Technology and Digital Learning Tools: Technology Education and Educational Technology

With the COVID-19 pandemic, many educators and students were conscripted to online learning. This represented a monumental shift in how to prepare for, teach and assess learning across all levels of education. Unsurprisingly, with the limited preparation time and availability of resources, teachers and learners found this migration challenging. Educators had to find the balance between learners’ needs, at the same time navigating a novel context for learning. This chapter sets out to explore this novel context and put forward some recommendations for adopting digital educational technology in STEM classrooms. After setting the scene regarding the terminology associated with technology and education, key findings from adopting digital educational technology are presented. The challenges associated with adopting digital education technology during the pandemic and more generally are reviewed, and following this, opportunities for learning in STEM are considered. STEM education as a context for learning is held in focus, as implications for the adoption (by choice) of digital educational technology for future STEM education lessons are put forward.