ABSTRACT
The focus of this dissertation centers around the beliefs that early education teachers hold regarding the role digital technology plays in the learning and development of young children and how those beliefs are implemented in the classroom. Although there is some previous research on this topic not enough is known about digital technology beliefs and practices at the preschool level. Thus, the focus of this dissertation centers around including the "voices of preschool teachers."Using a mixed methods approach via survey and selected follow-up interviews;100 preschool teachers expressed their beliefs and practices about digital technology use. Three groupings emerged;one group that favored using technology with young children, one group that favored technology use but with limitations, and a final group that did not see any benefit in using technology with young children. Preschool teachers also related the role technology may play in the learning and development of young children and levels of technology access. Almost all teachers reported that they had access to at least one electronic device;children's access, however, was much more limited.Lived experiences as teachers worked through the COVID-19 pandemic were also reported. Many teachers found that they were able to form better connections with parents and families via an electronic format, often at times that were more convenient for parents to talk. Teachers also reported learning how to use various types of digital technology during the COVID-19 pandemic and they reported continuing to implement what they had learned. Teachers' beliefs about technology use in classrooms by teacher demographics were tested to detect whether there were differences between the three belief groupings. The results indicated that when teachers received technology support they were more likely to have favorable beliefs about technology use. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
This study explores what types of digital life scenarios children practiced while facing the challenges of epidemic isolation, in which distance learning and limited social contact depended largely on new digital platforms. The study of children's mediatised activities within epidemic isolation can be approached from the perspective of radical contextualism, which has been widely used since the ethnographic turn in audience research that began in the late 1980s. Following this conceptual framework, the aim of the study is to identify the predominant experiences of isolated everyday life in a case study of schoolchildren and uncover typical collective groupings among young people. Based on a follow the child perspective, an online survey was conducted at a selected primary school, targeting children from 6th to 9th grade, to capture children's perceptions of online education and distance learning, prevalent digital use and their personal digital positioning. In an analytical sense, the collected sample of 110 schoolchildren was categorised using a cluster analysis to identify the typical scenarios of digital culture and show the diversity of online practices that children experienced during the COVID-19 isolation, even in a relatively homogeneous group of schoolchildren. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
This article focuses on the educational participation of young refugees in the context of digitalized settings. Education policies often consider digital media beneficial for the educational participation of disadvantaged groups, or vulnerable groups facing many challenges in education and society, such as young people with a forced migration background. Moreover, digital media are highly relevant in the everyday lives of young refugees. Our 3-5-year (02/2019-07/2022) research project focuses on the trans-organizational orientation occurring in different everyday media-permeated life contexts of young refugees, which includes the formal educational setting of school, the non-formal setting of child and youth welfare, and informal contexts in the everyday life of young refugees. Through combining grounded theory, ethnography, and neo-praxeological methodologies, organizational cross-connections and cross-relations were revealed in practices and arrangements, involving digital artifacts as well as human actors. This article presents methodological insights into distributed educational practices concerning understanding information, acquiring knowledge, and developing agency in which digital media are implicated. Emerging dimensions of educational inequalities within digitalized educational contexts, which became apparent during lockdown periods in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Theoretical and empirical work on digital media use and social connectedness has often considered face-to-face communication to be an available option. But how do various digital media uses relate to social connectedness when face-to-face communication is not, or much less, possible? Drawing on survey data from 2925 US adults during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, we find that different digital communication methods display different relationships with social connectedness under stay-at-home circumstances with limited in-person interactions outside the home. Overall, digital communication relates to lower social connectedness. In line with notions from social presence theory, especially digital media lower in social presence (e.g. email, social media, and online games, and to some extent text messaging) relate negatively to social connectedness, while this is not the case for higher social presence media (e.g. voice and video calls). Our study has implications for theorizing about digital media use and social connectedness in times when face-to-face communication is less available. