Abstract
The emergence of a knowledge-based economy has been identified as a central trend in modern economies as a result of the increasingly important role of information technology and learning in economic performance. In recognition of this most governments throughout the developed world have responded with a series of policy initiatives since the late 1990’s to either introduce or significantly increase information technology provision in schools to prepare students for life in the twenty first century. Ireland, with its growing reliance on the knowledge economy sector for employment and continued economic prosperity, developed its own policy initiative for computerizing the nations’ schools known as“Schools IT 2000: A Policy Framework for the New Millennium”. It was an ambitious programme with high expectations for the integration of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) in education. This paper examines two longitudinal educational ICT projects in Ireland in the first decade of the new millennium to query how far schools have travelled along the information superhighway and to ponder how well the catalytic capabilities of ICT have become embedded in the realities of classroom life and teachers pedagogic practices, with attendant implications for Ireland’s economic development.
Highlights
During the 1980’s the term “Information Society” replaced the long established and familiar term “industrial society” as the more common descriptor of the Age
The emergence of a knowledge-based economy has been identified as a central trend in modern economies, in recognition of the increasingly important role of information, technology and learning in economic performance (OECD 1996, cited in Flew, 2002)
It has led to a rethinking of the nature of knowledge where “know-how” and “know-where” has replaced “know that” (Tuomi, 2005) as a core skill. This has been accompanied by a growing recognition of the need for long term investment in people who lie at the heart of the knowledge economy where intangibles such as ideas, creativity and new ways of doing things, as opposed to the production of material goods (Romer, 1995), has taken centre stage
Summary
The emergence of a knowledge-based economy has been identified as a central trend in modern economies as a result of the increasingly important role of information technology and learning in economic performance. With its growing reliance on the knowledge economy sector for employment and continued economic prosperity, developed its own policy initiative for computerizing the nations’ schools known as “Schools IT 2000: A Policy Framework for the New Millennium”. It was an ambitious programme with high expectations for the integration of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) in education.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
