Abstract
Deconstructing mythical thinking, in this case about the use of digital Information Communication Technology (ICT) in education, seems fundamental to promoting critical thinking, constructing sound knowledge and preventing ignorance-based mistakes. In this vein, Maranto and McShane (2012, p. 71) have identified a set of myths underpinning current educational policy in the United States. In relation to ‘The Cutback Myth’, they argue how difficult it is ‘to have sensible discussions about school funding given such widespread ignorance regarding both its current level and its effects. As Mark Twain put it, “It’s not what you don’t know that kills you, it’s what you know for sure that ain’t true’”. Taking into account this line of thought, our main purposes are to promote awareness about how our beliefs and views on digital ICT in education have been built and to invite educators to critically consider to what extent these beliefs and views have a rational and evidencebased grounding, or not. We also argue for more solid and multifaceted positions to analyse and discuss the contributions of ICT for improving education.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abizadeh, A. (2004). Historical truth, national myths, and liberal democracy. Journal of Political Philosophy, 12(3), 291–313.
Aznar, M. F. (2005). Technology challenged: Understanding our creations & choosing our future. Santa Cruz, CA: KnowledgeContent.
Balanskat, A., Blamire, R., & Kefala, S. (2006). The ICT impact report. A review of studies of ICT impact on schools in Europe. Retrieved from http://insight.eun.org/hared/data/pdf/impact_study.pdf.
Becker, H. (2001). How are teachers using computers in instruction? 2001 Meetings of the American Educational Research Association. Retrieved from http://www.crito.uci.edu/tic/findings/conferences-pdf/how_are_teachers_using.pdf.
Bennett, S., Maton, K., & Kervin, L. (2008). The ‘digital natives’ debate: A critical review of the evidence. British Journal of Educational Technology, 39(5), 775–786.
Bigum, C., & Kenway, J. (1998). New information technologies and the ambiguous future of schooling: Some possible scenarios. In A. Hargreaves, A. Liebernan, M. Fullan, & D. Hopkins (Eds.), International handbook of educational change (pp. 95–115). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Bullen, M., & Morgan, T. (2011). Digital learners not digital natives. La Cuestión Universitaria, 7, 60–68.
Bullen, M., Morgan, T., & Qayyum, A. (2011). Digital learners in higher education: Generation is not the issue. Canadian Journal of Learning Technology, 37(1). Retrieved from http://cjlt.csj.ualberta.ca/index.php/cjlt/article/view/550/298.
Carr, N. G. (2010). The shallows: What the Internet is doing to our brains. New York: W.W. Norton.
Castells M. (1996). The Information age, economy, society and culture: The rise of the network society. Oxford: Blackwells.
Cuban, L. (1986). Teachers and machines: The classroom use of technology since 1920. New York: Teachers College Press.
Cuban, L. (2001). Oversold and underused: Computers in the classroom. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Cuban, L., Kirkpatrick, H., & Peck, C. (2001). High access and low use of technologies in high school classrooms: Explaining an apparent paradox. American Educational Research Journal, 38(4), 813–834.
Gates, B., Myhrvold, N., & Rinearson, P. (1995). The road ahead. New York: Penguin Books.
Gee, J. P. (2007). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Gibbons, M., Limoges, C., Nowotny, H., Schwartzman, S., Scott, P., & Trow, M. (1994). The new production of knowledge: The dynamics of science and research in contemporary societies. London: Sage Publications.
Hanson, F. A. (2013). Technology and cultural tectonics: Shifting values and meanings. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Howe, N., & Strauss, W. (2000). Millenials rising: The next great generation. New York: Random House.
Heuston, D. H., & Parkinson, J. W. (2011). The third source: A message of hope for education. Salt Lake City, UT: Waterford Institute.
Jonassen, D. (2000). Computers as mindtools for schools: Engaging critical thinking (2nd edn.). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Jones, C., & Shao, B. (2011). The net generation and digital natives: Implications for higher education. York, UK: Higher Education Academy.
Kennedy, G., Judd, T., Dalgarno, B., & Waycott, J. (2010). Beyond natives and immigrants: Exploring types of net generation students. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26(5), 332–343.
Law, N., Pelgrum, W. J., & Plomp, T. (Eds.). (2008). Pedagogy and ICT use in schools around the world: Findings from the IEA SITES 2006 study. Hong Kong: CERC-Springer.
Lévy, P. (2001). Cyberculture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Mansell, R., & Wehn, U. (1998). Knowledge societies: Information technology for sustainable development. New York: United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development/Oxford University Press.
