What is the degree of teacher centrality in optimal teaching of digital literacy in a technology-enhanced environment? Typology of teacher prototypes

Abstract

This study explored the degree of teachers’ centrality in the classroom while developing digital literacies of their students and the pedagogical strategies which are employed by teachers in this process. We conducted a bottom-up analysis on 65 semi-structured interviews (n = 4372 statements) based on two conceptual frameworks: the Digital Literacy framework and the 5Cs framework with a nation-wide sample of elementary and secondary-teachers. The findings offer a typology of four teacher prototypes regarding the degree of their centrality in a technology-enhanced classroom and the mapped pedagogical strategies employed by each prototype. Based on bottom-up coding, the study expands the above-mentioned frameworks regarding re-production thinking, socio-emotional thinking, e-communication, and collaboration literacies. We discuss the implications for educational theory and practice.

Keywords:

• Digital literacy skills
• degree of teacher centrality in the classroom
• teacher prototypes
• formative assessment in technology-enhanced learning
• online communication
• e-collaboration

Acknowledgements

This paper presents partial results of the study that was supported by the Chief Scientist Foundation, Israeli Ministry of Education. The grant recipients are Prof. Ina Blau, Dr. Gal Ben-Yehudah, and Prof. Yoram Eshet-Alkalai. The grant recipients are thankful to all the post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, and research assistants who worked on this project. The authors specially thank Ms. Orit Avdiel for contributing to the data analysis presented in this paper.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yael Yondler

Yael Yondler is a faculty member at the Kibbutzim Academic College of Education and she is the leader of future learning spaces within the Digital Pedagogy Unit. She holds a Ph.D. in educational assessment. Her research interests are pedagogical design of learning in online and hybrid learning spaces; digital literacy competencies; humanistic aspects of knowledge construction in learning communities.

Ina Blau is a Full Professor of Educational Technology and Cyber-Psychology, the Dean of Academic Development and Learning Technologies, and the Head of the Graduate Program in Educational Technologies and Learning Systems at the Open University of Israel. Her research explores technology-enhanced learning in K-12 and academia; digital literacy competencies; and social aspects of e-communication.