Digital technologies and students ’ learning : literature review

1. Digital technologies and students’ learning: literaturereview Leila Pehkonen, Vilhelmiina Harju & Antti Koskinen TYÖSTÄ OPPIMASSA, TYÖHÖN |ARBETE – KOMPETENS – KARRIÄR

2. Thestudybelongs to DigiToteemi –project. Theaims of theprojectare to find out -> howdigitalisationpromoteslearning • howdigitalisationremovesorcreatesobstacles of learning • whatkind of digital competences/skills teachers are expected to have in the working life • howtheseskillscouldbebetterdeveloped and supportedduringstheteachereducation (at allschoollevels)

3. Literaturereview • Theaim: To explore, based on peer-reviewedliterature, whatweknowabouttheeffects of digitaltechologies on students’ learning • Focused on longitudinal empirical research on digital learning in the context of primary and (general) secondary education. • We use the term ‘digital learning’ to refer to students using digital technology as a part of instruction in a formal educational context.

4. Researchquestions: What kinds of longitudinal, peer-reviewed study have been published on the topic during the period 2012–2017? What influences of digital technology usage on student learning did these studies report?

5. Data collection • Twodatabases: Scopus and Web of Science • Search terms: 1. longitudinal + technology or digital Longitudinal was included in all of the search strings used here in order to focus on studies described in this way by their authors. The two last terms were to narrow the search to include only articles discussing the use of digital technology 2. combined with education, school, teaching or learning • Certaininclusion (9) and exlusion (3) criteria to identifytherelevantpapers

6. Scopus N = 1015 WOS N =974 Total papersfound N = 1989 Unrelated to study aims (based on abstracts) N = 1818 Papers included in further analysis N = 171 Removal of duplicates N = 100 No full-text access: N = 7 • Excluded (N= 51) based on: • School level N = 13 • Not described as longitudinal N=13 • Not focused on students’ learning N=17 • Not conducted in formal school settings N = 7 • No empirical evidence of students’ learning N=1 Full-text papers assessed N = 64 Papers included in review N = 13 TYÖSTÄ OPPIMASSA, TYÖHÖN |ARBETE – KOMPETENS – KARRIÄR

8. Findings: Features of theexploredstudies Mixedvariety of studies • Researchdesigns: case studies (N =6) experimentalorquasi-experimental (N = 5) descriptive (N = 2) • Duration: variedgreatly reportedweakly (in manycases) projectslastedfrom 5 months to eightyears • Participants: students (in 7 studies), + teachers, parents, principalsorotherprojectpartners (in 5 studies) onlyteachers (in one) • Number of participantsvariedgreatly from 3 to 1263 somedidnotgiveexactnumbers

9. Findings: Whatcanwesayaboutinfluences of digital technology usage on student learning? Notmuch No clear conclusions about the influences of digital technology use on students’ learning The results fail to clearly confirm that student learning benefits from the use of digital technologies over extended periods of time We identified six different themes about reported influences

10. Reported influences students’ learning • Affection, attitude, and motivation both positive and negative indications of students’ affection, attitude, and motivation in relation to digital learning. • Subject-specific knowledge and skills positiveinfluences on students’ learning (STEM, languagelearning) • Transversal skills in the reviewed articles: critical thinking, knowledge creation, communication, and digital skills (both positive and negative indications) • Learning experience bothpositive and negativeindications: For example: +technology allowed students to collaborate more easily with others -the use of technology did not help students learn better or did not make learning easier. • Elements of the learning environment how the elements of a learning environment, including both material and social resources, can influence students’ digital learning: Fox example: some students have limited access to digital technologies or compatibility between different digital devices disturb teaching and learning • Identity

11. Discussion • The research in the field is miscellaneous • Digital technologies have both positive and negative influences on learning • It is hard to identify and measure the real impacts of digital technology usage on learning. Whether and to what extent digital technologies actually have impacts on school pupils’ learning are questions which do not have clear answers. It can be hard to decide which factors should be considered as influences and how these are to be measured in a given educational context

12. All over the world, digital technologies are used more and more in school settings, and in increasing tempo • Complex effects on learning and on studying should be taken into account in planning and implementing activities and (also) in (political) decision making • There is a real need for sound, longitudinal research on digital learning • Future studies could usefully focus on specific types of longitudinal research on digital learning that share the same study design or method. For more detailed consideration of the influences of technology use on learning, future literature reviews should focus more precisely on specific orientations, methods, or research designs in the interests of meaningful comparison.