Towards a framework for analysis of country action in the field of information technologies and education

This paper introduces an explanatory framework to facilitate the analysis of country action in the field of information technologies (IT) and education. The framework has components within the sphere of country action and ones external to it. External to the action are three types of influence. There is the wider social, political and economic context; the information gained from current practice; the educational and other ideological assumptions of those who make decisions. The action incorporates two logically distinct phases; policy formulation and implementation. Within the policy formulation phase is a separation of the specific IT and education policy from other educational, social, economic and political objectives. The policy itself is then categorized according to its location on four distinct scales. Activity in the implementation phase can be described by reference to five general characteristics; it being possible to identify several strategies for each characteristic. Each component of the explanatory framework is described and a variety of trends and issues are discussed. Finally, possible directions for further applications and refinement of the framework are presented. A plea is made for action takers to incorporate an increased classroom perspective into their deliberations.