A Dialogic, Evidence-based Framework for Integrating Technology into School Curricula

The General Capabilities in the Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2014c) echo the 21st-century learning skills and attributes whichembody some of the key challenges of modern pedagogies. Briefly, next to the Cross-curriculum Priorities (ACARA, 2014b), theGeneral Capabilities statements are the key building blocks of the curriculum and refer to student wellbeing, emotional growth, critical and creative thinking, and social, ethical and intercultural development. This chapter reviews contrasting perspectives on the links which the literature constructs between digital technology and learning, and investigates their implications for the teaching of the General Capabilities. This examination results in the formulation of a “dialogic framework” for integrating technology into educational contexts, with a focus on early childhood and primary education. The framework builds its evidence base by drawing on a range of disciplines, thus ensuring relevant cross-checking. Some of the disciplines include corrective phonetics, semiotics and genre studies, neuroscience, psychology and philosophy of inquiry. The result is a comprehensive mapping of the concept of learning in relation to each of the Capabilities. Implications for the use of ICT and the design of learning activities which link with the Crosscurriculum Priorities are illustrated.