spent on digital technologies in British schools in 2007. The 80% figure appears to come from BECTA though I haven't found how this was measured. I am interested in how 'full use' is measured.Schooling and education is complex. Larry Cuban (2001) pointed out that pouring money into technologies in schools does not mean pedagogical change, change in education has always taken longer. Applying complexity theory to schools can help to explain what happens when digital technologies are introduced, an idea that was used by BECTA in their 2006 report.
There are many reasons why pedagogical practices don't change immediately when digital technologies are introduced (and thinking logically- why would anyone expect them to?). One that I have found interesting is the resistance to change by learners themselves who want to know the facts and information they need to learn for the exams or for a named tangible future life. The perception by students and the wider community of what is learning and what is the purpose of schooling is another aspect in the complex web of change in the digital era.
Cuban, L. (2001). Oversold and underused : computers in the classroom. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Twining, P., Broadie, R., Cook, D., Ford, K., Morris, D., Twiner, A. and Underwood, J. (2006) Educational change and ICT: an exploration of Priorities 2 and 3 of the
DfES e-strategy in schools and colleges.The current landscape and implementation issues
Retrieved from http://partners.becta.org.uk/page_documents/research/educational_change_and_ict.pdf
Photo: showing my photography skills of child jumping into water- missed again- but maybe illustrating the idea of complexity?