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Accelerated by the corona pandemic, the opportunities and challenges of digitalisation are also increasingly important in music therapy. This article deals with the use of digital music technologies and online settings in music therapy. These are related to the previously defined identities of musician and therapist for music therapists. The authors conclude that both the German description of professional music therapy and the Kassel Theses on Music Therapy need to broaden identifying attributes. In the field of digital media and music technologies in music therapy there is an urgent need for both continuing education and study programs as well as for an (inter)national network for practice, research and instruction. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (German) Beschleunigt durch die Coronapandemie gewinnen auch in der Musiktherapie die Chancen und Herausforderungen der Digitalisierung an Bedeutung. Der Beitrag befasst sich mit dem Einsatz von digitalen Musiktechnologien und Online-Settings in der Musiktherapie. Diese werden mit den bisher definierten Musiker.innen- und Therapeut.innenidentitaten von Musiktherapeut.innen in Beziehung gesetzt. Die Autor.innen kommen zum Ergebnis, dass sowohl im Berufsbild Musiktherapie als auch in den Kassler Thesen zur Musiktherapie die Identitatsmerkale erweitert werden mussen. Ebenso sind Angebote von musiktherapeutischen Aus- und Weiterbildungsmoglichkeiten sowie eine Vernetzung von Praxis, Forschung und Lehre im Bereich digitaler Medien und Musiktechnologien auf nationaler und internationaler Ebene dringend notwendig. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Technology is necessary for students to become digitized citizens in an information-driven society. Digital literacy skills and 21st Century Skills (collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity) were also needed to ensure success in the digital world. This research project explored a school with a predominantly African American student population and how the school provided students access to digital technology to enhance and motivated learner's curriculum studies in science, technology, engineering, and math. The research project looked at how the rural charter school used technology in the classroom as well as during the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The widespread adoption of digital technology devices has introduced unique challenges to modern parenthood, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when parents relied on digital technology more than ever before. Parents have experienced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, with mothers being especially vulnerable to stress and mental health problems. This study investigates associations between technology distraction of mothers while spending time with their offspring, psychological well-being (stress sensitivity), and parenting behaviors (warmth and indifference) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mothers (n = 246) of adolescents (aged 13-18) who attended public secondary schools in Italy completed an online survey during the fourth wave of COVID-19. The pattern of associations was analyzed via path analysis. COVID-19 pandemic-induced stressors were positively associated with perceived stress, which was positively associated with technology distraction of mothers when spending time with their offspring. Furthermore, maternal technology distraction was positively associated with indifference and negatively associated with warmth. Perceived stress was negatively associated only with warmth. Strategies to mitigate stress during times of crisis and adversity might be useful for potentially vulnerable targets (e.g., mothers living with offspring during the COVID-19 pandemic). Information and prevention actions should be focused on how parents use digital devices while with their offspring. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement This study examined potential correlates of maternal technological distraction while mothers spent time with their offspring during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results indicate that COVID-19-specific effects on life dimensions (e.g., relationships with family members/friends, work performance, family financial situations) were associated with high perceived stress, which was associated with greater technology distraction of mothers when spending time with their offspring. Furthermore, maternal technology distraction was linked to negative parental behaviors (higher indifference and lower warmth), suggesting the relevance of using strategies to mitigate stress in potentially vulnerable persons during times of crisis such as the pandemic context. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
In this digital age, it is imperative that elementary schools incorporate digital technology with pedagogy. The purpose of this quantitative study was to apply Rogers' (2003) Diffusion of Innovation Theory to identify factors that impact elementary teacher integration of digital technology. This study utilized digital surveys to gather data relating teacher perceptions of the attributes of digital technology, their level of technology integration in the classroom, as well as their perceptions of the technology adoption of the other teachers in their building. This study found that relative advantage had the greatest impact on teacher integration of technology prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, this study found that teacher perceptions of digital technology integration changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings indicate the need for educational leaders to focus on the advantages of new innovations to increase adoption and implementation. Also, crisis situations like a global