With the fast-paced change of society, a transformation of education is vital in preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s challenges such as a technology-based labor market. A concept named 21st century learning has been developed by various stakeholders, to frame the new type of skills required to succeed in the changing business environment. In this study, an investigation into primary school teacher engagement with emerging educational technology has been carried out in the case of Minecraft: Education Edition, a game-based emerging educational technology. The game was selected because it facilitates the learning of 21st century skills and hence provided a suitable choice to test various teacher technology engagement factors on a global scale.
21st century skills were found to focus on students’ knowledge adaption and application rather than the traditional teaching, based on knowledge acquisition and assimilation. Concepts are based on a variety of skills such as basic ICT skills, media literacy to support critical thinking in terms of data and conscious decision-making, informational & computational thinking, as well as the social and emotional learning aspect. The latter being a critical component for graduates to thrive and collaborate in a continuously adapting environment. This digital and cultural transformation requires students to take more responsibility, ownership, and agency over their learning. Hence, time and place independent, student-centered, and flexible learning, are encouraged through 21st century education.
With the transformation of education, new skill requirements for teachers were found to be essential for a 21st century skill transfer in primary schools. Such requirements include high levels of teacher agency, basic digital skills and pedagogical-technological integration competences to take responsibility for the EdTech integration. To apply technology effectively, teachers are recommended to build their ICT self-efficacy, their own beliefs in their digital skills, on a continuous professional learning journey. To increase the latter engagement component, measures such as sharing expertise and experiences in a (global) teacher community as well as pro-actively seeking increased collaboration with teachers and students are recommended.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
1.1 Background of the research
1.2 Company description
1.3 Problem and opportunity analysis
1.4 Main research question
1.5 Organization of the report
2. Theoretical Framework
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Conceptual framework
2.3 Theoretical perspectives on the topic
2.3.1 Digital transformation in primary education
2.3.2 Changing skill requirements for primary school teachers
2.3.3 Technology acceptance and its barriers in primary education
2.3.4 Internal drivers of ICT self-efficacy in teachers
2.4 Limitations of selected theory
2.5 Selection of theories
2.6 Conclusion
3. Research Methodology
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Research approach, strategy and design
3.3 Key features of 21st century education
3.4 Skill requirements for 21st century education teachers
3.5 Technology acceptance and barriers of Minecraft: EE
3.6 Teacher engagement and Minecraft: Education Edition in the classroom
3.7 ICT self-efficacy and teachers
3.8 Conclusion
4. Findings and Analysis
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Topic 1 - 21st century education
4.2.1 Social and emotional learning in the classroom
4.2.2 The challenges of student agency
4.2.3 Teaching personalized and game-based learning
4.2.4 21st century education challenges
4.3 Topic 2 - Skill requirements for teachers using Minecraft: EE
4.3.1 The importance of teacher agency: a role shift in teaching
4.3.2 Minecraft: EE teaching requirements
4.4 Topic 3 - Technology acceptance and barriers
4.4.1 Factors related to technology acceptance
4.4.2 Barriers to technology acceptance
4.5 Topic 4 - Teacher engagement with M:EE
4.6 Topic 5 - Factors influencing teachers’ ICT self-efficacy
4.7 Synthesis of findings
5. Conclusion
6. Recommendations
6.1 Implementation plan
6.1.1 Primary school teachers
6.1.2 Teacher facing roles at Microsoft
6.2 Limitations and further research
Research Goals and Key Topics
This thesis explores the digital and cultural transformation within primary education by investigating how teachers engage with Minecraft: Education Edition. The research aims to identify the growth opportunities, barriers, and essential teacher skills required to effectively integrate this emerging educational technology into the classroom environment.
- Teacher engagement with emerging educational technology.
- Development of 21st century skills in primary students.
- Skill requirements for primary school educators in a digital age.
- Technology acceptance drivers and barriers.
- Implementation strategies for game-based learning.
