Will computers blow up the school: or is our digital wisdom evolving?

Abstract

Following the unexpected lockdown of education in March 2020 and again in February 2021, this research looks at the subsequent online learning that took place during the second lockdown at a vocational further education college located in the south of England. These online sessions used Google Meet as a forum and teachers at the college suddenly had to adapt their planned teaching to suit this new environment, Observation data was collected using an assessment tool consisting of 11 criteria with which to assess these sessions. This was followed up with teacher self-assessment using the same criteria and students surveyed for their perspective after the lockdown had finished in March. The data shows some discrepancy between what the observer 'saw' and what the teachers thought about their own TPACK levels in terms of outcomes and the student data indicates that online learning was 'unengaging' in terms of activities. The conclusion looks to the concept of digital wisdom as a means of using technology as a meaningful learning tool rather than as simply a different way to cover content in the light of the changes to curriculum delivery.