Benefits and Challenges of Technology in High Schools: The Voice of Educational Leaders in Prince Edward Island (Canada)

• In Event: Roundtable Session 21
  In Roundtable Session: News Approaches to Digital Teaching and Learning

Abstract

In this article, we document the perceptions of school leaders regarding the benefits and challenges of technology in high schools on Prince Edward Island (Canada). For this qualitative study, 11 educational leaders were individually interviewed, representing the Department of Education, principals, vice-principals, and department heads. Findings indicated that technology has the potential to activate student leadership and enhance collaborative learning. Concerns pertaining to technology spotlighted issues about cyber-bullying. Analyzed through Freirian theory, weaving technology into learning promotes the social construction of knowledge and enables students to manipulate personal power. Implications highlight the need for promoting student digital citizenship, a concept we referred to as Network Enhanced World literacy (NEW literacy).

Authors

• Jane P. Preston, University of Prince Edward Island

• Sean P. Wiebe, University of Prince Edward Island

• Martha A. Gabriel, University of Prince Edward Island

• Ronald Joseph MacDonald, University of Prince Edward Island

• Alexander G. Mcauley, University of Prince Edward Island

• Barbara Campbell, University of Prince Edward Island

• Lyndsay Moffatt, University of Prince Edward Island