Digital convergence is the ability to view the same multimedia content from different types of devices, such as reading emails on a TV via a connected smartphone or watching a movie on TV, streamed through a device connected to the internet. Digital convergence is a result of digitizing content and development of connection methods.
Before digital convergence, each unit operated independently from one another and could not interconnect. Digital convergence allows individuals to interact, communicate, play, collaborate and share information in new and different ways, via combining features and abilities from multiple electronic systems into a simplified, converged and computer-mediated communication system (Asonye, 2013).
So how does digital convergence affect education? Any technological solution aimed at increased learning must enhance communication and convergence ( Abilene Christian University, 2016). Many of today’s students don’t know of a world without the internet and expect their online experiences to be mirrored and tapped by their education experiences, supporting their teachers’ lectures with their own online research, references, eLibraries and online databases ( Abilene Christian University, 2016). Therefore it is important to embrace changing technologies, encouraging communication and convergence with devices offering multiple communication technologies, media and information access, and the web. An example of digital convergence being used in education can be seen in most universities, where a single-sign-on can give access to all digital services on campus, including Google Docs, email, eLecture systems, online folders and dropboxes, campus-wide news and events and online collaboration tools.
Digital convergence can greatly enhance a student’s education and engage them in learning, therefore educators should fully embrace opportunities to use digital convergence in the classroom.
Abilene Christian University. (2016). Convergence and the 21st-Century Classroom. Retrieved from http://www.acu.edu/technology/mobilelearning/vision/convergence/
Asonye, I. O. (2013). What is Digital Convergence? Retrieved from http://www.globrocks.com/globrockssitearticles/digitalconvergence.html