Don Passey | Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University, UK |
Hazel Woodhouse | School of Education, University of Waikato, New Zealand |
Amina Charania | Centre of Excellence in Teacher Education, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India |
John Anderson | School of Education, Ulster University, UK |
Digital technologies undoubtedly continue to widen avenues of communication, locally, nationally and internationally. In this context, digital technologies that support communications now encompass a range of devices (hand-held, laptop, and desktop forms, together with associated software and peripheral devices). Increasingly used by individuals, from young ages, uses of digital devices have not only been used to support social communication interaction, but also educational communication interaction. The ways that pupils, students and teachers behave and interact in related contexts and practices are documented in the research literature. However, social and educational communications have also affected and influenced parents and guardians of young people, but the research evidence about parents/guardians is much more limited. (While the term parents/guardians is used in this text, it should be noted that this includes, more broadly, ‘carers’ and ‘care-givers’, that is, those who have full-time responsibilities for children and young people undertaking full-time education.)
The ways that parents/guardians use digital technologies, when their young people are engaged with education, can certainly differ according to the age of those young people. Parents/guardians may focus on more social or emotional concerns with younger children, but this focus can change to a greater focus on learning outcomes, or access to learning, as their children become older.
The Covid-19 pandemic period has brought about changes in a range of respects with regard to how parents/guardians have been involved with their young people and with the education of those young people. Parents/guardians with children in primary/elementary schools have been reported in some cases to have used digital technologies to communicate with teachers and schools more, and more often. In secondary/high school education, parents/guardians in other cases have been reported to be more involved in supporting their children but in different ways when using digital technologies at home. In the higher education context, as well as in other sectors of education, parents/guardians have often supported wider access through purchase of devices and networking to enable more frequent online interaction.
This Special Issue will consider this under-represented topic of ‘Parents/guardians, education and digital technologies’. Whilst there is previous literature in this field, our understanding of how this might have changed more recently, prior to and across the period of the pandemic and subsequently, is not widely known. Submissions that offer original contributions, and that contribute to developing theory in this field, that examine how theory has been (and might be) used in the field, or that emphasise the roles of digital technologies for enhancing and implementing purposeful interactions, are particularly welcomed.
Studies in Technology Enhanced Learning aims to provide a lively forum for debate and reflection on a wide range of issues connected with TEL in disparate settings. This Special Issue will examine ‘Parents/guardians, education and digital technologies’, with particular reference to the ‘critical’ and ‘contextualised’ aspects of the journal’s Aims and Scope.
Whether you have a long-established association with the Centre for Technology Enhanced Learning or have received this Call for Papers as it cascades through our extended networks, we encourage you to consider contributing!
We welcome contributions of papers from across the range of educational contexts; across the disciplinary, political and geographical spectrum; and from established scholars and newer researchers, including PhD students. In the spirit of STEL’s aims and scope, we do not wish to prescribe the content of any papers.
Topics and areas of submissions might include:
Understanding practices that have been developed either prior to, during and from the pandemic period, or across that time period, which have influenced parents/guardians in their engagement with teachers and educational institutions through interaction or intervention with digital technologies.
Exploring implementation and uses involving digital technologies not only within specific educational settings and contexts, but also prior to transitioning into education, whether kindergartens, schools or universities.
Identifying practices that have been developed and have enhanced engagement between parents/guardians and teachers, which support the education of their young people, prior to, during and after the pandemic period, or across that period of time, in any educational sector.
Recognising the specific ways that parents/guardians are involved in enabling uses or provision of digital technologies when their young people are engaged in any sector of education, including higher education.
Exploring how educational technology third parties or companies have integrated the role of parents in their design or adaptation of digital tools and applications during and beyond the pandemic.
Considering how digital technologies have been used, and what the outcomes of those uses might be, in any national or regional context, or through a comparison between national or regional contexts.
We envisage that papers might come in a range of lengths and formats. When submitting your proposal please indicate the kind of paper you wish to contribute. You may wish to specify one of the categories below.
Synthesis paper (6,000-12,000 words).
Standard paper (4,000-8,000 words).
Commentary (2,000-4,000 words).
Book review (1,000-3,000 words).
All articles will be double-blind peer-reviewed, apart from clearly labelled editorials and invited commentaries. Articles will be distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0).
Please submit a provisional title and abstract (200-500 words), with authors and affiliations, by email to Don Passey ([email protected]).
Key timings are:
31 January 2023: Proposals due
28 February 2023: Authors notified of acceptance with brief editorial comments
31 May 2023: First drafts of papers due
30 June 2023: Peer reviews returned
31 July 2023: Revised manuscripts due
1 September 2023: Authors receive typeset versions for checking
30 September 2023: Publication