The Centre for Digital Education, Culture & Society (DECS) is engaged in research projects and publications related to the use of digital technologies and new media in pedagogical contexts as well as more broadly in relation to online cultures and their impact on society through such areas as health and wellbeing as well as politics, youth and community work, literacy studies, special educational needs, the law and social work, to name a few areas of concern.
The Centre has existed in various forms over the last twenty years since 1998, in German (1998-2002) and Japanese higher education institutions (2002-2009), and was established at the University of Central Lancashire in 2010. Throughout this time it has engaged in funded research projects, publication activity, report writing, and consultancy work in the field.
Impact
Digital technologies have been impacting on all aspects of communication for the last two decades. In turn they have started to influence teaching, learning and research across all educational sectors, particularly the way learners, teachers and researchers access, manage and disseminate knowledge. In the wider context digital communication has become an interdisciplinary area of research focusing on many disciplines from psychology to social work, politics and law.
Through digital technologies, Web 2.0 applications, immersive environments and the rise of online communities and mobile applications, students who entered education in the first decade of the twenty-first century have grown up with new practices and skills associated with reading, writing and communication with a firm emphasis on creativity and collaboration.