Digital Technologies and Diverse Learning in Teacher Education: Reassembling the Social Perspective

Abstract

Abstract Purpose This chapter is the result of an interest in the professional and research literature exploring the intersection between education and digital technology. Decades of research and press have largely focused on the ways in which particular devices might be productively used in the K-12 classroom. Educational radio, educational television, the computer, and more recently the tablet have all been framed as being valuable for supporting student learning. Critics such as Neil Selwyn have argued that research in educational technology needs to focus less on supporting particular devices and more on the nature of social interactions that are mediated, constrained, and enabled by various technological affordances. Methodology/approach This chapter reviews four theoretical frameworks in terms of their approach the social nature of the use of technology in education. Findings The chapter introduces a number of conceptual frameworks that are helpful for considering the social implications of using digital technologies to support the needs of diverse learners in a teacher education classroom. Research implications Scholars, especially who are also teacher educators can consider using and developing frameworks that are more robust for thinking about digital learning in education. Originality/value The value in this chapter lies in the critical conceptions explored and interrogated. The author demonstrates the complexity of teacher knowledge overlaid with technology.