Author: Julio Meneses Naranjo
Programme: Doctoral Programme on the Information and Knowledge Society
Language: Catalan, Spanish and English
Supervisor: Dr Josep Maria Mominķ
Faculty / Institute: Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3)
Subjects: Theories and Methodology of Social Sciences, Sociography, Gender Studies, Sociology, Communication, Education and Teaching Operations and Management, Primary and Secondary Teaching
Key words: Internet, Primary and secondary education, Quality in education, School effectiveness and school improvement, Community, Social capital, Internet studies, Digital divide, Digital inequality
Area of knowledge: Sociology, Research Methods and Diagnosis in Education
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Summary:
In recent years, there has been widespread interest in the implementation of information and communication technologies (ICT) in schools. While most efforts have been directed to studying their introduction in teaching and learning as tools to facilitate the access, management, and processing of information, empirical investigation has not yet paid proper attention to the specific ways ICT foster and support social interaction and community involvement.
Adopting a community approach, this doctoral dissertation focuses on the incorporation of ICT, and particularly the Internet, into the organization and everyday functioning of classrooms and schools in a broad sense, including students' and teachers' interactions, patterns of collaboration amongst the teaching staff, school administration, and the opening of the school to families, other professionals, and the local community.
To do so, the dissertation is based on a compilation of research papers developed as part of the "Schooling in the Network Society: The Internet in Primary and Secondary Education" and "Integration of the Internet in Spanish School Education: The Current Situation and Prospects" projects.
This research reveals that the Catalan education system is a sparsely connected system where the introduction of the Internet does not appear to spark a substantial revolution in the established community-oriented practices, as well as one that plays a secondary role in the promotion of the digital inclusion of children and young people in the Catalan society.