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Disciplines in Higher Education have their own interpretations of what is essential knowledge that influences what is taught, how teaching occurs, and the role of digital tools. Disciplinary culture is dynamic and evolving, informed by disciplinary research and technology improvement. During the COVID-19 pandemic, digital solutions enabled ongoing teaching when undergraduate courses could not be taught on campus, in lecture theatres, seminar rooms, laboratories, or in the field. Using digital tools and changes in teaching practices has created a context where Higher Education teachers must consider how future learning and teaching should occur. To explore this, a cross-discipline team used appreciative inquiry framed in complexity theory to examine how teaching in undergraduate programmes is changing in the digital age and implications for Higher Education teachers. The research identifies how digital technologies influence undergraduate programmes in Applied Statistics, Computer Science, Critical Indigenous Studies, Geography, and Information Systems. Analysis of the case studies identified how disciplinary culture, context, and technology combine to influence pedagogical practice and digital capabilities needed to teach in undergraduate programmes. We conclude that Higher Education teachers require capability in appropriate pedagogical practice that aligns with disciplinary culture and the technologies available.

Many course designers trying to evaluate the experience of participants in a MOOC will find it difficult to track and analyse the online actions and interactions of students because there may be thousands of learners enrolled in courses that sometimes last only a few weeks. This study explores the use of automated sentiment analysis in assessing student experience in a beginner computer programming MOOC. A dataset of more than 25,000 online posts made by participants during the course was analysed and compared to student feedback. The results were further analysed by grouping participants according to their prior knowledge of the subject: "beginner," "experienced," and "unknown." In this study, the average sentiment expressed through online posts reflected the feedback statements. Beginners, the target group for the MOOC, were more positive about the course than experienced participants, largely due to the extra assistance they received. Many experienced participants had expected to learn about topics that were beyond the scope of the MOOC. The results suggest that MOOC designers should consider using sentiment analysis to evaluate student feedback and inform MOOC design.

New Zealand schools are increasingly digitally infused with computer applications and tools underpinning education and influencing teachers' work. Teachers entering the profession need to develop professional digital competence and while existing frameworks can guide initial teacher education (ITE), they might not be appropriate because student teachers have different needs to experienced teachers. This article evaluates three frameworks (DigCompEdu; International Society for Technology in Education standards; and the Norwegian professional digital competence framework for teachers) against the context of preparing teachers to teach in digitally infused schools. Findings conclude that the frameworks align with stages of digital integration and although developed for experienced teachers, could be applied to ITE. However, where ITE is underpinned by professionalisation of teaching, a framework that prepares teachers for digitally infused schools should include three dimensions: being a member of the profession; how to teach; and what to teach.

In order to effectively use technology in education, appropriate conceptual understandings are needed to guide the integration process. Today, there is a wide range of conceptual models that are developed and used in research and/or practice focusing on educational technology integration. Conceptual models are of relevance as they can bridge theory with practical applications. Today, there are a wide range of conceptual models are developed and used in research and/or practice focusing on educational technology integration. These models can be seen as simplified versions of theories for practical application or as condensed wisdoms of practice that need to be further investigated theoretically and empirically. However, there is insufficient agreement on the dimensions and criteria used to judge the quality of conceptual models in educational technology. Therefore, the main goals of this article are to: (1) develop criteria to assess the quality and scope of conceptual models; and (2) identify and compare exemplary models for technology integration in educational settings along with these quality criteria. The resulting five criteria from this investigation provide the means to effectively evaluate the quality and scope of conceptual models focused on technology integration while providing additional insight into applying these models in research and practice.

The Ministry of Education is funding a significant building programme for primary and secondary classrooms across Aotearoa, New Zealand. In New Zealand there is an expectation that new or refurbished classrooms will be innovative, modern or flexible learning environments. This paper reports findings from a critical policy analysis of the discourse within Ministry of Education documents focusing on the design of learning environments published 2010-2019. Using a 'what's the problem' approach (Bacchi in Women, policy and politics: the construction of policy problems, Sage, London, 1999), we examine the representation of the 'problems' which the policy documents relating to modern learning environments intend to address. We use an eight-stage process of analysis of these documents in order to identify policy priorities, ideologies, assumptions and potential outcomes in order to see how these are used to justify authority and action. This analysis revealed two larger 'problems' and a number of subthemes underpinning these documents. We suggest that the construction of these problems has conflated many aspects of both space and teaching and learning and relied on unquestioned assumptions about 'modern' learning and collaborative teaching. We conclude by considering the implications of this policy direction for New Zealand's education system.

