This article addresses the question of what app or website is appropriate for teachers to use for classroom instruction. While most school districts have safety policies related to the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) implemented by means of software and district firewalls, this…

The 2013 European Commission Communication on Opening up Education underlined the importance of solid evidence to assess developments and take full advantage of the impact of technology on education, and called for sustained effort and international cooperation to improve our knowledge-base in this area. The International Computer and Information…

From the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, schools micro-computing in the UK developed from being a niche "hobbyist" activity to a prominent, officially mandated element of the national education system. Drawing on in-depth interviews with key actors of the time, this paper outlines the initial varied interpretations of schools…

The main purpose of this paper is provide information relevant for the formulation of new policies for the integration of technology in education from the discussion of research results that analyse computer skills and digital media uses among students (between 12 to 18 years old) from schools in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The schools…

The purpose of this study is to analyze the content features of educational technology curricula for primary education developed by national governments. A qualitative cross-case document analysis of the national educational technology curriculum of Norway, Flanders and England was conducted. The analysis focuses on the underlying visions,…

The potential benefits of OER have led many European governments to implement policies supporting their creation and use. This chapter aims to put these OER policies in context, discussing their focus and scope and highlighting challenges and bottlenecks. On the basis of the analysis of the current state of the art, it is argued that one of main…

This book, a resource for educators, uses the theme of media literacy as a lens through which to view and discuss social networking and Web 2.0 environments. There is ongoing and positive research on the participatory culture created by youth who are heavily involved in the new digital technologies, yet schools tend to avoid these mediums for fear…

Web 2.0 technology not only offers the opportunity of massively parallel interconnected networks that support the provision of information and communication anytime and anywhere but also offers immense opportunities for collaboration and sharing of user-generated content. This information-rich environment may support both formal and informal…

Brazil is a developing country that has undergone important changes at the social, economic, scientific and educational levels. A main policy challenge at present is related to the unequal distribution of vital resources, including technology. In the educational context, many changes have been observed, such as a decrease in analphabetism and an…

This sixth volume of the Programme for International Student Assessment 2009 (PISA 2009) results explores students' use of information technologies to learn. For PISA 2009, the framework for reading literacy has been developed to encompass reading electronic texts. This has led to an expansion of the description of text types to take account of…

Swedish children have grown up in a digital culture, but have internalized information and communication technology (ICT) in different ways and gained most of their knowledge by peer-based learning. The aim of this study is to give an empirical understanding of patterns of ICT use among Swedish children. The data are collected through a survey…

In this policy research note, the author examines how Ontario curriculum documents for English language learners (ELLs) address information and communication technology (ICT). Upon analysis, three characteristics were identified, as follows: the superiority of standardized English, technology as an ambiguous tool, and under-representation of…

The use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) to bridge the communication gap between teacher and learner has been identified as a major characteristic of Open and Distance Learning (ODL). In many developing counties, including Nigeria, several barriers prevent OD learners from maximising the potentials of ICTs to enhance their learning.…

Creating effective learning environments with technology remains a challenge for teachers. Despite the tremendous push for educators to integrate technology into their classrooms, many have yet to do so and struggle to find consistent success with technology-based instruction. The challenges to effective technology integration have been…

Draws on empirical evidence from an evaluation of computer use in Canadian high schools to show how a critical treatment of computer literacy as ideology raises important issues about the computerization of education. Suggests that educators should question whether they have given this ideology the critical attention it deserves. (DSK)