Why has Computer Assisted Learning made so little impact in secondary education? Lessons from an economics and business subject case-study

This article reports the findings and draws lessons from a major twenty-year longitudinal study of computer use in economics and business studies teaching in UK secondary schools. Over the period, the level and pattern of computer use within subject lessons has changed substantially. In particular,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Curriculum journal (London, England) Vol. 20; no. 2; pp. 139 - 159
Main Author: Hurd, Steve
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Routledge 01.06.2009
Subjects:
Business Education
business studies
Computer Assisted Instruction
Computer Assisted Learning
Computer Software
Computers
economics
Economics Education
Educational Environment
educational quasi-market
Foreign Countries
information and communications technology (ICT)
innovation
learning resources
Longitudinal Studies
Secondary Education
Teaching Methods
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
ISSN:0958-5176, 1469-3704
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This article reports the findings and draws lessons from a major twenty-year longitudinal study of computer use in economics and business studies teaching in UK secondary schools. Over the period, the level and pattern of computer use within subject lessons has changed substantially. In particular, there has been a progressive shift away from enquiry-based applications, associated with the Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) genre of software, in favour of generic applications. Various factors within the school and the wider educational environment have contributed to the observed changes, including teachers' continuing lack of confidence with ICT, the collapse of the educational software market and the increasingly competitive nature of schools. The result has been a virtual halving of computer use within mainstream lessons over the past decade. The article concludes that perhaps the time has arrived to take a more even-handed approach towards different learning resources and approaches.
ISSN:0958-5176
1469-3704
DOI:10.1080/09585170902948780