Episode #58. Saturday May 15, 2021, 12:00 noon EDT (7:00 pm in Finland)

Episode Abstract: Is “the world” still open? Why does it sometimes feel that the digitalization of education, datafication, and digital learning platforms raise new impossibilities and paradoxes? For example, can we really claim to educate self-directed 21st century learners when we increase datafication and online platform surveillance? These are some of the questions the Critical Applied Research of Digitalization in Education (CARDE) research group in Tampere, Finland is exploring with educators and researchers around the world. The mission of CARDE (about) is “Promoting deeper understanding of digitalization in education through critical applied research.” Research conducted at CARDE is international and informed by critical theory and critical pedagogy. It is also intended to connect and unite people around the planet with similar aims and goals. Learn about the mission of CARDE (about), current status, and the results to date from two of the founders as well as three CARDE research team members and students.

Links and more info on the guests below the video:

CARDE (Critical Applied Research for Digitalisation of Education) Links:

CARDE: https://research.tuni.fi/carde/

About CARDE –https://research.tuni.fi/carde/about/

WildCARDE profiles: https://research.tuni.fi/carde/affiliated-wildcardes/

Publications:  https://research.tuni.fi/carde/publications/

About our logo and name – https://research.tuni.fi/carde/about-our-image-and-logo/

LinkedIn (Marko Teräs): https://www.linkedin.com/in/markoteras

LinkedIn (Mark Curcher): https://www.linkedin.com/in/markcurcher/

Teräs, M., Suoranta, J., Teräs, H. and Curcher, M. (2020) ‘Post-Covid-19 Education and Education Technology “Solutionism”: A Seller’s Market’, Postdigital Science and Education. doi: 10.1007/s42438-020-00164-x.

Marko Teräs is a visiting lecturer and researcher at Tampere University of Applied Sciences in Finland. He is also the co-founder and former lead of Critical Applied Research of Digitalization in Education (CARDE) research group, and the co-founder and member of CreditED, an informal network for researchers and practitioners interested in critical perspectives in education and technology. He has a broad international experience in online learning, educational technology and human-computer interaction as a developer, researcher, and educator. Currently his main research focus is the critical research of digitalization in education. He has authored several academic papers in digitalization of education, educational technology, and online learning, and is a frequent speaker in international conferences. He has also worked as a journal and conference article referee in several journals in the field, such as UNESCO Prospects, Computers & Education, ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, and Issues in Educational Research (IIER), to name a few.

Mark Curcher is a Senior Lecturer at Tampere University of Applied Sciences where his main role is as Program Director of the MBA in Educational Leadership, on which he also teaches.  He is also a member of the CARDE research group and a founder member of a group investigating the use of the pedagogy of humour in the Humour Affordances iN Digital Learning Environments (HAnDLE) research group. He has worked as an educator for more than 30 years, in the UK, the Middle East, and for the last 8 years in Finland, in a range of educational contexts and settings. He describes himself as a “pedagogical provocateur” and “educational émigré” seeking to examine and question the prevailing narratives and assumptions about education.

Ana Paula Camargo has been working in education for 20 years, and currently works as head of projects related to providing quality education to low income gifted students in a social institute in São Paulo, Brazil. She is currently completing her MBA in Educational Leadership. Her interest is related to the concerns around the use of digital platforms to develop social emotional skills in a Brazilian context of deep inequality and complexity. Ana Paula was awarded a “Young Scholar” award for her presentation at the International Conference for Media in Education (ICoME20).

Charlotte Dawson has been teaching in UK and international primary schools for 13 years. She is currently based in a Dubai private school. In 2020 she graduated from the MBA in Educational Leadership at Tampere University of Applied Sciences. Charlotte joined the CARDE research group because of her concerns regarding the datafication of children, particularly the way in which some applications are used to modify student behaviour. She is also interested in following the development of online learning platforms and associated content in private schools and is working to help establish a research network of educators in the UAE. Her paper, co-authored with David Keating, “Looking in the Post-Covid Crystal Ball: Utopian and dystopian possibilities for Dubai private schools offering synchronous blended learning,” recently won the Outstanding Paper Award at the TCC Online conference in Hawaii.

David Keating hails from Cork City in the Republic of Ireland. He has been working in international schools in Dubai since completing his Professional Diploma in Education in the University College of Cork nine years ago. His experience includes teaching in two international schools and is currently working as an Education Consultant. David is particularly interested in teacher observation culture in schools, which is the subject of his Master’s thesis as part of his MBA in Educational Leadership. This program also inspired him to investigate the impact of technology in the classroom and digital pedagogy and led to writing “Looking in the Post-Covid Crystal Ball: Utopian and dystopian possibilities for Dubai private schools offering synchronous blended learning.” This paper was co-authored with Charlotte and won an “Outstanding Paper Award” at the TCC Online Conference hosted by the University of Hawaii.