Reflective Writing Task A

 Writing prompt:

"Why do you think digital technologies have been put into schools?"

Response

In Australia all children are to attend school until they are seventeen or complete Year 10.  The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) advises that education in Australia is intended to “contribute to a democratic, equitable, and just society” (ACARA, n.d.).  With that in mind a nation-wide curriculum was developed to allow all students equitable access to a basic education regardless of their background or location. The curriculum includes subjects to be studied such as mathematics, English, science, history and geography up to Year 10.  There are topics like literacy, numeracy and information and communications technology (ICT), now Digital Technologies, which are to be embedded into across the curriculum subjects to ensure students are equipped for the future (ACARA, n.d.).

Jordan (2011) advises that digital technology (DT) has been placed in schools because policy makers recognised the need for students to acquire the skills to work and live in the world (p. 429). Students need to have access to DT in order to understand how to utilise them to their advantage (Newhouse, 2013, p. 914) in our society now and into the future. This is further echoed by Selwyn (2016) who noted using DT is how we ‘do’ many activities now (Selwyn, p. 2). For example, if we want to know something we google it, instead of looking it up in a book (Selwyn, 2016, p. 2), this is extremely powerful. We no longer transfer large amounts money physically via armoured vehicle, it is processed digitally. Students will need to know how and where to find reliable, credible sources, how to do build websites and how to keep themselves safe online.

Selwyn (2016) tells us that Digital tech is looked upon as transforming education, by making it more engaging, relevant, cheaper, easier, better for marginalised groups and more efficient (p. 2-8). It can do some of these things, but for it to be effective in education digital tech needs to be used wisely and appropriately by educators (Littlejohn & Hunter, 2016). Furthermore, access to these technologies, in order to achieve ACARA’s aims, needs and be easily accessible and reliable for both teachers and students (Littlejohn & Hunter, 2016) otherwise they will be difficult to implement.