Chapter 1

1 Background and Introduction to the Study

1.1 Background Trondheim International School, like most schools around the globe, is undergoing a school reform process. An emerging component of such renewal is the use of digital technologies by teachers and students in classrooms. The current teaching and learning regime uses digital technologies limited to supplementary computers and primarily for delivering information about a teaching content and factual knowledge rather than for conceptual understanding. The new approach will be dealing with using technology to construct and build knowledge and support thinking processes. Teachers have been exploring the use of such technologies to engage students in self-directed learning tasks. The literature around such technologies and approaches in classrooms is concerned with how students create and share knowledge in and beyond classrooms. The chief concern is the apparent disconnect between how teachers and students view this occurring. Current theories of learning are generally inspired by Vygotskys (1978) constructivism which sees knowledge as an active creation within interaction among students and teachers build upon what they already know and believe. Constructivism is a viewpoint that emphasizes the position of learners in constructing their own comprehension through interactions with others and their setting. Students are seen as active participants in their learning and teachers are seen as facilitators rather than instructors. The recent theory, named social constructivism emphasizes that reality is constructed through human activity, that knowledge is social and cultural creation and product of

human interaction and sees learning as a socially active process. This kind of educational model supports interaction among students and teachers and defines knowledge as a process of creation by interaction and interpretation. Students create their own sense of understanding rather than memorizing someone elses meaning. Starkey (2012) suggest using a complexity theoretical framework in filling the gap across traditional teaching practices and teaching in a digital age. Emerging of knowledge occurs through human relations, interacting and connecting while heading towards a common goal. In the digital age knowledge is produce anywhere, anytime and can be easily shared and reviewed through the internet. That has led to increase in creation of knowledge due to online connections and interactions. To be able to understand how does ongoing digital revolution change the way young people interact, communicate and create knowledge, within a new media environment , processes that are shaping youth digital culture must be identified. According to Ito (2008) there a two main factors that affect digital culture of young people. First factor is increasing accessibility of tools for digital production, like for instance digital photography or computer generated visual media. The second factor is possibility to easily share all digital content and publish online all their making. Thanks to incredible evolution of internet todays young people can easy and fast present their work in public. In addition all what young people are doing online is socially motivated. All young people products and creations are ways of communication and are deeply social activities. Everything what is online as a product of young people is tightly connected with the motivation with whom its made and who they make it for. All digital practices are extension of traditional practices before the digital age. The term new media explained by Ito is a more distinctive to traditional medias such as television, books or radio but still includes all aspects of medias in general, such as digital, interactive or medias for social communications. Term new media is more appropriate since is not strictly tight to one particular platform. This research aims to identify learning benefits of using ICTs inside the classroom and the way new medias are stimulating creativity and innovation in teaching. In more specific terms the school has adopted an open approach to how students and teachers can use technologies in the classroom, not posing any limitations, beyond

legal aspects, such that students are free to use any device available to them in any learning circumstance. This has created a unique learning environment and circumstance in schooling which warrants closer investigation. This thesis therefore seeks to investigate the outcomes of such an approach on students and their teachers and the classroom as a site for formal learning when digital technologies are introduced into these classrooms where user demand and user capacity are the only limiting factor.

1.2 Research Problem

This thesis is about teaching practice. It deals with teachers and their classrooms in an environment where technological innovations are increasingly being used by students for all manner of functions outside the classrooms. Recent research (Livingston & Ito, 2013) is suggesting that school education lacks relevance and meaning for young people because there is an evident disconnect from the young peoples everyday digital practices and learning practices occurring in regular classroom. Such gaps between digital natives and digital immigrants (Prensky, 2001) have initiated th is research, with its particular emphasis on teaching practices using ICTs. In addition Ito (2008), The Digital Youth study, advocates that young people need time to `mess around` online with a certain amount of autonomy to be able to experience self-directedness and explore knowledge as independent learners. New learning theory is needed to follow up students learning within a new medias environment. With these points in mind the thesis investigates teachers as they attempt to innovate using various information communication technologies in their classroom curriculum.

1.3 Purpose and Research Questions Case studying teachers and classrooms where innovations are occurring around ICTs 1. What are the conditions required for teachers to engage with ICTs in their classroom curriculum? 2. What are impediments to teachers innovating in their classroom curriculum around ICTs? 3. What do teachers understand by the terms ICTs and innovation? 4. What are the success indicators for innovations using ICTs? 5. How do teachers initiative innovations where ICTs are used? 6. What are the motivations for teachers to engaged ICTs in their classroom curriculum? 7. What are the impacts on students and their learning and learning practices when such innovations around ICTs are implemented? 8. How do teachers exploit the ICTs capacities that students bring to the classrooms? 9. What are the logistics in teaching in such a context? 10. What are the capabilities that teachers require to engage students with such ICT capabilities? The main purpose of this study is to get evidence from school teachers about how they use digital technologies inside the classroom to innovate and connect with their students exploiting ICTs. In addition we want to gain better understanding, from the teachers perspective, of how new media environment and use of digital tools inside the classroom influence learning processes of young people.

