Learning Technologies and Globalization

This brief describes the evolutionary and global impact of the techno-social transformation on learning technologies in terms of emerging pedagogical frameworks and applications. it provides examples of such applications in higher education, K-12, and the workplace, across the globe. 

The transformation and diffusion of ICT into an ever-present and accessible phenomenon is fundamentally shaping human activity and culture, changing human identity, and redefining globalization. Global activities have widened, intensified, and accelerated as a result of ICT integration generating a new awareness of the world as a techno-social environment.

This emergent global environment is introducing unprecedented socio-economic opportunities; however, it is also bringing new risks and challenges, particularly as this relates to learning technologies, most especially in higher education contexts. 

Nada Dabbagh is Professor and Director of the Division of Learning Technologies in the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University. She holds a Ph.D. in Instructional Systems Design from The Pennsylvania State University and a Master s of Science in Math Methodology and Operations Research from Columbia University. Her research explores the pedagogical ecology of technology mediated learning environments with the goal of understanding the social and cognitive consequences of learning systems design. . Dr. Dabbagh has an extensive publication record including two books and over 80 research papers and book chapters, and has presented her research at over 100 scholarly venues participating as keynote and invited speaker at conferences in Bahrain, Oman, Thailand, Iran, and the U.S.