Examining the digital curriculum
Effective participation in society is increasingly dependent on strategic use of digital technology. Yet growing divides exist that separate those who have access to digital devices and the Internet from those who do not; those who have the ability to use such devices from those who do not; and those who use the technology in strategic ways to participate in society from those who do not.
In a paper that received the Best Paper Award at the Australian Council for Computers in Education 2016 conference in October, Dr Louise Starkey identifies and examines these divides.
Starkey believes that school curriculums play a critical role in the closure of digital divides. Her paper, titled What if digital divides closed? Schooling in a future without digital divides, envisioned an education system that narrows the gaps.
“We must prepare the next generation of New Zealanders for their digital future. It’s so important for school curriculums to enable all students to leave school with the confidence, skills and knowledge to use technology strategically.”
Her paper imagines what such a school curriculum would look like and how educational policies might support this scenario. She calls for three related policies to enable it: a curriculum with digital knowledge and skills woven across discipline knowledge, capabilities, and participation in society; a policy that provides the resources or tools for learning within the curriculum; and a policy to support teachers to implement the curriculum.
You can read her article on the same theme but with a particular focus on the New Zealand digital curriculum in the latest Curriculum Matters.