What Uses of Digital Technology Support and Enhance the Learning and the Engagement of Diverse Learners in High School Classes?

Abstract

Digital technologies may play an important role in helping students from all walks of life to overcome barriers and benefit from teaching and learning. However, due to a lack of knowledge or skills related to educational technologies, K-12 teachers struggle to harness the full potential of digitalisation to support student learning and engagement, causing further marginalization and exclusion that put diverse group of learners at risk of being left behind in education (Chevalère et al., 2021). In response to these research gaps, the aim of this paper is to explore which high school uses of digital technology cater for learners’ needs and preferences for the sake of a more digitally inclusive environment that supports engagement and equitable learning opportunities for all students (Stenman & Pettersson, 2020). We adopted a qualitative approach to attend to the richness and depth in various contexts. We have conducted individual semi-structured interviews with 17 high school teachers, aiming to obtain in-depth qualitative data through open-ended questions. Then, a general inductive data analysis approach was followed to generate preliminary results on the research objectives, which are presented in this study.