Entusiast og bakstrever : Om en forunderlig ferd mot en fulldigitalisert skole

Abstract

With tablets as door openers, Apple and Google conquered Norwegian classrooms and were met with great enthusiasm. Now the objections have arrived, also from the responsible authorities. But how could perfectly competent politicians be misled into believing in castles in the air and into adopting the advertising language of the tech giants?

This is the story of the digitalization of Norwegian schools and its background. The beginning in the 1980s was promising, with a diversity of opinions and teachers in leading roles. Then the politicians set aside pedagogical judgment and ignored the counterarguments. Vague visions of a digital school were adopted by an ever-expanding network of politicians, public technology enthusiasts, commercial actors, academics, and the media. The result was a decades-long hegemony that favored the proponents of digitalization and paved the way for the cynical game of the big technology companies.

The book also includes some of the author’s reflections after a long professional career with new technology in education. It has been built on a desire to combine fascination with critical reflection, to unite the enthusiast and the skeptic, in line with the first national strategies in the field. It proved difficult, but may once again be crucial in facing the challenges ahead.