How Political Ambitions Replace Teacher Involvement: Some Critical Perspectives on the Introduction of ICT in Norwegian Schools

Abstract

English abstract This article draws attention to the basic reflections related to new technologies as they are presented in key policy documents in Norway. One of the primary aims is to throw light on some of the dilemmas associated with the pedagogical use of technological innovations. This applies not least to the substantial discrepancy between expectations and results that has also been shown internationally. The most important conclusion in the article is that the investment in new technologies seems to have been founded on misleading premises. The documents analysed are characterized by one-sided pupil and learning perspectives in which teachers and pedagogical craftsmanship have been sidelined. Pedagogical reflections have come to be replaced by diffuse political visions that have left the field almost wide open to the technological enthusiast. Computers have increasingly been perceived as a contribution to efficiency and simplification. The industrial society's view of technology has thus been perpetuated. The prevailing descriptions have failed to assimilate the changed role of technology in our society. New technological solutions can help to simplify both teaching and learning but at the same time they lead to increased complexity. The latter point is not mentioned in the planning documents. The difficult, challenging and often contradictory factors are afforded no place. As a result, the plans have shortcomings and are incapable of meeting the challenges of the new school day.