Change Theory: A Model to Study Technology in Classrooms

Abstract

How difficult is change? According to those who study change in schools and classrooms, change is something that is always occurring, or things remain the same. As Seymour Papert noted in 1993, if a teacher from the eighteenth century were to come into a classroom today, most likely they would feel right at home. In many cases students are still sitting in rows, perhaps not parallel rows, but rows nonetheless. There are books and papers around. Perhaps they would not be familiar with the overhead projector, but it would not take long to learn how to use it. Maps still hang on the walls. There might even be a computer somewhere in the room, but it might not be turned on, so no problem there. Making classrooms modern has not meant changing the typical look, feel and layout of the traditional classroom.