Introducing Information and Communication Technologies into Schools: The blurring of boundaries

Abstract

This article considers the impact of Superhighways technology on schools in the UK, in terms of the debate concerning the development of the conditions of postmodernity. In particular, it charts how the collapse of boundaries associated with postmodernism may have affected traditional divisions within schooling, following the introduction of broadband connectivity and Internet capability to schools and colleges. The authors review the broad approaches taken to the introduction of new technologies, such as the Utopian and Dystopian, transformative and incrementalist. By drawing upon the findings of the Education Departments' Superhighways Initiative, the authors explore the effects of new information and communication technologies on a number of traditional boundaries, including those between curriculum subjects, between pupils and teachers, and, more generally, traditional conceptions of space and time. The article concludes that, although initial indications suggest that the impact of Superhighways capability may be a transformative one, the effect on boundaries is mixed. While some boundaries such as those of space and time seem to be dissolving, others such as the division between academic subjects are much more resistant.