Examining pervasive technology practices in schools : a mental models approach

Studies of computers and education have failed to account for the relevance and importance of tacit assumptions and unquestioned expectations that underlie educational technology practices. A major premise of this dissertation is that it is these taken-for-granted interpretations of technology that most significantly influence how technology is used in the sphere of education. It is thus analytically useful to examine technology use in education by investigating the assumptions on which currently pervasive educational technology practices are built. I employ the concept of "mental models" to study current educational technology practices. An examination of the literature revealed key elements of the prevailing mental model of technology in education, which I call the mental model of computers as information technology and multimedia machines. In this mental model, computer technology is viewed as a means to provide students and teachers with Internet connectivity and access to extensive, up-to-date information. The computer's multimedia authoring capacity can then be utilized to synthesize the wealth of information culled from Internet sources into presentations with integrated text, graphics, sound, and video. I investigated how this mental model organizes thinking about technology use and education within a large-scale initiative to implement one-to-one computing in public schools, the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) The MLTI study highlights the pervasive influence and inherent inertia of an entrenched mental model.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. Program In Media Arts and Sciences

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Vaikakul, Savalai, 1976-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Seymour Papert.

• Architecture. Program In Media Arts and Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32501

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/32501