Classroom furniture has evolved over time from fixed desks facing the front to maintain order and control to a range of flexible furniture types to encourage student-centred pedagogies. This article reports research that applied a socio-material approach to explore how furniture is used in a flexible learning environment. Data were gathered from observations, reflections, student focus group interviews and teacher interviews in one school in New Zealand. In this context it was found that students used furniture for different purposes. Individual student preferences and differences were evident including unconventional use of furniture. The use of furniture was influenced by the teachers, students, environment, furniture design and the curriculum, and mediated by pedagogy and a focus on developing autonomy and environmental competence. The students demonstrated environmental competence, including awareness of the ways that the available furniture can be used for different types of curriculum activities and how environmental and social conditions can affect comfort, collaboration and concentration levels. In classrooms where students move around the space, environmental competence should be deliberately embedded in the teaching programme implicitly and explicitly. In this context, the teachers controlled the environment and the students had restricted autonomy over their use of furniture. The notion of student-centredness in contemporary classroom environments requires further investigation.

This article presents a systematic review of literature that explores the educational value of the Internet in the home for school aged children. Research published between 2008 and 2018 was examined and 67 items were analyzed. A range of positive, negative and neutral correlations or outcomes of home Internet use were identified across the three functions of education; academic achievement and skills, developing the individual and socialization. Overall, there were significantly more positive correlations or outcomes reported. We conclude that there is educational value in home Internet use and the value is influenced by the nature of online activities.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in New Zealand schools closing and teaching occurring through digital media. This article reports research which applied Kearney et al.'s framework as a lens to examine student experience of digital learning at home during COVID-19. This framework provides three characteristics that influence learners' experience when using digital devices for learning: personalisation, authenticity and collaboration. High school students in their final two years of schooling (n = 1975) responded to a questionnaire consisting of quantitative and qualitative questions, with qualitative data analysed thematically and quantitative data with descriptive statistics. Aspects of Kearney et al.'s framework were reflected in participants' experience, but further characteristics were identified. Authenticity and collaboration facilitated learning, but participants valued supportive pedagogies and motivational strategies which enabled academic progress and enhanced wellbeing. Effective use of technology mediated supportive pedagogies, and an alternative framework was developed to incorporate these additional findings.

Digital technologies and the Internet are increasing in prominence in schooling systems. As schools and teaching evolve as a result of the integration of technologies teacher preparation will also change. This paper examines research exploring the preparation of teachers for the digital age through a systematic literature review of articles published between 2008 and 2018. The findings provide insight into what has and has not been studied across a range of literature and the alignment with the broader context of digital integration in schools. A focus on digital competencies was identified which was framed in three ways across the literature; generic digital competence, digital teaching competence and an emerging concept of professional digital competence. How student teachers learn to engage in the professional work of a teacher in a digitally infused education system should underpin future research. A model of professional digital competence is proposed.

In 1989, New Zealand started to follow an international trend of reforming education policy according to the neoliberal principles of competition, choice and self-managing schools. Since then, the increasing availability of digital data in schools has corresponded with the development of student achievement measurement tools and benchmarking of standards that enable comparison of schools and cohorts of students. More recently, national policy targets for student achievement have been introduced and form the basis of accountability measures. The article uses Hargreaves and Shirley's 'Four Ways' characterisation of education policy change as a framework to examine the influence that national policy has had on the use of data, on power relations between schools and the national policymakers, and on the challenges faced by school leaders. Interviews in 16 schools explored the types of data available in each school, how they are used and how principals, as leaders in these self-managing schools, would like to be able to use the data. Two systemic influences explain the patterns found in the research. The first is the tension principals face between data required for accountability reporting and data needed for school-based decision-making. The second is the issue with regard to economies of scale and marketisation of education that affects equitable access to the knowledge, tools and expertise that enable effective data usage.

