Telling Tales on Technology

This title was first published in 2002.The educational potential of information and communications technology (ICT) has been speculated upon endlessly - from the early days of the micro-computer to the present excitement surrounding virtual education and e-learning. Now, with current multi-billion dollar initiatives such as the UK National Grid for Learning and US Technology Literacy Challenge, ICT is an unavoidable element of education. Yet despite a plethora of promises and policies, new technologies have failed to be wholly integrated into education. Telling Tales on Technology critically examines the role of ICT in education and explores how, given its assumed importance, new technology remains a peripheral part of much of what goes on in education. Based on in-depth qualitative studies, the book takes a comprehensive yet questioning look over the past two decades of educational technology policy and practice and positions it within the wider social, cultural, political and economic notion of the information age. Drawing on interviews with students, teachers, politicians and business people as well as comprehensive documentary analysis, this is an essential text for anyone thinking seriously about the use of ICT in education.

NEIL SELWYN School of Social Sciences Cardiff University,

Contents: Taking a Qualitative Approach to Technology and Education: Introduction; Taking a qualitative approach to technology and education. The Politics and Economics of Technology and Education: The discursive construction of 'educational' computing in the UK, 1979-1989; The discursive construction of the national grid for learning, 1997-2002; The role of big business in UK education technology policy and practice. Individual Learners and Technology: Children's engagement with ICT in primary school; A-level students and ICT; Exploring accountancy undergraduates' use of ICT. Qualitative Explorations of 'Virtual' Education: Perspectives of adult learners on ICT and learning; School teachers' use of an electronic discussion group. Lessons to be Learnt?: The dilemmas of critically researching technology and education; Conclusions; Bibliography; Index.