Excerpt from the Book
4.2.2 The challenges of student agency
The OECD Learning Framework suggests student agency as a key factor to independently and responsibly construct own goals and learning objectives. Teachers should realize the impact that family, social background, and environment have on primary school students’ learning. In this context, all stakeholders in education including school administration or leaders are considered learners, the traditional top-down approach does not have high relevance (2018).
Rokeya Jones, WW CSE Director at Microsoft, frequently works together with top-ranked schools such as Harvard, Stanford and MIT on cloud adoption and usage, points out that the top-down approach, which requires teachers to buy-in stakeholders before using educational technology, still exists in most schools; “I think that the model of schools is definitely top-down…the reason [...] some educators may not try something new is not just because they’re fearful or what I would say is that they are figuring it out, but 50% is a fear of change, the other 50% would be for academic policy and compliance” (personal communication, April 13, 2018). This shows that schools across all ranks have difficulties to adopt 21st century strategies, Jones adds to her explanation “the educators have very limited time to put together content from year to year or from quarter to quarter, so it also slows down the adoption of technology opportunities.” While Jones is mostly working in academia, the situation is similarly perceived in primary education by Douglas Kiang who agrees, “you have to have support from top down, that it’s okay to change the way that we have been traditionally been teaching in order to give students more choice and [...] a voice in terms of learning” (personal communication, April 22, 2018).
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Provides the background of the research, the company context (Microsoft), and outlines the core problem regarding the digital transformation of primary education.
2. Theoretical Framework: Reviews existing theories on 21st century education, teacher skill requirements, and technology acceptance models like TAM to ground the research.
3. Research Methodology: Details the qualitative multi-method approach, including semi-structured interviews and classroom observations used to gather data from experts and teachers.
4. Findings and Analysis: Presents the gathered data on student agency, required teacher skills, technology barriers, and factors influencing teacher ICT self-efficacy.
5. Conclusion: Summarizes the key findings, highlighting that teacher attitude, leadership, and collaboration are critical factors in the adoption of EdTech.
6. Recommendations: Offers practical implementation plans for both teachers and industry stakeholders to improve engagement with game-based EdTech.
Keywords
Minecraft: Education Edition, primary education, digital transformation, teacher engagement, 21st century skills, technology acceptance, student agency, ICT self-efficacy, game-based learning, educational technology, EdTech, pedagogical competence, classroom collaboration, professional development, teacher coaching.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this thesis?
The thesis investigates the digital and cultural transformation of primary education, specifically focusing on the factors that drive or hinder teacher engagement with emerging technologies like Minecraft: Education Edition.
What are the primary themes addressed in the study?
Central themes include the role of student agency, the shift in teacher roles from expert to coach, the influence of school leadership on technology adoption, and the necessity of 21st century teaching skills.
What is the main research question of this study?
The research asks: "Which factors can increase teacher engagement with emerging educational technology such as Minecraft: Education Edition in primary schools?"
Which research methodology was utilized?
The study employs a qualitative multi-method research design, utilizing primary data from semi-structured interviews with experts and teachers, combined with field observations in classrooms.
What topics are discussed in the main body of the work?
The main body covers theoretical perspectives on 21st century education, identifies skill requirements for teachers, analyzes technology acceptance barriers, and explores drivers of ICT self-efficacy.
What are the main keywords that characterize this work?
The core keywords are Minecraft: Education Edition, digital transformation, teacher engagement, student agency, 21st century skills, and ICT self-efficacy.
How does school leadership impact technology adoption according to the findings?
The study finds that supportive leadership that encourages a growth mindset and allows for professional development time is crucial, as top-down rigid structures often act as barriers to innovation.
What distinguishes this research regarding Minecraft: Education Edition?
This research specifically focuses on the practitioner's perspective, bridging the gap between industry-provided EdTech and the actual, daily challenges faced by primary school teachers in the Netherlands, the UK, and the US.
- Quote paper
- Natasha Shroff (Author), 2018, Digital and Cultural Transformation in Primary Education. Teacher Engagement with Minecraft Education Edition, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/508818
