Exploring digital technology in education : why theory matters and what to do about it / Michael Hammond.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hammond, Michael, 1956- author.

Series:

Policy Press scholarship online.

Policy Press scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Educational technology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (175 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Bristol : Policy Press, 2023.

Summary:

The field of digital technology in education has long been under-theorised. This book will enable the reader to reflect on the use of theory when explaining technology use and set out ways in which we can theorise better.

Contents:

Front Cover

Exploring Digital Technology in Education: Why Theory Matters and What to Do about It

Copyright information

Table of contents

List of figures, tables and cases

Preface

1 What is theory?

What is the problem with theory?

How theory appears in different types of research

Type 1: A conceptualisation of a phenomenon

Type 2: Creating a typology or system of classification

Type 3: Providing a conceptual framework or model

Type 4: Testing a hypothesis in experimental conditions

Type 5: An experiment with technology

Type 6: A perspective on what ought to be

Type 7: An analysis of key theorists and theories

What is a theoretical contribution and are we making one?

Summary

Where to read more

2 What is theorising?

Describing and explaining: how do they differ?

Basic description

Interpretative description

Analytical description

Narrow explanation

Wide explanation

Does theorising require another way of thinking?

Is theorising making it up?

3 Theorising learning with technology

Behaviourist theories (the mind as a closed box)

Cognitivism (and the learner as meaning maker)

Social constructivism (and the inheritance of tools)

Community of practice and related theories

Do we need learning theories?

Theories specific to technology mediation

Do we need theory in an age of Big Data?

4 Teachers and technology: why does take-up seem so difficult?

Listing the factors: an under-theorised approach

What do we know about school leadership and school reform?

Activity theory (a framework on practice)

Ecological approaches

Theories compared

5 A theory of technology

What is a technocentric view of technology?

The idea of an affordance.

We live in hybrid environments

We participate in assemblages of people and objects

The social shaping of technology

Is the important question: 'what ought technology to be?'

How then should we think about technology?

6 Optimism and pessimism when it comes to theorising technology

Optimistic accounts of technology

Pessimism about technology

Further objections to the way we use technology

Comparing optimistic and pessimistic perspectives

7 How can we theorise better?

What then is theory?

Developing a research community

The community will be more theoretically informed

It will value different kinds of contributions

It will use the past to understand the present

It will be critical

It will be an educational community

How can we theorise better?

Planning for theorising

Ask searching research questions

Reflect deeply on your theoretical framework

Don't feel bound by deductive and inductive categories

Follow the theory back

Follow the approach back

Follow the technology back

Analysing and theorising

Explain your findings

Identify both opportunity and constraint

See it from other points of view

Accept that theorising is in part guesswork

Give yourself time and space

Give thought to your positionality

Presenting theories

Use language carefully

Focus on what is important

Key terms

References

Index.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 19 Jan 2024).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-4473-6265-9

1-4473-6264-0

OCLC:

1380465998