pandemic have the potential to change adopter perceptions of an innovation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Today's unprecedented technology growth impacts at many levels-from individuals to groups to society. This study aims to characterize how exponential digital technology growth and organizational change is explained and experienced in a university setting deploying new instructional technologies-and how or where conflict emerges. Organizational conflict is a phenomenon that takes many forms and may not be fully recognized. This dissertation highlights theories of technology invention and disruption, the dynamics of sociotechnical change (defined as the interdependencies between people, technology, and the environment) and response in organizations, complex adaptive systems, and practice theory of change. It considers current technological forces at work;digital use and literacy in higher education;mechanisms by which digital technology affects stakeholders;how institutional technical capacity is assessed;how technology is adopted;and ultimately, how a lack of contextual understanding or awareness of conflict may contribute to acute disruption for incumbent academic institutions. Quantitative research and Theoretical Thematic Analysis (qualitative research) were employed concurrently. Thematic insights from interviews and surveys converged to identify patterns of sociotechnical change, and the conflict that emerged, during COVID-driven requirements to implement all courses fully online. The intent was to substantiate theoretical underpinnings for organizational strategy in today's times. This approach illumined the decisions that were made and how they were deciphered, how change was experienced, as well as how conflict was managed. Modeled was the multidisciplinary approach prescribed through a conflict lens-making a viable contribution to the study of sociotechnical change in organizations and institutions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 crisis that began in March 2020 presented teacher education with many challenges, among them the urgent need to support teacher educators with the sudden move to remote teaching. Teacher educators immediately started rethinking their pedagogy for a new digital classroom environment as universities rushed to provide overnight supports to help with this transition. Empirical research on how teacher educators have navigated their professional roles during this period of uncertainty is limited. There is also limited research on the professional learning of teacher educators, particularly in the area of digital technology. The aim of this study was to explore teacher educators' shifts in views and pedagogy using digital technology as they adapted to teaching in an online environment. Investigating those shifts also required examining teacher educators' backgrounds and experiences with digital technology and their professional learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.In this qualitative multi-case study, I explored the experiences of six teacher educators within a graduate teacher education program in a large urban university in Canada. Each participant took part in two semi-structured interviews and described teaching and learning artifacts that reflected a change in their pedagogy. Three key findings emerged from this study. First, the COVID-19 pandemic served as a catalyst for change in teacher educators' enacted pedagogies. Second, teacher educators displayed heightened responsivity in two ways. They placed teacher candidate learning at the center of the online classroom and offered flexible and accessible learning experiences. Also, teacher educators' changes in pedagogy were frequently shaped by inequities exacerbated by the pandemic. Lastly, study participants discussed different possibilities for teacher educator pedagogies, with an emphasis on flexible approaches to teaching and learning, a changed role in an online setting, and digital technology integration.Implications for teacher educators include the need to engage in ongoing learning, understand the role and uses of digital technology in the teacher education classroom, and recognize their ongoing responsibility to foreground equity and social justice in their teaching. Thus, teacher education programs must include formal and informal structures and resources that support the individualized and diverse professional learning of teacher educators. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Based on interviews with 75 women transitioning from incarceration, our research identifies technology access and skills barriers facing this population and their underlying concerns and motivations in navigating privacy online. Our results suggest precarious housing and financial situations, concerns about ex-partners, mental health issues, and lack of self-efficacy pose challenges for their access to and use of digital technologies and influence their online privacy perspectives. Many participants reported relying primarily on cellphones for various tasks including job applications. Closing public places including libraries amid the COVID-19 pandemic put them at an even greater disadvantage, as many of them depend on computers or Wi-Fi available in those places. Nothing-to-lose attitudes were salient among this group resulting in many not taking precautionary measures online or choosing to go offline. Our research highlights the importance of building academic-community partnerships to provide technology and privacy education tailored for this population's particular needs and desires. