Page 30 - International Perspectives on Effective Teaching and Learning in Digital Education

Pedro Tadeu and Carlos Brigas

Background and History of Digital Education
Digital education, which is sometimes also known as e-learning, has become a
crucial element of the modern educational organisation since it has changed
how our knowledge is disseminated and acquired (Smith, 18). The digital
technologies and their subsequent integration into educational settings have
significantly transformed the education as we have today, and these tech-
nologies have greatly expanded education’s scope, facilitated personalised
learning, and fostered global collaboration (Johnson & Adams, 11).
The 198s was the initial phase of integrating digital technologies into ed-
ucational settings. This period saw the introduction of computers into the
classrooms, which paved the way for using digital tools in the teaching and
learning processes (Johnson & Adams, 11). But even if most of the time the
computers were there, actually they were not operating since the teachers'
lack of formation. This period testifies to the change and transformation from
traditional teaching methods to innovative ones with digital tools. This was
the beginning of the role of digital technologies in the educational process
with the integrating of computers into the educational setting. This has
opened the way for a more interactive and engaging learning experience,
marking the first step towards a digital revolution in education (Bates, 15).
The rise of the Internet in the 199s has transformed education by increas-
ing the accessibility of educational resources and, at the same time, allowed
the exchange of knowledge beyond geographical boundaries, something
never imagined until then. This time marked the beginning of a modifica-
tion from the traditional classroom-based education to a more flexible and
accessible way of learning inside and outside our classrooms. The World Wide
Web had opens the door to an incredible scale of possibilities by providing
not only the door, but also the keys to a vast set of information that was pre-
viously isolated from the common public. Suddenly the world have access to
online resources such as, e-books, educational websites, and digital libraries.
We pass from traditional classroom-based education to a more flexible, inno-
vative and accessible way of learning. This enable the learners to have access
to educational content anytime, anywhere (Clark & Mayer, 16). Of course,
there is still difficulty in how these aspects reshape the school environment.
Shifting from the traditional to an equilibrium of the digital age is a hard pro-
cess that needs to be understood and continued work by all.
The turn of the millennium, entering the XXI century, saw the rise of virtual
classrooms and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). It was a time for great
innovation and creation, and the so called virtual classrooms, allowed a re-
al-time interaction within the classroom environment. Like this the education

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