Now What? (Education and Technology in a Post COVID World)

This week’s reading brought up more questions than answers…not necessarily a bad thing when one is anticipating developing research questions for upcoming projects! Both the Valverde-Berrocoso et al. and the Hrastinski articles gave me a lot to think about. I took copious notes on concepts I want to investigate further.

Valverde-Berrocoso et al. (2020) intrigued me as the most recently-written article. As I am most interested in post-COVID educational practices, I was intrigued by the idea of hearing from authors who now had the 2020 hindsight (pun intended!) of just how dramatically technology played a role in education during the global pandemic.

The authors (Valverde-Berrocoso et al., 2020) conducted a Systematic Literature Review on educational technology and the idea of “e-learning.” I had never heard of this type of review as an option for research; nor had I heard about the PRISMA protocol they mention.

The authors (Valverde-Berrocoso et al., 2020) go on to discuss the digital divide, another area of interest for me since it became increasingly apparent just how big of a gulf there was (even among higher education students) in 2020 and beyond. The authors also point out that a major flaw in education when it comes to e-learning has been that “the potential of this teaching method has been underestimated and excluded from the digital education projects of educational organizations. The future of e-learning must be built on principles of openness and equality with an education in digital competence” (Valverde-Berrocoso et al., 2020, p. 2). Definite food for thought as educators move forward with new design concepts!

This statement also seemingly ties in with my last post about the TPCK framework. It’s not just enough for teachers to know how to use the technology; they must be trained in best practices for incorporating it with their knowledge of pedagogy and their field of study.

The authors (Valverde-Berrocoso et al., 2020) also give a specific definition of what other researchers have labeled as “e-learning.” They go on to list myths about using e-learning in higher education settings, including the idea that formal learning and learning in leisure settings (informal learning) are on opposite sides of the spectrum (Valverde-Berrocoso et al., 2020, p. 2).

The authors’ methods for their research modeled for me potential types of inquiries I could reasonably do in my quest to learn more about education in a post-COVID world. Additionally, they cite the use of helpful technology for creating word clouds and word maps (Valverde-Berrocoso et al., 2020).

Once again, the concepts I keep coming back to have appeared in this week’s reading as well: self-regulation and motivation. In addition, the authors discuss the concept of ‘digital literacy’ and what that means in today’s society, as well as a description of a ‘Community of Inquiry’ (Valverde-Berrocoso et al., 2020).

As I said before, much like the new-to-me ideas about varying ways of online participation in the Hrastinski article, Valverde-Berrocoso et al. (2020) gave me a wealth of topics and concepts to consider as I continue to search out new foundational information this semester.

I do believe I have an extensive CMU library dive in my immediate future! After my Critical Review is finished, of course…

‘Til next time…

Hrastinski, S. (2009). A theory of online learning as online participation. Computers & Education, 52(1), 78–82.

Valverde-Berrocoso, J., Garrido-Arroyo, M. D. C., Burgos-Videla, C., & Morales-Cevallos, M. B. (2020). Trends in educational research about e-learning: A systematic literature review (2009–2018). Sustainability, 12(12), 5153.