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The problem addressed in this study was the limited understanding of urban secondary teachers' specific skills, strategies, and methodologies for digital technology used in a digital learning environment surrounding technological knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and content knowledge (TPACK). The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore urban secondary teachers' specific skills, strategies, and methodologies for digital technology used in a digital learning classroom surrounding TPACK. The study was grounded in the TPACK framework to explore urban secondary teachers' specific skills, strategies, and methodologies for developing the interrelation with content, pedagogy, and digital technology use in a digital learning environment. The qualitative case study used purposeful sampling to select 12 participants familiar with the phenomenon and the study's purpose. Purposeful sampling supplied a homogeneous sample of participants with shared characteristics of urban secondary teachers working in one secondary school in Texas. Three research questions guided the study. Data collection due to COVID-19 regulations was through one-on-one interviews with participants, documents, and fieldnotes. The participants' responses were analyzed in detail by applying codes and categorizing the data according to standard terms with the help of NVivo software. Thematic saturation was obtained from the participants' responses to justify the study implications, practice recommendations, and future research recommendations. The implementation of this research study pursued exploring digital technology used in a digital learning classroom surrounding technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge. The study produced eight recommendations for teachers to develop their TPACK and two recommendations for future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Today's unprecedented technology growth impacts at many levels-from individuals to groups to society. This study aims to characterize how exponential digital technology growth and organizational change is explained and experienced in a university setting deploying new instructional technologies-and how or where conflict emerges. Organizational conflict is a phenomenon that takes many forms and may not be fully recognized. This dissertation highlights theories of technology invention and disruption, the dynamics of sociotechnical change (defined as the interdependencies between people, technology, and the environment) and response in organizations, complex adaptive systems, and practice theory of change. It considers current technological forces at work;digital use and literacy in higher education;mechanisms by which digital technology affects stakeholders;how institutional technical capacity is assessed;how technology is adopted;and ultimately, how a lack of contextual understanding or awareness of conflict may contribute to acute disruption for incumbent academic institutions. Quantitative research and Theoretical Thematic Analysis (qualitative research) were employed concurrently. Thematic insights from interviews and surveys converged to identify patterns of sociotechnical change, and the conflict that emerged, during COVID-driven requirements to implement all courses fully online. The intent was to substantiate theoretical underpinnings for organizational strategy in today's times. This approach illumined the decisions that were made and how they were deciphered, how change was experienced, as well as how conflict was managed. Modeled was the multidisciplinary approach prescribed through a conflict lens-making a viable contribution to the study of sociotechnical change in organizations and institutions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The problem addressed in this study was the limited understanding of urban secondary teachers' specific skills, strategies, and methodologies for digital technology used in a digital learning environment surrounding technological knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and content knowledge (TPACK). The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore urban secondary teachers' specific skills, strategies, and methodologies for digital technology used in a digital learning classroom surrounding TPACK. The study was grounded in the TPACK framework to explore urban secondary teachers' specific skills, strategies, and methodologies for developing the interrelation with content, pedagogy, and digital technology use in a digital learning environment. The qualitative case study used purposeful sampling to select 12 participants familiar with the phenomenon and the study's purpose. Purposeful sampling supplied a homogeneous sample of participants with shared characteristics of urban secondary teachers working in one secondary school in Texas. Three research questions guided the study. Data collection due to COVID-19 regulations was through one-on-one interviews with participants, documents, and fieldnotes. The participants' responses were analyzed in detail by applying codes and categorizing the data according to standard terms with the help of NVivo software. Thematic saturation was obtained from the participants' responses to justify the study implications, practice recommendations, and future research recommendations. The implementation of this research study pursued exploring digital technology used in a digital learning classroom surrounding technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge. The study produced eight recommendations for teachers to develop their TPACK and two recommendations for future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Technology is necessary for students to become digitized citizens in an information-driven society. Digital literacy skills and 21st Century Skills (collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity) were also needed to ensure success in the digital world. This research project explored a school with a predominantly African American student population and how the school provided students access to digital technology to enhance and motivated learner's curriculum studies in science, technology, engineering, and math. The research project looked at how the rural charter school used technology in the classroom as well as during the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