How computers in schools impact on children's learning has been studied through research that explores student achievement at one point in time or by comparing different classroom contexts with differing results. The introduction of an optional netbook purchasing scheme for children in a low socio-economic community provided an opportunity to compare the academic improvement for those who joined the scheme with those who did not with both groups learning within the same context with the same teachers. Using nationally calibrated assessment tools that test reading, writing, and mathematical skill progression, the student achievement data from six schools across a 2-year period were analysed using chi-square testing, regression analysis, propensity score matching, and cumulative logit modelling. The results identified few significant differences between the students in most aspects of achievement and no significant difference in academic improvement between the two groups.

While the terms student-centred and learner-centred are used to describe a range of neo-liberal educational policies and practices around the world, the meaning is not clearly defined. This limits its utility as a concept in policy, research and practice. This article applies abductive reasoning to explore how student-centred education is theorised in academic literature and articulated within a sample of New Zealand school principals' visions for their schools. The findings suggest that student-centred education can be synthesised into a conceptual framework that includes three overlapping dimensions; humanist, agentic and cognitive. The humanist dimension encompasses getting to know students as unique human beings, the agentic focuses on empowering students and the cognitive dimension considers each student's learning progress. There was diverse understanding of what it meant to be student-centred by the principals with the humanist and agentic dimensions dominating. It is anticipated that educational outcomes for disadvantaged students would improve when the three dimensions are applied together. The proposed framework could be applied by policymakers, practitioners and researchers to enhance clarity of student-centred education policies and practices.

With the increasing relevance of information and communication technologies (ICT) and the global transition towards the knowledge society, school systems and higher education now face increasing challenges involved in preparing students for successful participation in the knowledge society. In many countries, this is leading to manifold efforts and changes in national policies concerning ICT integration into education systems. This paper outlines four challenges concerning the design, implementation, and evaluation of national policy: (1) creating future ready policy, (2) achieving systemic perspectives in stakeholders, (3) promoting commitment to learning from policy, and (4) developing and implementing supportive processes. The paper shares an international perspective on these four major challenges and proposes strategy perspectives and solutions, as well as tactics that could be applied to advance a nation's educational system empowered by technology.

Artificial intelligence (AI) will be in the future lives of children at school today. Voice-activated intelligent personal assistant devices are used in the home and could be useful in the classroom. This article explores how two groups of New Zealand children aged 7–12 engaged with Google Home devices in their classroom. Interactions recorded through the devices were analysed to evaluate how the devices were used, how easy they were to use and how the use aligns with the purposes of education. A framework for analysis was developed from Davis's Technology Acceptance Model and Biesta's three functions of education. The children used the devices across the three functions of education. They anthropomorphised the device, talking respectfully, sharing jokes and asking for its opinion. Use was influenced by the social context of the classroom and teacher beliefs about education, and limited as the devices were not designed for the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores digital divides identified in research literature and considers educational policy directions that may mitigate or enhance future inequities. A review of literature identified three categories of digital divides in society; access, capability, and participation. To explore the strategic focus in schooling, data were gathered from a national survey of New Zealand school board chairs and the interviews of eight school principals. The focus in schooling was found to be on the access divide for students with variation across socioeconomic contexts. Developing capability was centered on teacher rather than student capability, which may reflect the notion of the teacher as a "digital immigrant" and students as "digital natives." To bridge future digital divides, schooling policy needs to focus on developing student digital capability and preparing all future citizens to be able to participate in a digital world.

Purpose: Vietnam is experiencing rapid expansion in the provision of higher education that requires quality assurance appropriate for the Vietnamese-centralised Confucian cultural context. This paper aims to examine the concept of quality from the perspectives of academic leaders, quality assurance members and academics at three higher education institutions in Vietnam. Design/methodology/approach: Based on an interpretative study, semi-structured interviews were used as a major research instrument augmented with document analysis across three case studies. Interviews were conducted with 35 participants from three groups of stakeholders. Findings: The concept of quality was found to be under-conceptualised in this Vietnamese context. Quality was conceptualised as meeting societal needs across the case studies underpinned by the belief that the purpose of higher education is to prepare graduates for employment. Research limitations/implications: The study was conducted in similar disciplines at three state-owned universities in Vietnam in 2011. This provides insight within this context and timeframe that may not be generalised. It is suggested to extend this research to other disciplines, the private sector and other groups of stakeholders. Practical implications: The paper discusses the necessity of revisiting the philosophy of higher education and re-conceptualising quality in Vietnam that informs quality assurance processes that are relevant to the cultural context. Originality/value: This paper provides a centralised Confucian perspective to the literature on quality assurance in higher education. How quality is perceived by academic leaders, quality assurance members and, in particular, academic staff can be used to inform policy. In a centralised country such as Vietnam, academic leaders and quality assurance members may indicate their "obedient" attitudes to policies, leading to the same view with what is centrally enacted, while the academic staff have a different perception of quality.

