Action Research and ICT Implementation

Abstract

This emancipatory action research study investigates implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) in schools. The case study examined retrospectively was part of a Norwegian ICT project called PILOT, the focus of which concerns the impact on school development of a locally developed Internet subject portal and study periods. The study found that simply overlaying ICT on the old organisational structure was insufficient, and that to succeed, the organisation needed to overhaul its basic structure. Nor is it sufficient to integrate ICT in these development processes. To achieve radical innovation in the school organisation, other structural modifications need to be pursued alongside ICT implementation. It is vital to the success of these innovative processes to allow school leaders and teachers to act as the driving forces on the basis of emancipatory action research. The article shows that this seems to be the main reason why ICT-initiated innovations implemented in 1998 and 2000 at one school are still in use in 2012 as central digital learning resources for both pupils and teachers.