Evaluating learning in the 21st century: a digital age learning matrix

Abstract

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.

Keywords:

• beginning teachers
• digital
• learning
• matrix

Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this article was presented at the Australian Computers in Education conference, Canberra, Australia in 2007 to gain feedback on the progress of the evaluation tool. The research and developments outlined in this article are the result of a doctoral thesis through Victoria University of Wellington. This article would not have eventuated without the willing participation of the six digitally able beginning teachers at the centre of the study.