18: “What is Worthwhile?”: Exploring Schubert’s Question in the Realm of Educational Technology

This paper explores Schubert’s basic curricular question of “What is worthwhile?” as it relates to educational technology in K-12 schools. We initiate the dialogue via theoretical, ideological, and operational perspectives related to the ways we believe educational technology is most worthwhile in the K-12 curriculum. By setting our beliefs within the theoretical framework of interpretivism, we strive to identify defining attributes of worthwhile technology use while, simultaneously, leaving room for the variable attributes that accompany complex social environments such as K-12 schools, and suggest ways that ideological visions may become realities.

In his foreword to a recent volume of this journal (the JCI~>CI), Schubert (2000; also this volume) explores his basic curriculum question of “What is worthwhile?” Schubert’s question suggests a variety of potential answers and begs the reader to consider “an array of truths, meanings and possibilities” (p. 4). Given the nature of educational technology and the multiple knowledge formats (i.e., content, pedagogical, technical, attitudinal) associated with its implementation in K-12 schools, we believe Schubert’s question provides a logical framework for our discussion. We explore Schubert’s question from a theoretical, ideological, and operational perspective as it relates to educational technology in K-12 schools. We, also, adhere to the requirements for this special issue of JCI~>CI in that some sections of the article were collaboratively written by faculty and graduate students while other sections were the primary responsibility of either faculty or graduate students.