This is the final report on the Digital Learning Framework national longitudinal evaluation, following data collection for Wave 2 from Autumn 2021-May 2022. The data presented in this report provide an opportunity to consider how schools and students responded to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic with reference to the use of digital technologies for teaching, learning and assessment. The evaluation also considers the ways in which schools have had successes and met challenges in their embedding and implementation of the Department of Education’s Digital learning Framework. The report provides an overview of the current policy and research landscape with respect to the use of digital technologies in schools and over the course of the pandemic. It also presents new data at both primary and post-primary levels from schools (digital learning team leaders, school principals, and teachers), students, and professional development advisors specialising in the use of technology in education. The key findings from Wave 2 of the evaluation are highlighted, together with examination of changes from previous waves. Finally, the main successes and challenges encountered by schools in their implementation of the Digital Learning Framework over the period 2017-2022 are identified
Area: DLF
Teachers’ understanding of the concept of ‘embedding’ digital technology in education
Published in: Irish Educational Studies
Abstract:
The task of effectively embedding digital technology use in classrooms is among the challenges currently faced by educators in Ireland and internationally. This paper builds on analyses conducted as part of a longitudinal evaluation of Ireland’s Digital Learning Framework. Findings suggest that many teachers – especially at the post-primary level – have a somewhat restricted view of what ‘embedding’ means in this context. Such responses indicate a focus on using digital devices for activities that would be happening in the classroom already, rather than embracing more flexible and constructivist pedagogical approaches to take advantage of the range of options provided by digital technology for teaching, learning and assessment. This implies that even if all of the infrastructure and connectivity needs of schools in Ireland are met over the coming years – itself a substantial task – there is a risk that teachers may not use these devices as effectively as could be. We argue that digital technology in the classroom can open up new possibilities for how education (teaching, learning, assessment) is carried out. We explore how teachers’ understanding of the concept of ‘embedding’ can be strengthened and the envisaged impact on children’s education of doing so.
Feerick, E., Clerkin, A., & Cosgrove, J. (2022). Teachers’ understanding of the concept of “embedding” digital technology in education. Irish Educational Studies, 41 (1), 27-39. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03323315.2021.2022521
Digital Learning Framework (DLF) national longitudinal evaluation: One year on – Wave 1 report
The Educational Research Centre has been asked by the Department of Education and skills to carry out an evaluation of the Digital Learning Framework (DLF). The new framework, for primary and post-primary schools, was published in September 2017. The framework is a key part of the Digital Strategy for Schools 2015-2020. The evaluation uses a longitudinal design, and runs from 2018-2022. It was preceded by a field trial phase which ran from 2017-2018. Nationally representative samples of primary (150), post-primary (100) and special (30) schools are followed longitudinally from 2019 to 2021 through surveys of school staff, and focus groups of staff and students in a small subset of these schools. Wave 1 results were published June 2021