Red ut IT-trasslet!
Abstract
Since the late 1990’s, information technology has played a dominating role in Swedish schools. No doubt IT is here to stay. But the educational process is slow, in spite of massive financial and technical efforts. Why is it so?
In this article we discuss different possible reasons for this. The discussion is based on interviews with a small group of teachers and pupils in a high school Social Sciences programme. The result shows that both pupils and teachers reflect on the IT phenomenon in relation to each other, to the school and to society.
Their attitude towards IT is complex. Their notion of IT is one of uncertainty, above all about what the concept of IT really stands for. Obviously, IT is a muddle which has to be clarified. This is a pre-requisite if schools are to continue their work with IT as a means of education.
If the ultimate goal is for pupils to learn how to handle a computer, that goal has already been reached. If, however, the aim is for pupils to learn to use the computer as a tool for life-long learning, the school has made a false start. In that case, the first step has to be to start all over again and get things straight from the beginning.
In this article we discuss different possible reasons for this. The discussion is based on interviews with a small group of teachers and pupils in a high school Social Sciences programme. The result shows that both pupils and teachers reflect on the IT phenomenon in relation to each other, to the school and to society.
Their attitude towards IT is complex. Their notion of IT is one of uncertainty, above all about what the concept of IT really stands for. Obviously, IT is a muddle which has to be clarified. This is a pre-requisite if schools are to continue their work with IT as a means of education.
If the ultimate goal is for pupils to learn how to handle a computer, that goal has already been reached. If, however, the aim is for pupils to learn to use the computer as a tool for life-long learning, the school has made a false start. In that case, the first step has to be to start all over again and get things straight from the beginning.
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