Technology and self-directed learning: the perspectives of school staff

Vannucci, Marianna (2024) Technology and self-directed learning: the perspectives of school staff. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

This thesis is divided into three chapters: a literature review, an empirical paper, and a reflective account of the research process. In the first chapter, I will present a narrative review of literature rela9ng to the use of technology to facilitate self-directed learning. The review draws together several related but distinct areas of literature within educational psychology, in order to establish what is already known about the ways in which our understanding and use of educational technology can be applied to the question of how best to facilitate the development of self-directed learning skills. This review was conducted in order to inform the design of an empirical research project in this area.

The second chapter comprises an empirical paper presenting the aforemen9oned research. At present, there is little research exploring how formal teaching environments can encourage self-directed learning (SDL) in their students. A review of recently published studies concerning SDL in school-aged children (Morris & Rohs, 2023) suggested that there is potential for educational technology to be harnessed to support young people to learn more independently. The current study explored the views of school staff around the use of technology to support SDL. I conducted unstructured interviews with nine members of staff in various roles, and analysed the interviews using reflexive thematic analysis. Five themes were generated from patterns of meaning across the dataset: ‘Swiss Army Tech,’ ‘It’s A Nice Idea, But…,’ ‘User Guide Not Provided,’ ‘Technology Tsunami,’ and ‘They Couldn't Cope.’ These themes revealed a significant element of ambivalence in my participants’ views; while they recognised the benefits of self-directed learning and the potential for technology to be useful in facilitating it, they also identified some significant barriers to the implementation of this approach in schools. Implications of these findings for future research and for educational psychology practice are identified and discussed.

The final chapter is a reflexive account of each stage of the research process, including personal and professional reflec9ons on what I have learned throughout. In this section I will reflect further on the philosophical underpinnings of my research decisions, and also include a brief discussion of my plans for dissemina9on of the research findings.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Education and Lifelong Learning
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	02 Jun 2025 10:08
Last Modified:	02 Jun 2025 10:08
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/99376
DOI:

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