In this digital age, it is imperative that elementary schools incorporate digital technology with pedagogy. The purpose of this quantitative study was to apply Rogers' (2003) Diffusion of Innovation Theory to identify factors that impact elementary teacher integration of digital technology. This study utilized digital surveys to gather data relating teacher perceptions of the attributes of digital technology, their level of technology integration in the classroom, as well as their perceptions of the technology adoption of the other teachers in their building. This study found that relative advantage had the greatest impact on teacher integration of technology prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, this study found that teacher perceptions of digital technology integration changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings indicate the need for educational leaders to focus on the advantages of new innovations to increase adoption and implementation. Also, crisis situations like a global pandemic have the potential to change adopter perceptions of an innovation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
[...]audiovisual installations are usually restricted to wealthier areas, in which the specialized equipment can be afforded and properly hosted. [...]the tool can be used to compose audiovisual interactions that reach a large audience via web. [...]the access to the artistic richness brought by interactive artwork is socially and economically determined (VIEIRA;SCHIAVONI, 2020) (FIGUEIRO, 2019). Cameras have been used in humancomputer interaction for music for decades (WINKLER, 1998), and MOTUS employs this concept while deploying its software as a webpage, thus only requiring hardware that is becoming increasingly ubiquitous (TURNER, 2021) (ZUGARA, 2021). [...]even though it is an art installation, it can be understood as a virtual one, as the audience does not have to be physically present in a particular place to participate on it.
ABSTRACT
The article addresses the issue of the use of computers and digital techniques in the educational process of pre-university education, having as application dimension a case study conducted on educational institutions in a locality in Romania. The two quantitative surveys performed, one among teachers and the other among students, surprise their opinion on the potential offered by the use of computers and social networks in the learning process, their efficiency, but also the perception resulting from conducting courses exclusively online, in the context of the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. The obtained results show that only a part of the advantages of using information technologies could be capitalized in the teaching activity carried out exclusively online, the reasons being exposed both by the teachers and by the students, in the open questions of the surveys.
ABSTRACT
The article is devoted to studying the impact of digital technologies on providing an efficient educational discussion environment against the background of isolation and social distancing caused by COVID-19 preventive measures. The course structuring allowed fostering a better understanding of educational activities. The use of popular online communication tools positively influenced educational communication effectiveness. The conscious attitude to training facilitated the formation of a corporate culture of engagement in the learning environment. Thematic and consulting support provided by academic assistants allowed forming a sense of confidence. The implementation of the concept of business gamification provoked an increase in students' interest in practical training and entailed greater participation in learning. The relevance of the creative work topic enabled students to express their own view on professional activity and reinforced the desire for using the gained knowledge and experience in practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The digital revolution, which started in the latter quarter of the 19th century, refers to the shift from mechanical and analog electronic technology to digital technologies, which mostly use the internet. In contrast to traditional media, digital technologies include social and interactive media and allow users to consume and actively create content. Young people's lives are increasingly mediated by digital technologies used both at home and at school. The use of digital media by young people may be adaptive, but it may place their adaptation at risk. Whether media use is adaptive or maladaptive depends on a number of factors, including, among others, the developmental stage of the individual, the type of media, the type of use, the extent of use, and the characteristics of the individual using the media. The place of digital media in young people's lives has never been more prominent than during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, their lives were upended, and they turned to digital media for their education, entertainment, information, and social contact. Thus, the study of the effects of the digital revolution on youths' development and education has never been timelier than it is right now. This article introduces the Special Issue on youth in the digital age. It includes six reviews that focus on the affective, cognitive, and social consequences of the digital revolution for young people. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)