Mistaking the Tool for the Outcome: Using Activity System Theory to understand the Complexity of Teacher Technophobia

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Lloyd, M. & Albion, P. (2005). Mistaking the Tool for the Outcome: Using Activity System Theory to understand the Complexity of Teacher Technophobia. In C. Crawford et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2005 (pp. 1480-1487). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/19250.

Conference Information

Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (SITE) 2005
Phoenix, AZ, USA
2005
  Caroline Crawford, Roger Carlsen, Ian Gibson, Karen McFerrin, Jerry Price, Roberta Weber & Dee Anna Willis
AACE

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Authors

Margaret Lloyd, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia; Peter Albion, University of Southern Queensland (USQ), Australia

Abstract

The blame for the reputed failure of schools to embrace information and communication technologies (ICT) and the relegation of new technologies to the periphery of school life is frequently placed directly on the technophobic teacher. In this paper, we question this simplistic and singular placement of blame on such individuals and, in so doing, address the complexity of teacher beliefs and dispositions. In revisiting interview data and mapping against activity system theory, we have discerned a common misconception among technophobic teachers of "othering" technology and believing classroom integration to be concerned with teaching about, rather than with or through, ICT. We cautiously conclude that those perceived as technophobic are in fact mistaking the tool for the outcome and that the problem of teacher technophobia is a misunderstanding of the roles of the components within the activity system.

Keywords

• Schools
• Teachers
• Information Communication Technologies

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