Teachers and digital artefacts | Culture and communication in digital worlds

Author(s): Fred Rune Bjordal

Year of publication: 2025

Keywords: culture and communication, digital artefacts, virtual learning environments (VLEs), identity and participation, intercultural communication

Methodology/Sample: qualitative/ 15 Norwegian teachers

Reference: Bjordal, F. R. (2025). Teachers and digital artefacts. Digital Culture & Education, 16(1), 20–37. https://www.digitalcultureandeducation.com/volume-161

Abstract

This article explores how and in what ways digital artefacts become active participants in teachers’ reflections concerning their professional practice. Digitalisation is an important part of teachers’ professional environments, requiring them to relate to digital artefacts in various ways as part of their professional practice. Through semi-structured interviews with 15 lower-secondary school teachers, teachers’ reflections on being professionals in an increasingly digitalised teaching environment are analysed using a conceptual framework of what-, why-, how-, and where-to-artefacts. The article argues that affordances are constructed in the relationship between artefacts and humans, and that these characterise the regulating qualities of both parts of the relationship. The article shows that when teachers interact with digital artefacts, different spaces for negotiating affordances between teachers and such artefacts are created. The article argues that although teachers dominate the teacher–artefact relationship, they activate the digital artefacts as dominant due to an impression of such artefacts as un-transformable. The article contributes with valuable insights to teachers’ notions of their relationship with digital artefacts in a time where digital technology is becoming increasingly complex and therefore complexifying the teachers’ ways of being professionals.

> Summary

It shows how communication in VLEs is affected by cultural norms, language, and technology design.
It shows how identity is performed and negotiated in online spaces, aligning with the idea of the networked self, in which identity is constantly created and recreated through social interaction.
It reveals how digital technology can reinforce cultural communication norms, leading to non-equitable participation.
It contributes to sociocultural theory by showing how technology can mediate relationships, power, and belonging in the digital classroom.

> Problem statement

The study explores the role of digital artefacts in communication, cultural identity, and participation in a multicultural virtual learning environment.
It challenges the notion of the neutrality of digital tools and explores the possibility of the reinforcement of dominant cultural norms, which may act as a barrier for some learners.
The study is concern about how teachers might use digital tools for culturally responsive communication.

> Methods used

Bjordal uses a qualitative sociocultural methodology that centers on the construction of meaning in social interaction within digital spaces.
Observed the interaction between the teacher and the student by using digital artefacts as an effective tool for exploring how digital platforms mediate relationships and communication.

> Practical implications

Enhanced intercultural communication and collaboration
Multimodal expression supporting diverse learners
Development of cultural competence and global awareness
Stronger teacher-student relationships through flexible communication