Maranto, R., & McShane, M. Q. (2012). President Obama and education reform: The personal and the political. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Margaryan, A., Littlejohn, A., & Vojt, G. (2011). Are digital natives a myth or reality?: University students’ use of digital technologies. Computers & Education, 56(2), 429–440.
Masuda, Y. (1980). The information society as post-industrial society. Washington, DC: The World Future Society, Tokyo, IIS.
Mecklenburgers, J. A. (1990). Educational technology is not enough. Phi Delta Kappan, October, 72(2), 105–108.
National Science Board Commission on Precollege Education in Mathematics, Sciences and Technologies (1983). Educating Americans for the 21st century. Washington, DC: National Science Foundation.
Oppenheimer, T. (2003). The flickering mind: Saving education from the false promise of technology. New York: Random House.
Ornellas, A. (2003). Retos que la sociedad de la información plantea a la enseñanza y al profesorado. Revista: Gerencia Tecnológica Informática — GTI, 12, 29–34.
Ornellas, A. (2009). Two decades of ICT policy in education. Changing discourses. Changing practices? In A. Mendez, A. Solano, J. Mesa & J. A. Mesa (Comp.), Research, reflections and innovations in integrating ICT in education. Vol. 1 (pp. 154–157). Badajoz: Formatex.
Palfrey, J., & Gasser, U. (2008). Born digital: Understanding the first generation of digital natives. Philadelphia, PA: Basic Books.
Papert, S. (1979). Computers and learning. In M. L. Dertouzos & J. Moses (Eds.), The computer age: A twenty-year view (pp. 73–86). Cambridge, MA: MIT.
Pelgrum, W. J. (2001). Obstacles to the integration of ICT in education: Results from a worldwide educational assessment. Computers; Education, 37, 163–187.
Pelgrum, W. J., & Plomp, T. (1991). The use of computers in education worldwide. Oxford: Pergamon.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1–6.
Prensky, M. (2005). Listen to the natives. Educational Leadership, 63(4), 8–13.
Ringstaff, C., & Kelley, L. (2002). The learning return on our educational technology investment. A review of findings from research. WestEd improving education through research, development and learning. Retrieved from http://www.wested.org/online_pubs/learning_return.pdf.
Sancho, J. M. (2010). Digital technologies and educational change. In A. Hargreaves, A. Lieberman, M. Fullan, & D. Hopkins (Eds.), Second international handbook of educational change (pp. 433–444). Dordrecht: Springer.
Sancho, J. M., & Alonso, C. (coord.). (2012). La fugacidad de las políticas, la inercia de las prácticas La educación y las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación. Barcelona: Octaedro.
Seddoh, K. E (2002). Educating citizens in a changing global society. In S. Uvalic-Trumbic. (Ed.), Globalization and the market in higher education: Quality, accreditation and qualification (pp. 45–59). Paris: UNESCO/Economica.
Selwyn, N. (2009). The digital native-myth and reality. Aslib Proceedings: New Information Perspectives, 61(4), 16.
Shirley, D. (2011). The fourth way of technology and change. Journal of Educational Change, 2, 187–209.
Sigalés, C., Mominó, J. M., & Meneses, J. (2007). L’escola a la Societat Xarxa: Internet a l’educació Primària i Secundària. Informe final de recerca. Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. Retrieved from http://www.uoc.edu/in3/pic/cat/escola_xarxa/informe.html.
Smith, E. (2012). The digital native debate in higher education: A comparative analysis of recent literature. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 38(3), Retrieved from http://cjlt.csj.ualberta.ca/index.php/cjlt/article/view/ 649/347 [Download: September 10, 2013].
Tapscott, D. (1998). Growing up digital: The rise of the net generation. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Tapscott, D. (2009). Grown up digital: How the netgeneration is changing your world. Toronto: McGraw-Hill.
Tyack, D., & Tobin, W. (1994). The ‘grammar’ of schooling: Why has it been so hard to change? American Educational Research Journal, 31(3), 453–479.
Thomas, M. (2011). Deconstructing digital natives: Young people, technology and the New Literacies. New York: Routledge.
UNESCO. (2005). Towards knowledge societies. UNESCO world report. Paris: UNESCO Publishing.
Weiser, M. (1991). The computer for the 21st century. Scientific American, 265(3), 94–104.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2015 Adriana Ornellas and Juana Sancho
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ornellas, A., Sancho, J. (2015). Three Decades of Digital ICT in Education: Deconstructing Myths and Highlighting Realities. In: Harmes, M.K., Huijser, H., Danaher, P.A. (eds) Myths in Education, Learning and Teaching. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137476982_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137476982_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-50205-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-47698-2
eBook Packages: Palgrave Education CollectionEducation (R0)