Dissemination of information and communications technology and change in school culture

Abstract

School culture can be analysed through the relationships between people (students, teachers, and parents) and through the management of resources. This includes physical ones (like space), non-physical ones (like time), and people. In fact, each of the elements of the analysis affects the other, forming a cycle. Two schools where the principals had a strong belief in computers improving learning are analysed. The administrators and parents of these schools also felt that ICT was the core of education of future citizens. The kind of changes designed in each school, how these changes modified the school culture, and the changes that happened in the way teachers actually used ICT are compared. The main factors that seem to be responsible for the successful continuing use of ICT in one of the schools are presented. © 2001 by Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.