The global and the local : taking account of context in the push for technologization of education

Education in Australia, it could be argued, has undergone a “digital turn” (Buchanan, 2011). That is to say, digital technologies are no longer simply something that students learn “about”, but are now something that they increasingly learn “with”. It is a common expectation that digital competencies are embedded in all areas of teaching across all years of education. The push for the increased use of technology in education can be understood as a product of the globalization of education, evident not only in the Australian education system, but in education systems worldwide. Within this global context, the nature of research into educational technology is also undergoing a shift and an expansion in focus. Selwyn highlights the need for researchers in this area to be “looking beyond learning” (2010, p. 65). He calls for a critical research approach, one that incorporates a richer account of the contexts in which educational technologies are employed; one that examines wider political, social, and cultural contexts of the use of digital technologies, and one that queries the implications for social justice and democracy. In this chapter we provide a rich contextual analysis of a major Australian government initiative, the Digital Education Revolution (DER), supplementing this account with reference to other smaller, but significant initiatives, namely the Innovative Teaching Learning (ITL) project and the Teaching Teachers for the Future (TTF) project. Our analysis aims to illustrate both the international nature of the use of educational technology and the scope of the impact that this is having on the Australian education system–affecting not only the school sector but the higher education sector as well. Using the DER as a case study we highlight the way in which the complexities inherent in the socio-political context belie the common sense belief in application of education technologies alone as a simple means of ensuring educational improvement. Our aim is not to provide a definitive account, but rather to supply a preliminary sketch that illustrates the necessity of taking context into account when considering the technologization of education. This perspective builds on previous research that demonstrates that provision of digital technology does not ensure better educational outcomes (Bingimlas, 2009; Cuban, 2001). That that assumption strongly underpins educational policy in Australia reiterates why critical research in this area is so necessary