Record: Andrew McAvoy, “How Are New Technologies Impacting Elective Home Learners?” in International Perspectives on Home Education (2015): 74-84. [Table of Contents]
Summary: This article is part of a series of reviews on the book International Perspectives on Home Education. McAvoy obtained his MSc in Science Education at Sheffield Hallam University in 2007 and has worked as a teacher in secondary schools for 18 years in both the UK and Turkey. Here he asserts that the impact of broadband technologies on homeschooling communities has already been significant and irreversible.
Home education has grown in the UK for the last several years. This growth is likely due to the internet, which allows personalization of the curriculum and access to online support communities. Consumers have driven the creation of virtual curriculum in spite of the policy makers and social commentators that have urged for a slower pace. As technology and education have combined, for-profit companies wield a greater influence on policy.
The learning potential of this technology has become increasingly apparent. It has opened up the curriculum and changed the ways that it is represented. It has also allowed more people to participate in the discussion of curriculum policy. The homeschooling community has been quite vocal in this regard through social media and other online means. Through this use of technology, more people find out about homeschooling and view it as a viable option for their children. Ironically and as a testament to the diversity of homeschoolers, some people choose homeschooling in order to shelter their children from the heavy use of technology in the classroom.
McAvoy ends with a call to action. Technology is evolving so quickly that is necessary to conduct extensive research into the relationship that home learners have with the curriculum. The freedom to choose a curriculum will only continue with the use of technology.
Appraisal: Nothing that McAvoy presents here is groundbreaking. The internet is no longer a novelty. It is a commonplace of the literature that the internet has had a transformative effect on education, especially on home education. Other studies such as the NEPC reports address many of the same issues as McAvoy in a more comprehensive and quantitative format.
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