Table Of ContentThe Digital Classroom
The way students learn changes when they have access to digital tools. The Digital
Classroom demonstrates that using technology to enhance students’ learning is not
dependent on a specific learning management system or software – it is about chang-
ing the pedagogy with the help of an arsenal of useful tools and methods.
This practical book introduces easy to use methods to all teachers in digital class-
rooms with the intention to make it simple, accessible, and achievable for everyone.
It is not only about the tools, and the how and why, but also about changing the
pedagogy making the learning more relevant to the students. When you open the
classroom to the rest of the world, the teacher becomes more important than ever.
Topics in the book include:
◾ Technology and deeper learning
◾ Social media in the global classroom
◾ Building a personal learning network
◾ The flipped classroom and cooperative learning
◾ The use of iPads in primary and middle school
◾ Teaching with videogames
◾ Special education
◾ Digital citizenship
Digital tools can play a key role in making learning happen and what the teachers
know about the use of technology is key. The Digital Classroom will be of great inter-
est to teachers and trainee teachers who wish to develop their digital competency by
using the book as part of their professional learning.
Ann S. Michaelsen is a school administrator at Sandvika High School in Oslo. She
has more than 25 years of experience of teaching with technology and was a school
leader from 2006, starting a school that pioneered having 1:1 laptops for 900 students.
Ann is currently also working part time with the University of Oslo, Department for
Research, Innovation and Competence Development.
Ann Michaelsen’s insightful book gives a terrific overview about how education
is being transformed in the new, post-pandemic era. This book will give you great
ideas for both classroom and administrator perspectives on improving outreach
to students online.
– Barbara Ann Oakley, Professor of Engineering, Oakland University, USA
Teachers will never be replaced by technology. But after COVID-19, teachers
who don’t use some technology will be replaced by ones who do. Thoughtful,
practical, and magnificently sensible, this is a book that educators will not want to
put down once they start it.
– Andy Hargreaves, Visiting Professor, University of Ottawa, Canada
The best part about this book is that the author has put in her own experiences
on how she herself has used technology as an effective tool for teaching and
learning. It is a helpful guide for those who want to use it more effectively as
educators or as learners.
– Shakeel Ahmad, Co-Founder Mind Mingle, India
This book is a vital addition to an educator’s professional library. The focus on
both tools and pedagogy provides an essential bridge into teaching and learn-
ing modes that are digital, online, and networked. There are no excuses left, and
nowhere to hide, every teacher must upskill and become confident in digital-first
learning, and this book leads the way in supporting that requirement.
– Julie Lindsay, Associate Director, Digital Learning Innovation,
University of Southern Queensland, Australia
The global pandemic has hit education like an earthquake, with aftershocks
continuing to rattle expectations of what school should be. By sharing lessons
learned, this book from Ann Michaelsen will help us seize the opportunity for
lasting transformation of teaching and learning.
– Suzie Boss, Author of Reinventing Project-Based Learning, 3rd edition
The Digital Classroom
Transforming the Way We Learn
Ann S. Michaelsen
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Ann S. Michaelsen
The right of Ann S. Michaelsen to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by
her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Michaelsen, Ann S., author.
Title: The digital classroom : transforming the way we learn / Ann S.
Michaelsen.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, [2021] | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020038808 | ISBN 9780367611057 (hardback) | ISBN
9780367611071 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003104148 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Mobile communication systems in education. |
Education--Effect of technological innovations on.
Classification: LCC LB1044.84 .M55 2021 | DDC 371.33--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020038808
ISBN: 978-0-367-61105-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-61107-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-10414-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by SPi Gloal, India
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Contributors ix
Introduction: A significant change in teaching and learning 1
Ann S. Michaelsen
1 Learning in the digital classroom 4
Ann S. Michaelsen
2 Digital tools for the classroom 16
Ann S. Michaelsen
3 Social media in the global classroom 37
Ann S. Michaelsen
4 Tablet PCs in primary and middle school 51
Simen Spurkland
5 Cooperative learning 60
Ann S. Michaelsen
6 The flipped classroom 69
Ann S. Michaelsen
7 Teaching with video games 78
Aleksander Husøy and Tobias Staaby
vi Contents
8 Digital citizenship 88
Ann S. Michaelsen
9 Special needs education 101
Ann S. Michaelsen
10 The digital classroom: what is the insight from contemporary
educational research? 110
Marte Blikstad-Balas
Index 121
Acknowledgments
This book highlights the importance of personal learning networks and the power
of connections. The same applies to the writing of this book. The Digital Classroom:
Transforming the Way We Learn would never have been written or published if I had
not met so many amazing people during my 25 years in education. A special thanks
to Moliehi Sekese in Lesotho; our friendship has resulted in life-altering changes for
students in Lesotho and Norway, represented by a former student at Sandvika High
School, Tobias Langås Handeland, in this book. And a great thank you to our stu-
dent Elise Groth who contributed to the choice of book cover with her expertise in
design. The talents of our students never cease to amaze me.
Thanks to the four co-writers who all have added valuable insight into essential
parts of the digital classroom. And thanks to the teachers who wrote shorter texts with
practical classroom examples. Thanks to Troy Hicks, who introduced me to his pub-
lisher in the United States; she guided me in the right direction that eventually led to
the publication of this book. Thanks to all the dedicated educators around the world
that I have met; your relentless devotion to your students is inspiring. Investing in the
future is the only solution to solving the problems our generation has left behind.
This book is dedicated to the next generation represented by my two grandchil-
dren, Julia Kallåk Michaelsen and Wilhelm Alexander Michaelsen Dupuy. I hope that
your years in school will inspire you and provide the confidence and skills needed to
solve the challenges of the future and where learning will be both fun and rewarding
at the same time.
Contributors
Aleksander Husøy is a teacher of English and Social Science at Nordahl Grieg
Upper Secondary School in Bergen, Norway. Husøy has made extensive use of games
in his own classroom for the past 10 years and is a leading voice in the field of games
in education. Husøy also works as a specialist instructor in game pedagogy for Vestland
County.
Marte Blikstad-Balas is a professor (full) at in the The Department of Education,
University of Oslo, Norway. Her key research interests revolve around literacy in
school -– and hos how digitalizations changes teaching. She has published over more
than 30 scientific articles. Her latest publication is.. Blikstad-Balas, M., & Klette, K.
(2019). Still a long way to go. Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy, 15(01), 55–68.
Simen Spurkland is a teacher at Hennummarka lower secondary school i Lier,
Norway. Through his 20 years of teaching, Simen has taught a wide range of subjects
from maths to music, social studies to English as second language and P.E to Home Ec.
Since 2013, Simen has been teaching in classes with 1:1 iPads. The last years, Simen
has been giving lectures, courses and keynotes on how to implement digital devices
in the classroom and shared his experiences with what significant changes that can be
made when a device is used right.
Tobias Staaby is a PhD candidate at the University of Bergen, Norway, where he is
writing a dissertation on video games in education. Prior to starting his PhD educa-
tion, he worked as a high school teacher, teaching Norwegian language and literature,
religious studies, and history. Staaby has been working with games and learning for
several years, giving talks and lectures and holding seminars and workshops.
