Student Voices and Digital Technologies in Australian School Education

As digital technologies become more widespread and integrated into Australian school education there is a challenge to better understand the policies that are designed to guide their use. There is little education research however, which explores how school students understand and respond to policy regulations; their voices are largely absent from the landscape in this field. Drawing on an interpretative and critical inquiry, this chapter examines the intersections between policy trajectories and ethical concerns related to teaching and learning with digital technologies, from the perspective of Australian school students. The students in this study demonstrated an understanding of the importance of policy interpretation and language particularly in their discussion of ethical considerations, and indicated they want more consultative and participatory approaches to digital technologies policy developments. This study also shows that students would like to see policies gradually move from a less restrictive and generic approach based on blocking and filtering, to ones that provide them with opportunities to maximise their educational opportunities and become ethically responsible users of digital technologies.