Abstract:

The potential for Digital Learning Tools to enhance student outcomes has been the focus of extensive research and government funding over the last two decades, with massively increased access to digital tools in schools. However, the potential benefits are often unrealised. Digital education policy is frequently based upon the mass deployment of digital tools without verification of claims of their effectiveness, or adequate research into what is needed for effective deployment including guarding against possible negative effects on student outcomes. Claims to the benefits for subject English from expanding digital learning include: boosts to overall student engagement; improvements in learning outcomes for boys; greater accessibility to learning for Indigenous students and students in remote areas; and more effective classroom discourse for students with language backgrounds other than English, yet the means for achieving these outcomes through effective deployment do form the crux of the present dialogue. There is a growing base of research into the potentially hindering effects of the untargeted deployment of digital learning tools in areas or engagement, student efficacy, handwriting and non-digital reading ability, reflection on work, and accuracy of spelling and grammar. Furthermore, current digital policies can often privilege one learning style at the expense of others, and be imposed as a replacement for existing effective pedagogy. Examples of mass-deployed digital policy can frequently lead to improvements to the engagement of boys in English at the expense of girls, and improvements to access to digital tools for remote Indigenous communities does not equate to improved outcomes without the creation of culturally relevant curriculum. This paper analyses existing research and policy documents to explore how specific digital learning tools need to be deployed to meet the learning needs of middle school students identified as being ‘at risk’ in subject English

Keywords:

Digital learning tools, ICT, e-learning.