Lévesque, S. (2008). The impact of digital technologies and the need for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. In T. Di Petta (Ed), The emperor’s new computer: ICT, teachers and teaching, pp. 17–28. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789087906573_004

Abstract:

“Technology,” as an issue of Education Canada (2001) – the Canadian Education Association’s leading magazine – states, “has become an accepted fact of life and education.” “Serious discussion of the changes that technology is making to teaching and learning,” the editor goes on, “forces us to revisit some fundamental questions about the goals of schooling and the foundations of learning” (Dunning, p. 1). Indeed, computational technologies have radically altered people’s working and living practices – from video-conferencing to computer gaming to online shopping. As might be expected, technological aficionados foresee similar drastic changes in educational policies, curricula, and practices – and for sound reasons. For example, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results of 2000 reveal the significant role and impact of computational technology on students’ learning, particularly for western countries such as Canada. Not only is the home penetration rate of such technology for high school students extremely high (88% as of 2000),but statistics indicate a positive correlation between computer and internet access and students’ literacy practices. “PISA results,” Bussières and Gluszynski (2002)note in their Canadian evaluation of the study, “showed that there was a positive association between reading scores and home computer access, and this association increased with the number of computers present” (p. 17).

Yet beyond this excitement for technology in education, it is increasingly apparent in school circles that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in its current form cannot be integrated directly into classrooms without educational transformation. Features of computer hardware and software, as well as digital technologies available to users, rarely match pedagogical demands of students and teachers. Whether it is an online program, a virtual simulation, or an interactive presentation, users must perform multiple, and often complex, adjustments to fit local curriculum requirements. For Bill Tally (2007), senior researcher at the Center for Children and Technology in New York, teachers correctly judge computers “to be too finicky and troublesome to fit in well with the demands of the school workday– in short, not worth the trouble” (p. 310).

Under the circumstances, what are the impacts of ICT on classroom teaching and students’ learning? What educational technology or digital applications can improve learner-centred practices and disciplinary expertise? What evidence do we have that such technologies have a positive effect on schooling?

This chapter addresses some of these fundamental questions from a disciplinary perspective. Using history as a domain of knowledge, it first reviews the research base related to inquiry learning and digital technology in history education. For the purpose of this chapter, “digital technology” refers to computer or network-based applications and resources, including online learning programs, supporting teaching and learning of subject matter. Then, the chapter explores the implications of using technology in the classroom, focusing on the findings from our studies with the Virtual Historian. It then argues for the development of technological pedagogical content knowledge as an additional knowledge base for successful integration of technology in education.