Abstract:
A multi disciplinary interagency team is currently undertaking research in NSW
government schools funded by the Australian Research Council through the Strategic
Partnership with Industry - Research and Training Scheme (SPIRT). In this paper we
outline the early stage problems associated with researching the question: what does
enhanced learning through computer-based technology actually look like? We argue
that many "commonsenses" have come to be associated the integration of computerbased
technologies in schools. At the core of these is a pervasive belief that
technology will improve learning. Our efforts to pin down the purpose of our research
have been made more difficult by the fact that we are trying to get at good practice, in
a context that is changing. We outline three changing sets of practices in which this is
true and important for our project and for thinking about technology and schools.
These practices relate to how technology functions in schools, what counts as
knowledge and is valued as performance, and how new subjectivities and
relationships mediated by technology.
