How Australian students use technology

1. Students’ uses of technologies
Moyle, K. (2010). Building innovation: Learning with technologies.
Camberwell, Victoria: Australian Council for Educational Research.
EDUC9701 Reading Discussion

2. Thekeypointsofthispresentation
Young people’s patterns of usage of technologies
Students learning with technologies
Building innovation for 2020 and beyond

3.  “Most Australian children born in the 21st century will grow
up not knowing life without technologies. Students’ lives are
imbued with technologies: they do not separate their lives
according to ‘without technologies’ and ‘with technologies’
as adults often do” (Green & Hannon, 2007; Moyle &
Owen, 2009,p.31).
 “In Australia, online learning in schools is currently small, but
with the widespread deployment of computers and the
internet to Australian secondary schools funded through the
Digital Education Revolution, this trend might change”(P.32).
 “Currently there are disjunctures between many Australian
school students’ experiences of technologies use in their
personal lives and that which they experience at
school”(p.32).

4. Youngpeople’spatternsofusageoftechnologies
 “Australian students’ access to computers at home and at school is
among the highest in the world (Ainley & Enger, 2007)” (P.32).
 Australian children use the following technologies for a range of
purposes (p.32).
Internet
Mobile phones
Social networking
Playing online and computer games

5. Internet use
 “92 per cent of the Australian children (5 and 14 years old) used a
computer either at home or at school and 70 per cent of these
students used the Internet”(ABS, 2008, p.32 ).
 “Younger and older Australian children show differences in the
ways in which they use the Internet” (ACMA, 2009b, P.33).
 “Research also showed that the most common activities reported
for using the Internet at home or at school were for educational
activities”(ABS, 2008, P.33).
 “Children over the age of 8 also reported that the Internet ‘is
important to them’, and 74 per cent of children aged between 8
and 11 reported that the Internet was a highly important part of
their lives. Similarly, 91 per cent of 12- to 17-year-olds also
reported that the Internet is somewhat, very or extremely
important to them” (ACMA, 2009b, p.33).

6. Mobile phones
 A research involving more than 500 primary school students in Australia found
out that 55 per cent of children aged between 9 and 11, and 96 per cent of
young people aged between 14 and 16 owned a mobile phone (Moyle &
Owen, 2009, p.34).
 Research also showed that there is a gender difference in the phone ownership
(Roy Morgan Research, 2006, p. 34).
 “Australian children from the poorest and the richest families have the highest
rates of child ownership of mobile phones in Australia”(P.34).
 Children use mobile phones to text messaging, making phone calls, taking
photographs and sharing files (p. 33).
 “Mobile phones are important to young people’s lifestyles and to their
identities”(P.34).
 “A challenge for educators is to understand the relationships between
technologies and identity, while taking into account the potential benefits of
such mobile technologies for building communities of learners” (P.34).

7. Social networking
 “Majority of Australian teenagers aged 12 to 17 years, and half of
children aged between 8 and 11, use social networking sites”
(ACMA, 2009b, P.34).
 “Young people communicate using messaging, email, video or voice
chat. They share photos and videos and post comments in online
forums”(p.34).
 “Children and young people’s preferences for a specific social
networking site varies according to age” (ACMA, 2009b; Moyle &
Owen, 2009, P.34).
Playing online and computer games
 “Children and young people around the world play online and
computer games. The best of these digital games offer opportunities
for learning that the physical world cannot offer”(P.34).

8.  “Australian students report they are interested in and have played one
or more computer or online game, usually outside of an educational
setting” (Moyle & Owen, 2009, P.35).
 “There is a debate, however, about the value or not for young people of
playing digital games and much debate tends to be polarized”(p.35).
 “At one end of a continuum, playing digital games can be regarded as a
harmless diversion, and at the other, a corruptor of youth” (Seely Brown
& Thomas, 2006, P.35).
 “40 per cent of young Australians consider it is a ‘low risk’ activity to
play online games with other people they do not know” (ACMA, 2009b).
This is a “view probably at odds with that of their teachers and
parents”(P.35).

