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Publication series

Education in a digital age: BERA Small Grants Fund research reports

This series of reports presents the findings and recommendations of three research projects funded by BERA’s 2023/24 Small Grants Fund (SGF) on the theme ‘education in a digital age: perspectives from policy and practice’. The aim of this year’s SGF was to support projects which explored different aspects of the way in which digital technology and practices are changing education, with a particular emphasis on how this impacts on practitioners and policymakers.

The three reports are as follows:

  • When generative artificial intelligence meets academic integrity: Educational opportunities & challenges in a digital age, Achala Gupta

  • How (post)digital are schools?, Michael Jopling & Tamzin Nobes

  • From optimism to caution: An analysis of the seemingly balanced policy discourse on artificial intelligence in education, Lulu P. Shi & Ted Palenski

About the SGF

Through the SGF, BERA awards funding annually to research on a different, pressing theme each year with the intention that each project will:

  • make important contributions to the discipline by contributing to and leading current debates
  • develop research capacity by involving postgraduate students and early career researchers
  • receive applications from and involving practitioners and policymakers as well as academic researchers.

2023/24 Small Grants Fund Recipients

Profile picture of Achala Gupta
Achala Gupta, Dr

Lecturer at University of Southampton

Dr Achala Gupta is a lecturer at Southampton Education School, University of Southampton. Her research focuses on investigating educational issues sociologically. Achala’s current interests include education delivery systems (formal and...

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Michael Jopling, Professor

Professor of Education at University of Brighton

Michael Jopling is Professor of Education at the University of Brighton. He writes about and researches issues including education policy, vulnerable families and young people, collaborative school leadership and improvement, and (post)digital...

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Tamzin Nobes

University Tutor & Research Assistant at University of Brighton

Tamzin Nobes is a qualified primary school teacher and during her career she has taught in early years foundation stage, key stage 1 and key stage 2. She has held subject leadership roles in computing, science and religious education, and has...

Profile picture of Lulu Shi
Lulu Shi, Dr

Lecturer at University of Oxford

Lulu Shi’s research focuses on digital education from a sociological perspective. Her work investigates the role of EdTech firms ­– who can be seen as the architects behind the technology – in shaping education by considering the...

Profile picture of Ted Palenski
Ted Palenski, Mr

PhD Student at University of Glasgow

Ted Palenski is currently completing his PhD at the University of Glasgow, under the ESRC project Digital Citizenship: Data Ethics in the Classroom and Beyond. His research explores the uses of digital technology in schools across the UK, with a...

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