Turn and face the strange: : the role of communication, encouragement and feedback during technological changes in an educational setting

Abstract: In 2008 a new educational initiative termed “School without segregation” was implemented in Iceland. Its goal was to ensure that all children would be provided with education suited to individual variations in social and educational needs. Coinciding with this policy initiative a new technology strategy was implemented in the municipality of Kópavogur, Iceland´s second largest city, with the aim to equip children to deal with the fundamental technological changes in modern society and integrate technology in their education. As an integral part of this strategy all students in Kópavogur, from the fifth to the tenth grade were given iPads in 2015. The affected population was approximately 4.700 students and over 450 teachers. A significant body of research has examined how students fare when technology is integrated into their education. However, this thesis aims to examine how the implementation of this tablet-centric initiative affected the working environment of the municipality´s teachers, a subject that has been researched to a much lesser extent. With the aid of personal interviews communication between stakeholders of the initiative, strategies to motivate and encourage teachers in dealing with the change in their working environment and support afforded during the process was examined. Special focus was placed on the extent of involvement and participation of teachers during the implementation and the question of whether teachers´ opinions had an impact throughout the process. The thesis analysis is based on 18 semi-formal interviews with teachers from all of the city´s nine schools. Additionally, the team in charge of leading the implementation was interviewed to further broaden the scope. In brief, the thesis highlights that contention surrounded various aspects of the implementation. Many of the teachers felt overwhelmed and hesitant and described feeling that their concerns went unnoticed. Today, however, three years down the road, the iPads seem to have become an integral part of the everyday working environment of teachers and students alike and none of the teachers want to go back to teaching without iPads.