The Digital Age Teacher

by

Louise Starkey

• LAST REVIEWED: 28 July 2021
• LAST MODIFIED: 28 July 2021
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0002

Introduction

The digital age began at the time that digital technologies were introduced into society. The defining feature of a digital age is how people organize their lives, communicate, learn, and society functions to some extent through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), analytical programs, the Internet, social media, and digital devices. Teachers exist within this context where digital technologies are being introduced, integrated, and infused into schools. As such, teaching within the digital age is a changing and multifaceted area of research. How teaching is changing, curriculum is evolving, what teachers need to know and be able to do, and how they learn to be digital teachers have been studied and reported in the literature. The knowledge and skills that the digital teacher requires to integrate digital technologies successfully into their teaching practice have been proposed and developed into frameworks within the research literature. However, the research is underpinned by notions of education and learning that predate the digital age, as the implications of a digitally enhanced society on pedagogical theories are simultaneously researched and debated. This evolving epistemology makes the process and interpretation of research problematic, requiring a critical lens.

Journals

The range of journals listed in this section focus on publishing academic articles that explore the use of digital technologies within education. This focus also includes empirical research and theory development. The British Journal of Educational Technology and Educational Technology Research and Development both focus on the development and use of digital technologies specific to schooling and higher education and publish research on a range of different types of technologies. Computers and Education reports research that specifically examines the use of computing within educational contexts as does Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, which takes a subject discipline focus and provides a multimedia format. Technology, Pedagogy and Education focuses on learning and educational environments that are supported by digital technologies. The Journal of Technology and Teacher Education focuses on the use of digital technologies within teachers’ learning. Journals such as the Journal of Learning Analytics specialize in one aspect of a digitally infused education context in which teachers work. Journals that focus on teaching and learning also publish articles relevant to the digital age teacher.

• British Journal of Educational Technology. 1970–.

  The British Journal of Educational Technology is a primary source for academics and professionals in the fields of education, training, and information technology. Articles cover the whole range of education and training, concentrating on the theory, applications, and development of educational technology and communications.

• Computers and Education. 1976–.

  Computers and Education is an established technically based, interdisciplinary forum for communication in the use of all forms of computing in this socially and technologically significant area of application.

• Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education. 2000–.

  The Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education journal is jointly sponsored by five professional associations with a different disciplinary focus including science, mathematics, social studies, English, and educational technology. The journal’s online medium includes multimedia demonstrations by authors including video and audio segments, animation, virtual reality, Web links, and simulations. This journal is within the Society of Information Technology in Education (SITE), which has a range of educational technology papers available through its website.

• Educational Technology Research and Development. 1953–.

  The Educational Technology, Research and Development journal has two sections: a research section, which is a source of current research information in instructional technology, and a development section, which publishes research on planning, implementation, evaluation, and management of a variety of instructional technologies and learning environments.

• Journal of Learning Analytics. 2014–.

  The Journal of Learning Analytics is the official publication of the Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR). The interdisciplinary focus of the journal provides ongoing evaluation and critique of the conceptual, technical, and practice outcomes associated with learning analytics.

• Journal of Technology and Teacher Education. 1993–.

  Journal of Technology and Teacher Education provides a forum for the exchange of knowledge about the use of digital technologies in teacher education including preservice and inservice teacher education, graduate programs, educational administration, instructional technology, and educational computing.

• Technology, Pedagogy and Education. 1992–.

  Technology, Pedagogy and Education explores the particular contribution that digital technologies can make to educational environments, focusing on empirical evidence and critical analysis of the ways in which learning can be supported in all phases of education.