Although the topic of this thesis originated from my interest in children’s computer
use in the home it evolved to focus on students’ use of new technologies in the
school. The decision to focus on students’ use of new technology in the school (rather
than in the home) reflects my interest in school knowledge and practices, in
particular, the way in which curriculum subjects are realised differently in different
modes and media. Focusing the thesis on technology-mediated learning in the school
enables the potential tensions between traditional notions of literacy and learning
within formal school education and what it means to be literate in the digital
environment of the Twenty-first Century to be explored. There are many differences
between children’s use of computers in the home and in the school, including that
each utilises different media (Facer et. al, 2001; Harrison, et. al, 2001;Somekh et. al.,
2001a)'. Nevertheless, like children at home, students using new technologies in the
school are engaged with a range of representational and communicative modes. New
technologies that are used in some school classrooms include simulation applications,
virtual reality learning environments, electronic books, discussion forum applications,
spreadsheets, and hypertext. These applications use a range of representational modes
including still image, movement, colour, sound-effect, music, speech (voice) and
writing - making both the home and the school equally suitable sites for the purpose
of developing multimodal theory and examining the relationship between mode and
learning.
The hope of politicians that technology would transform education has not so far
been realised, despite the variety of government initiatives to technologise education
that have been implemented over the past twenty-five years. The use of new
technologies is seen by the government as a primary way to raise standards and to
offer more inclusive education. In the last five years the Government has supported
information and communication technology in education in England and Wales by
providing major funding for hardware, training for teachers, and the National Grid for
learning (launched in 1998 and due to continue through to 2004). The government
target for all schools to be connected to the internet is near to being realised: by the
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