This paper presents the results of an analysis of secondary students' computer use, aimed at understanding how different factors influence the profile of activities carried out by students with computers. The analysis is based on the data from a national study aimed at measuring students' Information and Communication Technology (ICT)…

There is considerable enthusiasm in many quarters for the incorporation of digital games into the classroom, and the capacity of games to engage and challenge players, present complex representations and experiences, foster collaborative learning, and promote deep learning. But while there is increasing research documenting the progress and…

This article examines the emergence of "digital governance" in public education in England. Drawing on and combining concepts from software studies, policy and political studies, it identifies some specific approaches to digital governance facilitated by network-based communications and database-driven information processing software…

Digital media and open educational resources (OER) are said to redraw the boundaries between learners and teachers, by weakening the centralization of expertise and the distribution of subject-matter authority. This paper presents the findings of an ethnographic study of how the use of OER mediates the relations between self-directed learners and…

This article examines the role students play in shaping the nature of the technologies they use in their classrooms and the role teachers play in supporting students' innovative practices. Drawing on research on the sociology of technological development from the field of Science and Technology Studies, the process by which one student's…

Latina/o students are one of the least likely populations to access technology and possess the techno-capital necessary to succeed in postsecondary education. This phenomenological qualitative research study used interviews with 20 Latina/o college students in Central Texas to examine how techno-capital and techno-disposition interact in complex…

The current study uses survey methods to understand how US college students' use of various types of social media, such as social networking websites and text messaging on smart phones, as well as consumption of traditional media, such as watching television and reading books for pleasure, is (or is not) related to intellectual cognitive…

In this paper, we identify how and why digital media production can contribute to the active participation of children in education and also consider how much of the existing work in this area is framed as a "miraculous" answer to educational challenges without critical interrogation of either the process or product. To begin, we…

This article reports a study into how mobile phones could be used to enhance teaching and learning in secondary school science. It describes four lessons devised by groups of Sri Lankan teachers all of which centred on the use of the mobile phone cameras rather than their communication functions. A qualitative methodological approach was used to…

Despite significant research in the field of educational technology, there is still much we do not fully understand about students' experiences with technology. This article proposes that research in the field of educational technology would benefit from a sociological framing that pays attention to the understandings and lives of learners.…

The rapid rise of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) signals a shift in the ways in which digital teaching and learning are engaged in and understood. Drawing upon a comprehensive search of nine leading academic databases, this paper examines the initial phase of MOOC scholarship (2009-2013), and offers an analysis of these empirical studies that…

This paper discusses gaming in a Western Australian school for boys. The overriding ethos of the school is supportive of the potential of ICT to better engage students and deliver enhanced educational outcomes. The school sees game-based design as at the vanguard of innovation, but also accepts its important duty of care responsibilities. Tensions…

During a series of high school English and Drama class trips to the theatre, so many students were online, the entire back row often glowed blue. Although much of the literature suggests that information and communication technologies are benign and neutral, this back-row collision of digital and live culture signals to teachers that technology is…

Schools are often encouraged to facilitate extra-curricular learning within their own premises. This study addresses the potential of social networking sites (SNS) for supporting such out-of-class study. Given concerns that learning on these sites may happen at a surface level, we adopted self-determination theory for designing a social networking…

The Visitors and Residents model of internet use suggests a continuum of modes of engagement with the online world, ranging from tool use to social spaces. In this paper, we examine evidence derived from a large cohort of students to assess whether this idea can be validated by experimental evidence. We find statistically significant differences…