Changing the nature of digital technology use within the primary school setting

Enacting technological change within Australian primary school settings remains a problematic endeavour. Research has long pointed to the difficulty of producing impactful and sustained change in ICT-mediated teaching and learning practices. This study explores the various contextual and cultural factors that influence the nature of technological change within the primary school context – taking a participatory design approach where five groups of teachers and students in one Victorian primary school were supported to co-design and implement technology-based initiatives based on mutually-identified problems and ‘real-world’ design solutions. The thesis explores the issues that shaped the groups’ efforts, concluding with a user-led model for future change endeavours.