This dissertation argues for integrating contemplation into pedagogical decisions regarding digital technologies in US higher education. Digital technology permeates contemporary US higher education. Despite the ever-increasing presence of digital technology, various higher education stakeholders give inadequate attention to matters of pedagogy. The uncritical adoption or dismissal of digital technology at any scale can substantially influence higher education teaching-learning environments. Contemplative approaches to digital technology and pedagogy provide the potential to positively shape the trajectory of higher education technopedagogy.
Scant research exists regarding the influence of contemplation on technopedagogy. Therefore, this dissertation combines a critical empirical analysis of the use of digital technology in contemporary US higher education with practical interventions to demonstrate the value of contemplative technopedagogy. A science and technology studies (STS) toolkit is used to investigate four research sites at three interconnected levels of analysis – national, institutional, experimental teaching-learning environments. National level analysis focuses on discourse (1993-2016) within The Chronicle of Higher Education to understand the development of conceptions regarding digital technology and pedagogy in contemporary US higher education and uses inductive methods to create new knowledge, discourse, and practices by proposing the Contemplative Technopedagogy Framework. Institutional level analysis involves ethnographic case study research to examine the sociocultural dynamics significant to the development and dissemination of a particular technopedagogical ideology at Virginia Tech's Faculty Development Institute that championed the educational promise of digital technology without sufficient consideration of pedagogy. Experimental teaching-learning environments level analysis presents two practice-oriented case studies of academic librarian as technopedagogical innovator. Each involves collaboration with actors across campus(es) and a novel application of the Contemplative Technopedagogy Framework to exemplify the roles that librarians can play to stimulate contemplative approaches to technopedagogy amidst a changing landscape in US higher education.
Taken together, the manuscripts in this dissertation explore how technopedagogical ideologies are created, contested, and disseminated within and beyond communities in US higher education. Findings from this multi-site analysis of technopedagogy demonstrate how a contemplative approach to digital technology can more effectively and holistically augment teaching and learning in US higher education. / Ph. D. / Digital technology is an increasingly common feature in college and university classrooms across the United States. Despite the ever-increasing presence of digital technology in higher education, too little attention is given to matters of pedagogy. Immediate acceptance or rejection of digital technology can seriously influence teaching and learning within higher education. Contemplation, or being attentive to a topic by thinking thoroughly about it, provides the potential to positively shape the future of higher education technopedagogy, or decisions about teaching with digital technology.
Little is known about the influence of contemplation on technopedagogy. Therefore, this dissertation first analyzes the use of digital technology in contemporary US higher education. It then provides examples from four research sites to demonstrate the value of contemplative technopedagogy. The four research sites are studied at three interconnected levels – national, institutional, and experimental teaching-learning environments. At the national level, the conversation about digital technology and pedagogy (1993-2016) within The Chronicle of Higher Education was analyzed to understand the practice of technopedagogy in US higher education. Data from that analysis led to the development of the Contemplative Technopedagogy Framework with the goal of helping people, centers, and institutes across higher education to improve teaching with digital technology. At the institutional level, the history of Virginia Tech’s Faculty Development Institute (FDI) was analyzed to learn how technopedagogy was conveyed across campus for over 20 years. Due to various internal and external pressures, FDI created technology-focused faculty development programs with little attention to pedagogy. At the experimental teaching-learning environments level, two collaborative case studies applied the Contemplative Technopedagogy Framework to demonstrate how contemplation can be incorporated into teaching-learning environments in US higher education that use technopedagogy.
Taken together, the manuscripts of this dissertation argue for a contemplative approach to technopedagogy in US higher education. The Contemplative Technopedagogy Framework is offered as a tool to improve teaching and learning with digital technology. Findings from this multi-site analysis of technopedagogy demonstrate how a contemplative approach to digital technology can improve teaching-learning environments in US higher education.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/94641 |
| Date | 26 April 2018 |
| Creators | Shanks, Justin Donald |
| Contributors | Science and Technology Studies, Wisnioski, Matthew, Fowler, Shelli B., Patzig, Eileen Crist, Clark, Susan F. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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