14-19 and Digital Technologies: A Review of Research and Projects
01 January 2005
Four case studies are used to illuminate the ways in which digital technologies can be used to support learning during this phase. The case studies represent a gradual change in the extent to which the use of the digital technology is embedded in the learning environment. All the case studies testify, at least to some extent, to the need to think again about the nature of learning environments, the need for teachers and learners to mutually reconfigure their roles, and the costs of developing innovative solutions if digital technologies are to fulfill their potential in improving learning opportunities for all young people in this age range. At its boldest, such new thinking envisages the construction of very different sorts of learning environments, especially for those in vocational education and training, which aim to surmount theory-practice divides whilst encouraging the use of higher cognitive skills by increasingly selfregulated learners.