9.  “There is little agreement in Australia about the educational value
of computer and online games” (Moyle & Owen, 2009, P.35).
 “School students however, report that they think if their teachers
could play online games it would assist their teaching, and enable
them to include technologies more effectively into their classroom
activities” (Moyle & Owen, 2009, P.35).
 “ Understanding the nature of online game playing is important for
educators to grasp, in order to understand how children and young
people enjoy and can learn from such activities”(P.35).

10. Students learningwith technologies
 “There are disjunctures between the ways in which students
use technologies at school and the ways in which they use
them in their personal lives, for school work and for
recreation” (Levin & Arafeh, 2002, P.36).
 “Students report that quality of their learning that includes
technologies to be poor and uninspiring”(Farris-Berg, 2005;
Levin & Arafeh, 2002; Valdez, 2005, P.36)
 “Students also report they feel like they are stepping back in
time when they go to school”(p.36).
 “One of the challenges for educators is to bridge the divide
between formal and informal learning that students
undertake”(P.36).

11.  “Education-related topics are the most commonly discussed
topics by students, using the array of technologies available
to them” (Childnet International, 2008; Moyle &
Owen, 2009, P.37).
 “Asked whether they think their use of technologies outside
of school assists them to learn, the following responses were
common from Australian students” (p.37).
 “go beyond what the teachers are teaching”
 “talk to others about what we’re learning”
 “to learn other things at the same time as learning what is intended”
 “Leveraging these activities to carefully structure considered
learning activities may provide teachers with the opportunity
to build upon some of the students’ existing practices”
(p.37).

12. Buildinginnovationfor 2020 and beyond
 “The challenge for educators is how to build young people’s interests and
innovative capabilities with technologies, in ways that have meaning and
interest for them. How can this be done?” (P.38).
Suggestions….
 “Schools must create learning environments that encourage both teachers and
students to experiment with ideas”(P.38).
 “Teaching students to be able to analyse and question information available to
them across the disciplines is a capability that will be of value to students beyond
schools” (Sahlberg, 2009, P.38).
 “Inquiry-based, project-based and problem-based learning are approaches that
use information processing to support students’ learning about issues of meaning
and relevance to them. These approaches fit well with technology-rich learning
environments”(P.38).

13.  “Software applications can be used as tools to support students’ inquiries by
assisting them to organise ideas, to search for current information , to prepare
background papers, and to present ideas”(P.38).
 “Move students from being users and consumers of technologies to being
creators and producers with technologies”(P.37).
 “Allowing students to discuss their learning with other students, to network and
communicate with each other, to share their ideas and solutions to problems
they are trying to collectively solve”(P.38).
 “Networking between students and teachers in different institutions can enrich
the curricula and increase the transfer of generic and subject-related
knowledge and skills between practitioners”(P.38).
 “Use of social networking sites for teaching and learning purposes offers
teachers and students opportunities to develop a range of general capabilities
and can provide students and teachers with opportunities to include social and
explorative aspects in their learning”(P.38).

14.  “There are several potential uses of social networking sites for
school education which include creating e-portfolios and using
them as online spaces where children and young people can record
their achievements, house examples of their work and promote
their talents and interests” (Childnet International, 2008, P.39).
 “The Internet provides both teachers and students with
opportunities to learn about each others’ work by sharing
examples of it through public showcases and online events, to
collaborate on joint projects, and to form online communities of
practice around topics of interest” (Childnet
International, 2008, P.39).

15. Conclusion
 “Australian children and teenagers have access to and use
technologies for a variety of purposes, and most uses are
underpinned by the desire to communicate with others and to
collaborate on activities”(P.39).
 “Children could well be reading and writing more than their peers
20 years ago through a variety of media”(P.39).
 “Technologies such as Web 2.0 social networking technologies are
providing new opportunities for education. Used well, these
technologies can enhance students, learning by facilitating
collaboration, innovation and creativity for individuals and among
groups of students”(P.39).

16. Discussionquestions
1. How does technology allow students to learn from people they
never would have been able to without it?
2. What are the obstacles to students making better use of
technology in academics or becoming more skilled in the use of
technology?
3. How can you move students from being users and consumers of
technologies to being creators and producers with
technologies?
4. How can schools encourage staff technology use?