Critical review of two peer-reviewed empirical research articles

Imbernon, F., Silva, P. & Guzman, C. (2011)Teaching Skills in Virtual and Blended Learning

Environments. Scientific Journal of Media Literacy 1134-3478:107-114.

The author is concerned about the role e-learning plays in the transfer of knowledge between the teacher and the student. This issue is of the utmost importance because of the movement by the European Union to create a standardized learning base across Europe. E-leaning has become the platform that makes that standardization possible. Additionally, teachers will be required to have the necessary IT skills to make the system effective.

Theoretically, the author examined the literature to unearth the most important variables that should be considered as part of an IT implementation program. The theory suggested that "digital competence" was directly linked to the success of the IT program at any organization. The multiple methods of delivering the content is also an important consideration. The study found that teachers use learning technologies to improve student performance and that 78% of the staff use the technologies frequently.

The authors work demonstrates the willingness of teachers to use the relevant technologies to assist students to learn. It therefore adds to the development of theory in the field. The work could be improved by utilizing a random type of sample design from which the researcher could develop generalizable findings. The work invites other researchers to examine the specific mechanism that can be developed to improve the learning of the students. This would probably be best done using a quasi-experimental design. In such a design different groups of students could be exposed to different forms of delivery of the curriculum through variant modes of information technologies.

Chigona, A., Chigona, W., Kayongo, P., & Kausa, M. (2010). An empirical survey on domestication of ICT in schools in disadvantaged communities in South Africa.

International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT) 6(2):

In this study the authors examined the factors that affect the integration of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in teaching and learning. As both the government and the private sector invest substantially larger amounts of capital in the development ICTs it becomes important to establish how effective these technologies are. The author suggests that previous research has identified that in many instances the effectiveness of the ICT is limited. The author is particularly interested in the factors that limit that effectiveness in schools serving disadvantaged communities in a developing country. This is important because there is a difference between the adoption of ICT and the implementation. Additionally, there is adequate evidence to suggest that the phenomenon will manifest itself differently in these types of environments based on the interaction of culture with the identified technology.

The author's identified two salient questions firstly, how do educators in disadvantaged communities respond to the technology? And what factors affect the integration of ICTs in schools? The answer these questions concepts from the domestication theory were used to assist in the understanding of the processes through which teachers adopt and integrate ICTs in the delivery of the curriculum. The study determined that even though schools and educators see the benefit of the technology they are limited in the implementation by the impaired understanding of the educators, objectification and fear of the technology.