Information technology into education: towards a critical perspective¹

Abstract

The starting point for this paper is that the use and discussion of information technology (IT) in education is uncritical. The dominant emphasis is on more being inherently better; and questions about the relationship of the technology to teaching and learning ‐ the sorts of questions which educationalists have traditionally asked about educational innovations ‐ have not featured prominently on the agenda. Rather, problems and limitations have been played down in the emphasis on the technological hard and software. This paper makes an initial contribution to what we see as the need: for ethnographic, classroom based research on IT in education using the interactionist model; to locate IT in education in its broader social, historical and cultural setting; to dismantle the technoromantic rhetoric or theology of IT in education, and to replace it with a more balanced and realistic assessment of its strengths and shortcomings; to develop a range of critical and analytical concepts to move us towards a theoretical account of IT and education; which can inform teacher practice in this area. We deal with the historical background and contemporary setting of the moves towards getting IT into schools, locating this within the broader social and cultural context. Drawing on the work of Harry Braverman, Raymond Williams, Pam Linn and Michael Young we sketch out some useful preliminary concepts. We refer briefly to the arguments for and against the uses of IT in schools; and conclude with a summary of questions which we have raised, which cover the issues which we are taking as the starting point for a research project.