Exploring Digital Technology in Education: Why Theory Matters and What to Do about It

Front Cover
Exploring Digital Technology in Education: Why Theory Matters and What to Do about It
Copyright information
Table of contents
List of figures, tables and cases
Preface
1 What is theory?
	What is the problem with theory?
	How theory appears in different types of research
		Type 1: A conceptualisation of a phenomenon
		Type 2: Creating a typology or system of classification
		Type 3: Providing a conceptual framework or model
		Type 4: Testing a hypothesis in experimental conditions
		Type 5: An experiment with technology
		Type 6: A perspective on what ought to be
		Type 7: An analysis of key theorists and theories
	What is a theoretical contribution and are we making one?
	Summary
	Where to read more
2 What is theorising?
	Describing and explaining: how do they differ?
		Basic description
		Interpretative description
		Analytical description
		Narrow explanation
		Wide explanation
	Does theorising require another way of thinking?
	Is theorising making it up?
	Summary
	Where to read more
3 Theorising learning with technology
	Behaviourist theories (the mind as a closed box)
		Cognitivism (and the learner as meaning maker)
		Social constructivism (and the inheritance of tools)
		Community of practice and related theories
		Do we need learning theories?
	Theories specific to technology mediation
	Do we need theory in an age of Big Data?
	Summary
	Where to read more
4 Teachers and technology: why does take-up seem so difficult?
	Listing the factors: an under-theorised approach
	What do we know about school leadership and school reform?
	Activity theory (a framework on practice)
	Ecological approaches
	Theories compared
	Summary
	Where to read more
5 A theory of technology
	What is a technocentric view of technology?
	The idea of an affordance
	We live in hybrid environments
	We participate in assemblages of people and objects
	The social shaping of technology
	Is the important question: ‘what ought technology to be?’
	How then should we think about technology?
	Summary
	Where to read more
6 Optimism and pessimism when it comes to theorising technology
	Optimistic accounts of technology
	Pessimism about technology
		Further objections to the way we use technology
	Comparing optimistic and pessimistic perspectives
	Summary
	Where to read more
7 How can we theorise better?
	What then is theory?
	Developing a research community
		The community will be more theoretically informed
		It will value different kinds of contributions
		It will use the past to understand the present
		It will be critical
		It will be an educational community
	How can we theorise better?
		Planning for theorising
			Ask searching research questions
			Reflect deeply on your theoretical framework
			Don’t feel bound by deductive and inductive categories
			Follow the theory back
			Follow the approach back
			Follow the technology back
		Analysing and theorising
			Explain your findings
			Identify both opportunity and constraint
			See it from other points of view
			Accept that theorising is in part guesswork
			Give yourself time and space
			Give thought to your positionality
		Presenting theories
			Use language carefully
			Focus on what is important
	Summary
Key terms
References
Index