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Looking beyond learning: notes towards the critical study of educational technology
Author(s) -
Selwyn N.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of computer assisted learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.583
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1365-2729
pISSN - 0266-4909
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2729.2009.00338.x
Subject(s) - scholarship , context (archaeology) , sociology , educational technology , social justice , democracy , politics , technology education , engineering ethics , critical theory , educational research , public relations , social science , pedagogy , political science , engineering , paleontology , law , biology
This paper makes a case for academic research and writing that looks beyond the learning potential of technology and, instead, seeks to develop social scientific accounts of the often compromised and constrained realities of education technology use ‘on the ground’. The paper discusses how this ‘critical’ approach differs from the ways that educational technology scholarship has tended to be pursued to date. These differences include viewing technology as being socially constructed and negotiated rather than imbued with pre‐determined characteristics; developing objective and realistic accounts of technology use in situ ; and producing ‘context rich’ analyses of the social conflicts and politics that underpin the use of technology in educational settings. The paper concludes by encouraging academic researchers and writers to show greater interest in the issues of democracy and social justice that surround educational technology.