The role of the information society model in education in the United States

Abstract

This critical appraisal of the role and impact of the information society model in the United States educational system begins with a discussion of three dominant paradigms: automation, "information society," and "mind tools;" and then traces the history of information and communication technology (ICT)1 in education in the United States, describing how ideas, intertwined with the conceptions of the information society, led to distractions that have impeded vigorous development of ICT to improve education. These distractions included the claim that schools should take up the responsibility of training all students in ICT for the so-called information workforce. Promoters of the information society model together with the marketing arms of the IT industry perpetuated the adoption of ICT as an end in itself rather than as a means toward improving the main business of education, learning. These pressures over the past three decades have left the ICT in education in a state of confusion, lacking adequate support and, in many instances, the infrastructure to adapt to the demands of the twenty-first century.