In Chapter 3 we looked at the ways in which learning theory could provide a lens on the use of digital technology but this is not going to be helpful if technology itself is not being taken up very much in schools, colleges or universities in the first place. In fact, there is an often-reported paradox: technology seems to offer considerable benefits to teachers and learners, teachers are generally keen, or say they are keen, on using it and learners seem motivated by using it so why does technology seem so little used in practice? We turn to looking at ways in which researchers have tried to explain this ‘paradox’. The chapter is divided into five sections:

• • Listing the factors: an under-theorised approach

• • What do we know about school leadership and school reform?

• • Activity theory (a framework on practice)

• • Ecological approaches

• • Theories compared

Listing the factors: an under-theorised approach

When computers were first being introduced in schools, at least into those educational systems which could afford them, understanding the take-up of technology did not seem such a difficult issue. The problem was primarily one of access: there were more teachers wanting to use the machines than machines available. As access grew so would use in the classroom. Research could still be carried out, but this was more about mapping the use of particular tools, for example, showing how to support the revising and editing of writing using a word processor, how to organise groups when working on Logo, how to make use of databases and spreadsheets for interrogating large sets of data and so on. Yet as access grew there were still problems with adoption and it was being noted that computer use by teachers was sporadic and tended to be used for ‘supplementary activities’. Moreover, those supporting computers in education had long argued their use would lead to changes in teaching methods and in ways of accessing information (for example, Watson, 2001). However, such a transformative impact was difficult to detect.

There were then two problems about take-up: technology was not being used enough and technology was not being used as intended.