Wales Journal of Education

Factors to Weigh When Bringing the Internet to Schools

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Abstract

This article discusses which factors should be considered in deciding how the Internet should be brought into primary and secondary schools. Based on a fiveyear study of the adoption of Internet use in a large urban school district in the United States, the paper outlines four factors which are likely to have a strong impact on the amount of use that is made of Internet access and on how such access influences educational processes and outcomes. These factors are: (i) the cost of present-day Internet access compared with other resources and delayed access; (ii) the need for substantial amounts of technological and pedagogical support for Internet-using teachers; (iii) the alignment between the norms of the school system, the community in which it is embedded and those of the Internet; and (iv) the alignment between existing educational goals, pedagogical approaches and assessment systems and the Internet's potential educational uses.

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How to Cite: Schofield, J. W. (2003) “Factors to Weigh When Bringing the Internet to Schools”, Wales Journal of Education. 12(1).