... 17 Origin of the Idea: Singularity ............................................................................................................ 17 The digital revolution in education: ‘The point of no return’? ................................................... 17 Digital Natives .................................................................................................................................... 20 Technology is changing the brains of our children – The medium is the message ..................... 20 Digital natives: The next ‘great’ generation ................................................................................ 22 Digital Immigrants .............................................................................................................................. 29 Teachers: Digital immigrants or digital outlaws? ....................................................................... 29 Other Empirical Research ................................................................................................................... 35 Use of DT&RM in FE Teaching and Learning Practices ................................................................... 45 Interactive White Boards (IWBs)................................................................................................ 47 Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) ......................................................................................... 50 Mobile phones ............................................................................................................................. 53 Video Games and Learning ......................................................................................................... 56 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 61 CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................................ 63 METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH DESIGN .............................................................................. 63 Methodological considerations ................................................................................................... 63 The research perspective ............................................................................................................. 66 iv The research design ..................................................................................................................... 68 The research participants: Sampling strategy ............................................................................. 70 The pilot study: What I learned and changes made in advance of the main study ..................... 73 Data Collection and Data Analysis ..................................................................................................... 75 Online survey questionnaire ........................................................................................................ 75 Instrumentation ........................................................................................................................... 75 Data analysis ............................................................................................................................... 77 Participatory video ...................................................................................................................... 79 Instrumentation ........................................................................................................................... 79 Data analysis ............................................................................................................................... 81 Reflection on my role as an ‘insider’ researcher ......................................................................... 87 Bias and asymmetric power relationship .................................................................................... 89 Problems of confidentiality, anonymity, and informed consent ................................................. 90 Differences between gaining access and gaining co-operation as two distinctive activities ...... 92 Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 94 CHAPTER FOUR .............................................................................................................................
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