Digital Students in a Book-Oriented School: Students' Perceptions of School and the Usability of Digital Technology in Schools (Report‪)‬

Introduction Children all over the world use computers and Internet technology, thereby informally learning how to learn with the technology. It is widely argued that technology, computers and the Internet shape how we think (e.g., Bolter, 1984). In school, however, students encounter a form of learning shaped by books. This encounter may feel awkward. Students might doubt the relevance of school as a learning-to-learn institute given their informal learning experience; or they might internalize schooling as a privileged form of learning. In both cases the fertile human-computer interaction needed by for tomorrow's citizens in a rapidly changing world (e.g. Salomon et al, 1991) is not likely to be established. Understanding how students perceive the relationship among school, learning, and digital technology--the goal of the study described in this paper--is important because schools have a responsibility for preparing the new generation for life.