The Smart Classroom: Learning Challenges in the Digital Ecosystem

Abstract

Digital devices are causing the emergence of new learning ecosystems, including the smart classroom. This model changes the pedagogical intermediation paradigm, redefining educational values and principles. The present paper delves into this scenario through the results of a doctoral thesis funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of the Spanish Government. The research is based on a qualitative approach, involving a field study in four schools in the Valencian Community. The information is collected through the study of the school documentation, in-depth interviews with 23 teachers and participant observation sessions. This information is analysed under the postulates of discourse analysis. The results show that teachers see the smart classroom as an innovative paradigm that facilitates active learning. However, the focus tends to be on technologies, which are assumed to optimise learning. Teachers opt for the implementation of technology-mediated methodologies, such as the flipped classroom, PBL or gamification, but these often operate more at the formal level than at the applied level. Despite this, a learning ecosystem is emerging that is significantly different from the traditional one, involving a change of logic in which digital technologies adopt the centrality formerly held by the textbook or the teacher.