Skolan och informationstekniken – en fallstudierapport om två gymnasieskolor i Göteborg

Abstract

This paper is the last of six case studies in a research project ”The school and information- and communication technology (ICT)”. The study is taking place in the municipality of Göteborg. The results of the study show that that the technical infrastructure for ICT has been improved in that a municipal and centralized ICT-structure has been implemented in the schools of Göteborg. There is a difference between the two upper secondary schools studied in that one of the schools was an early adapter and created its own structure while the other school studied had no prior organized system until the municipal ICT system was introduced. The first school hence showed a more critical stance towards the municipal control of the ICT while the opposite can be said about the second school. It also seems as if the knowledge and ability of the teachers regarding ICT has been improved, even though there are big differences between teachers and schools. It is however less obvious how ICT has´been integrated in the core educational activities. The teachers claim that ICT should be a pedagogical tool, i.e. that pedagogy itself should condition the use of ICT and not the reverse. It is also possible to see a difference between different educations in the upper secondary schools where the more theoretical and traditional subjects have not come as far as the more practical and applied subjects (of which some are closely connected to the ICT-technique). Another contributing factor is that the ICT-investments have been organised as projects. This means that many schools today have problems sustaining the ICT-level when some of the project leaders have left and there are no additional funds. Another conclusion is that ICT has become very much integrated in the administrative work of the teachers in the line with the further decentralisation of the school organisation.