Chapter 2 2 Literature Review This chapter provides theoretical framework for the research. The context of the study is based on reviewed literature about teaching practices influenced by emergence of new medias. Global shift towards new society based on knowledge economy is reviewed. Innovations in teaching while using digital technologies in the classroom and disconnect between digital generation and those born in pre digital age are analyzed and presented. The theoretical framework of the study is then described. Youth digital culture today is still undefined space. Teachers are yet to be prepared to fully exploit new medias that are completely embedded in everyday life of young people. However disconnect existing between digital natives and digital immigrants its rather opportunity towards new society based on knowledge economy. This thesis seeks to explore that gap identifying innovative teaching practices using ICTs and reconnecting students and teachers within a new media environment. 2.1 Knowledge Economy According to OECD (1996) as a society we have moved to the global knowledge economy. Knowledge economy perceives knowledge as a main drive of the future. Knowledge has taken a primary importance when compared with natural resources, low-skill labor or physical capital. Knowledge has always been one of the key factors of economic development. In today's globalized society, ability to innovate and creation of new knowledge are not only the foundation of development, but also a main force of society. Increasing investment in the creation of new knowledge in all scientific fields and converting this knowledge into the overall development is necessary not only to create a knowledge-based society (UNESCO, 2005) but also to improve quality of life of individuals and society. Modern economies values knowledge and innovation and invest adequate resources in innovation, research and development. Differences in creation of knowledge and its

applications are the main factors that divide the developed countries apart from the underdeveloped. Powell and Snellman (2004) define knowledge economy as services and production supported by knowledge intensive activities that speed up technological and scientific progress. They point out that the key component of a knowledge economy is a larger dependence on academic capabilities than on physical inputs or natural resources. In the modern societies based on knowledge, the role of education becomes crucial for the functioning of a country economy. Knowledge has become the key factor in economic development and the competitiveness of products on the global market (OECD 2000). According to Lundvall and Johnson (1994), knowledge is divided into four basic categories: know - what, know - why, know - how and know - who. Know - what refers to knowledge of facts, and that kind of knowledge is closest to the definition of information as a tool that can be used in production. This kind of knowledge is relatively accessible to most people in a society, making it less strategically important in relation to the competition. Know - why refers to knowledge, which is of great importance for technological development, and science - based fields, such as for example: chemical, nuclear, electronics and other industries. Adoption of such knowledge is to invest in technology development and production of so-called smart devices, which are important for the competitiveness in global industries. Know - how, represents knowledge in the form of having specialized skills, being skilled worker as designer, scientist, computer professional, etc. Know - who, refers to the profile of professionals who are involved in some scientific as well as commercial projects, on an international level. In a world now dominated by trend towards increasing complexity of the scientific base, which is composed of different sources of knowledge and experts from different countries.

2.2

Innovation

An increased competition on innovation is happening as a result of appearance of the knowledge economy. 2.3 Information communication technologies 2.4 Teaching practices and student learning Despite the huge and fast development of ICTs and the use of such technologies inside a classroom, teachers are still remaining the key factor in the implementation of quality education programs. No matter how much the change is innovative, technologically developed and theoretically explained, without a teacher who is trained to put it into a practice and who is able to understands and accept a change, the system cannot work.

Learners do not transfer knowledge from the external world into their memories; rather, they create interpretations of the world based upon their past experiences and their interactions in the world. How someone construes the world, their existing metaphors, is at least as powerful a factor influencing what is learned as any characteristic of that world (Cunningham, 1992, p. 36). Learning involves equally internal development and external contacts with the environment. People learn by making logic of the environment and stimuli around them. Greater perceptual development and learning happen in environments that are loaded with stimuli and provide response in reaction to a learners efforts. Learning is also improved when content is appropriate to students lives, when educators give opportunities to construct understandings and apply skills, and when students have choices that are interesting to them. A classification of interactions in learning was proposed by Moore (1989) where he points out three types of interactions: 1. learner-content - interaction between the learner and the content or subject of study 2. learner-instructor - interaction between the learner and the expert who prepared the subject material 3. learner-learner - interaction between one learner and other learners, alone or in group settings, with or without the real-time presence of an instructor

In the literature review based on this classification there are other types of interactions occurring in online learning as a learner interface interaction, technology based nature of activity (Hillman, Willis and Gunawardena, 1994), vicarious interaction, when learners participate internally by silently responding to questions (Devries, 1996; Sutton, 2001) and learner-self interactions, which occurs when learners self-talk while engaged in learning activities (Soo & Bonk, 1998).

2.5 Digital Natives

Bibliography

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Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes, Cole M, John-Steiner V, Scribner Sand Souberman E (Eds) Harvard

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Starkey, L (2012) Teaching and learning in the digital age.....

Walter W. Powell and Kaisa Snellman. 2004. "The Knowledge Economy", Annual Review of Sociology, August, Vol. 30, pp. 199-220 OECD. (2000). Knowledge Management in the Learning Society. Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Drucker, P. (1993), The Post-Capitalist Society, Butter Worth Heinemann, Oxford Lundvall, B.- and Johnson, B. (1994), The learning economy, Journal of Industry Studies, Vol. 1, No. 2, December 1994, pp. 23-42.