Altered geometry: a new angle on teacher technophobia

Abstract

Teacher technophobia is analyzed using an activity systems framework and we contend that technophobic teachers make the mistake of confusing and collapsing the tool into the object thereby figuratively altering the geometry of the classic activity system triangle. Three case studies of technophobic teachers are reviewed and compared with observations of a teacher described as exemplary but whose practice exhibited technophobic characteristics. The teachers in this paper shared four mental models, that is, (a) teacher as expert, (b) student as inexpert, (c) ICT as being restricted to productivity applications, and (d) schooling as the achievement of purposeful outcomes. We conclude that teachers with technophobic characteristics act logically in terms of their worldview but that this leaves them with either no or limited processes to enact change and no clear view as to where they are heading.