Going to School the Technological Way: Co-Constructed Classrooms and Student Perceptions of Learning with Technology

Abstract

There are problems with investigating technology in educational settings. A major issue is the complexity of the interaction among computer use, the social system of the classroom and the instructional activities, and pedagogical goals promoted by teachers. Teacher beliefs and values and their relationship to technology use have been investigated but the perspectives of students have largely been neglected. The research reported is longitudinal and employs a case study methodology. In evaluating widespread implementation of computing technology at a school, 1991–1997, a large corpus of data was collected to document multiple perspectives. Those from four cohorts of students (n = 377) have been tapped in several ways. The article discusses data regarding student response to technology and how the beliefs and actions of students influence the use of technology in classrooms in terms of three themes: context and process for learning, changing expectations for learning, and differential responses to learning.