The social construction of educational technology through the use of authentic software tools

Jones, Allan; Bissell, Chris

doi:10.1080/21567069.2011.624995

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…While technological determinism is not currently a prevailing view among scholars in this area (Jones & Bissell, ), it endures as a strongly held perspective among certain groups (Wyatt, ). Determinism continues to be an influential perspective for understandable reasons.…”

Section: Technological Determinismmentioning

confidence: 99%

The co‐dependent relationship of technology and communities

Surry

Baker²

2015

Brit J Educational Tech

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Technology is one the defining features of humanity. It is ubiquitous in modern society and plays an important role in nearly everything that humans do. New technologies frequently spur our imagination, can evoke powerful emotions and often serve as the topic of heated debate. Many people are in awe of the power and potential of new technologies while others fear its increasing importance in human life. New technologies can create new employment opportunities, spawn new businesses and even revitalize entire economies. Conversely, they can cause unemployment, destroy long‐standing organizations and lead to global economic upheaval. While technology undoubtedly impacts people and societies in profound ways, people and societies also impact the development and use of technologies. The intelligence, dedication and support of numerous people, businesses and social groups are needed to develop even relatively simple technologies. Once developed, new technologies rely on a myriad of economic, social, human and political forces for their continued use and expansion. The field of learning technologies serves as an important and interesting case in which to explore the complex relationship between technology and society. In this paper, we will provide an overview of some of the most important philosophical and theoretical views of the relationship between technology and social systems, describe key issues related to the topic that are important for Learning Technologists to consider, and provide a series of recommendations for research and practice.

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Section: Technological Determinismmentioning

confidence: 99%

The co‐dependent relationship of technology and communities

Surry

Baker²

2015

Brit J Educational Tech

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“…Data was collected through focus group interviews with 38 students randomly selected out of the 106-student cohort. The data was analysed using a sociology of education technology perspective (Jones & Bissell, 2011;Oliver, 2013;Selwyn, 2012), wherein we examined the data not for exploring how the app 'acted upon' the students, but rather how the students constructed the app as suitable or otherwise for their learning needs (Oliver, 2013). Such a study enables us to highlight how educational technologies are not introduced into a learning scenario that is a tabula rasa ripe to be acted upon; rather, they are introduced into complex social learning environments (Chan, Walker, & Gleaves, 2015) in which students have expectations, desires and anxieties that should be acknowledged by educators.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Literature review: the case for a sociology of educational technologies Sociology of education technology scholarship critiques the dominant 'technological determinist' approach to educational technologies. Through a technological determinist lens, educational technologies are perceived as 'acting upon' student cohorts (Jones & Bissell, 2011;Kear, Jones, Holden, & Mark, 2016;Oliver, 2011;Selwyn, 2012;Selwyn & Facer, 2014;Webster, 2013). Such an approach presumes that the agency to effect change is broadly in the hands of technologies that can coerce students into learning, if only they are set up appropriately.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unfitting, uncomfortable, unacademic: a sociological reading of an interactive mobile phone app in university lectures

Drew

Mann

2018

Int J Educ Technol High Educ

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Scholarly literature on education technology uptake has been dominated by technological determinist readings of students' technology use. However, in recent years there has been a move by sociologists of education to highlight how the contexts in which educational technologies are introduced are not tabula rasa but socially and culturally complex. This study approaches technology as a social construct, arguing that students construct discursive meaning of, rather than simply respond to, technologies for learning. The study explores students' constructions of a mobile learning app that was introduced into lectures during a year-long university course. Students largely rejected the app, constructing it as unfitting for the context, a socially uncomfortable experience and an unacademic way of learning. The paper highlights the limitations of technological determinism and closes by arguing for readings of educational technologies that pay close attention to students' voices.

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“…These theoretical perspectives come largely from the field of social studies of technology -an area which is has only recently been applied to educational technology (Jones & Bissell, 2011;Selwyn & Facer, 2014;Selwyn, 2012;Walker & Creanor, 2009). The paper provides a brief overview of the theoretical perspectives, and then presents and discusses the three exemplars.…”

Section: What Should Educators Consider When Introducing Social Technmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social technologies for online learning: theoretical and contextual issues

Kear

Jones

Holden

et al. 2016

Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning

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Three exemplars are presented of social technologies deployed in educational contexts: wikis; a photo-sharing environment; and a social bookmarking tool.Students were found to engage with the technologies selectively, sometimes rejecting them, in the light of their prior conceptions of education. Some students (a minority in all the studies) were unsympathetic to the educational philosophy underpinning the technology's adoption. The paper demonstrates, through an examination of in-context use, the importance of socio-cultural factors in relation to education, and the non-deterministic nature of educational technology. The academic study of technology has increasingly called into question the deterministic views which are so pervasive in popular discourse and among policy makers. Instead, socio-cultural factors play a crucial role in shaping and defining technology and educational technology is no exception, as the examples in the paper show. The paper concludes by drawing out some implications of the examples for the use of social technologies in education.

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The social construction of educational technology through the use of authentic software tools

Cited by 3 publications

References 19 publications

The co‐dependent relationship of technology and communities

The co‐dependent relationship of technology and communities

Unfitting, uncomfortable, unacademic: a sociological reading of an interactive mobile phone app in university lectures

Social technologies for online learning: theoretical and contextual issues

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