Computers and the Internet in School: Closing the Knowledge Gap?

This chapter focuses on the integration of new electronic media, such as computers and the Internet, in the schools of the 12 European countries investigated in this project. ¹ The provision of new media in schools has the potential to compensate for uneven access in the home. This potential is not always realized, however, because many schools are still oriented to a print media culture and have some way to go to integrate audiovisual or electronic media in learning. This delay in media integration is caused not only by financial restrictions of the schools, but to a large extent by skeptical attitudes of teachers and education administrators toward audiovisual and electronic media (Postman, 1985, 1994,1996).