Is ICT a Revolution or Fool’s Errand?
The following post on ICT (Information/Communication Technology) appeared as part of a forum with the above title hosted by Education Technology Debate. Other contributors are listed there.
If ICT means the use of computers in schools and classrooms and if learning means what academic content, skills, and behaviors students can perform in and out of school, then the massive investment over the past 30 years in wiring schools, buying computers and the latest hand-held device has fallen far short of being a “revolution” in students’ learning and teachers’ teaching (Failure of computers PDF 1995). While not a fool’s errand–the idea that ICT would revolutionize schooling was, at worst, sloppy thinking and, at best, ardent wishfulness.
Note I said “use” of ICT, not access to it. For access to ICT in the U.S has been an unvarnished success. From