Maximising educational attainment is important for both individuals and societies. However, understanding of why some students achieve better than others is far from complete. Motivation and achievement data from a sample of 782 secondary-school students in New Zealand reveal that two specific types of outcome goals, namely "maximal levels of aspiration" and "minimal boundary goals," predict subsequent student achievement independently of mastery, performance goals, self-efficacy, student demographics and context variables including school type and time spent in out-of-school activities. In addition, our results underline that the relationships between these two specific outcome goals and achievement are moderated by the type of assessment tasks used to index achievement. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that understanding variability in students' academic performance can be significantly enhanced by taking into consideration individual differences in the strength of their maximal levels of aspirations and minimal boundary goals.

If the purpose of secondary schooling is to educate the upcoming generation to become active participants in society, evaluation of teaching and learning in the information-rich digital age should be underpinned by relevant theories and models. This article describes an evaluation tool developed using emerging ideas about knowledge creation and learning in a connected society. The digital age learning matrix was successfully trialled and applied in a study of six digitally able beginning teachers during their first year of teaching to identify aspects of learning occurring as digital technologies were integrated into their teaching practice. An implication of this study is that teachers, even the digitally able, will be limited in their ability to teach the upcoming generation to be active participants in a digitally enhanced society without understanding how to apply theories of learning that are relevant to a digital age into their practice. (Contains 2 figures and 6 tables.)

This article reports on research which explored the experiences six digitally able beginning teachers during their first year in secondary schools. Using a complexity theoretical framework, the barriers and enablers that influenced the integration of digital technologies into teaching practice were examined. The findings indicate that context influences the ability of beginning teachers to apply their knowledge and experience of digital technologies to their teaching practice through: school policies and structures which encourage and allow access to digital technologies, encouraging beginning teachers to develop their sense of agency, and the support of a mentor with relevant pedagogical content expertise. (Contains 3 tables.)

As society changes from an industrial to a knowledge era increasing importance and value is being placed on intellectual property rights. Technology teachers need to have pedagogical content knowledge of intellectual property if they are to incorporate it into their learning programmes to enable students to consider how to respect others' intellectual property rights, how to protect their own ideas and how they can legitimately make use of others' intellectual property. A survey of technology teachers and a small sample of students was undertaken to ascertain their knowledge of intellectual property and any misconceptions which may exist. The findings reflect an awareness of relevant concepts but confusion between key terms such as patent, copyright and registered design.

Beginning teachers are entering the profession with increasing confidence in their ability to use digital technologies which has the potential to change the way teachers of the future make pedagogical decisions. This paper explores how pedagogical reasoning and action might occur in the digital age, comparing Schulman's 1987 model with the reality for a small sample of digitally able beginning teachers as part of the emerging generation of teachers. The latter were examined through a multiple case study during their first year of teaching as they made decisions about using digital technologies within their teaching practice which gave an insight into pedagogical reasoning and action through the use of open-ended interviews and observation. The conclusion drawn is that while the pedagogical reasoning and action model remains relevant, it was based on an assumption that teaching involves knowledge being passed from a teacher to their students, which was found to restrict innovation by digitally able teachers. A broader interpretation of knowledge and teaching within this model building on emerging learning theory could help reform practice once again, providing a framework for teachers in the digital age. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

Teacher professional development variously supports ongoing skill development, new knowledge, and systems change. In New Zealand, the implementation of major assessment reforms in senior secondary schools provided opportunity to investigate teacher professional development as a function of the particular stage of an educational reform. Multi-method data sources including teacher surveys and school case studies were employed to evaluate professional development during the embedding stage of a standards-based assessment system, revealing a positive relationship between professional satisfaction and teacher involvement in setting priorities for the professional development. Other positive features were networking, personalized learning, and facilitator expertise. This research illustrates the importance of tailoring professional learning to implementation phase of an organizational change. (Contains 1 figure and 6 tables.)