Never mind the technology, where’s the learning?

In my travels around schools in the last few weeks, it’s been interesting to ponder on how the metaphors we’ve used for ICT in education have penetrated into the conversation of headteachers. One that is cropping up time and time again is that “ICT is just a tool”. Originally used to persuade educators that ICT was not really a ‘big deal’ ie. ICT was just one of the many tools you could use to engage children in learning, for example, here’s Steve Heppell using it in 1998:

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it is sometimes used in a somewhat pejorative sense. Ten years ago, Steve uses it is a positive, ubiquitous sense, and the growth of technology is UK schools since then means that in most this is now entirely possible. We no longer argue the ‘why’, or indeed the ‘how’, but in many are still explaining the ‘what’, and by ‘what’, I mean enabling, teaching and empowering learners to chose the most appropriate technology for their perceived audience.

Movie credit: Granada Learning

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