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Suzanne Gatt1 & Teresa Sordé2

1 ) University of Malta

2) Autonomous University of Barcelona

Date of publication: June 24th, 201 2

T Gatt, S. & Sordé, T. (201 2). ICT Alone is Not Enough, the

Whole Village is Needed. A community-based and dialogic approach to

technology in schools. International Journal of Educational Psychology,

1 (2), 1 53-1 74. doi: 1 0.4471 /ijep.201 2.09

http://dx.doi.org/1 0.4471 /ijep.201 2.09

http://dx.doi.org/10.4471/ijep.2012.09


IJEP– International Journal ofEducationalPsychology Vol. 1 No. 2

June 2012 pp.153-174

ICTAlone is Not Enough,
The Whole Village is Needed.
ACommunity-based and
Dialogic Approach to
Technology in Schools

Suzanne Gatt

University ofMalta

Abstract

The socio-cultural context shapes learning and development. Thus, schools cannot

ignore neither the transformations shaping their surrounding societies, but be an

active part of them, nor what those transformations mean for school learning. In

this regard, technology has changed the way we think and learn, and learning has

been shown to be deeply linked to the community of which we are part. However,

benefits of involving the community in the ICT use in schools are barely explored

in the literature; this article is aimed to shed some light on that aspect. We draw

from a successful case, the Ariño school, and based on the dialogic learning

theoretical framework, different strategies that promote a dialogic use of ICT are

presented: community involvement in self-sufficient classrooms, community

involvement outside the school settings, and community digital literacy. This

analysis leads to the proposal of a community-based and dialogic approach to

technology in schools.

Keywords: ICT, dialogic learning, educational success, rural schools,

community involvement

2012 Hipatia Press

ISSN 2014-3591

DOI: 10.4471/ijep.2012.09

Teresa Sordé

Autonomous University ofBarcelona



W

154

students attending the rural school Ariño, compared her two children

school to hers when she was a student there. The blackboard and the

teacher standing in front ofthe well-seated and silence students working

on their own or listening patiently to the teacher’s lesson have been

substituted by PC tablets, dialogues and circles ofstudents, teachers and

volunteers. This is how the Ariño learning community—two rural

partner schools— look like today. Pilar reflected on the deep

transformations the schools have undergone and in which ways

neighbours have integrated Information and Communication

Technology (ICT) in their everyday lives. The Ariño village has been

included in the information society, not only because ICT has been

made accessible but because they are used from a dialogic perspective.

In this article, authors argue that in order to make ICT relevant for social

inclusion, there is a need to develop a dialogic use of ICT that is means

using ICT following the Dialogic Learning principles (Racionero &

Valls, 2007). The case ofAriño shows how, the strong commitment of

this community has led the village and the educational centre to be

internationally recognized as “the school of the future.” (Microsoft,

2007).

The transition from an Industrial to an Information Society has meant

a shift from a focus on material resources to intellectual ones. Not only

has it changed the way people work and manage their finances, but also

their daily lives: in how they access knowledge; communicate; as well

as socialise. Knowledge is a determining factor in the constitution and

development of the Information Society, and consequently also in terms

of people’s inclusion into it (Castells et al. 1999). It is no longer true

that “those who have the information have the power” since more and

more information is easily accessible. The real challenge has changed

from one of access to knowledge to that of selecting and processing

knowledge to identify relevant information depending on the situation in

hand (Flecha et al, 1999, p. 65).

This transition has not left education aside. Learning should include a

critical approach to the use of technology, facilitating the acquisition of

skills to select and process the information. Therefore, the teacher’s role

has changed from one of a knowledge provider to that of a facilitator

e were very surprised, since the classroom was very different to

the ones we used to have. Pilar, alumni and a mother of two

Suzanne Gatt& Teresa Sordé - ICTalone is not enough



155IJEP– International Journal ofEducationalPsychology, 1(2)

which helps students learn how to process and select relevant

information from all that is available. The introduction of ICT in

classrooms becomes a much more complex issue than a mere technical

one. It requires a transformation of the teaching and learning context.

This transformation can be achieved from a dialogic approach involving

on it all the social agents, including: the family; the community; and the

peers (Aubert, García & Racionero, 2009). In this article, the case of

Ariño illustrates how the dialogic use of ICT involving strong

community participation benefits not only the students but the whole

village.

In doing so, the argumentation is structured into five parts. First, there

is a literature review on the benefits of using ICT counting with

community involvement. Second, the theoretical underpinnings of the

dialogic use ofICT are presented. It is followed by an explanation ofthe

methodology used, and a description of the selected case. Some of the

findings related to the dialogic use of ICT are reported here as well as

all the transformations which have been generated beyond the school

walls. The article ends with some final reflections emerged from the

findings.

ICT and community involvement in the schools

ICT has deeply shaped the most recent developments of teaching and

learning. Educational success and social inclusion depend every time

more on the skills to manoeuvre the existing information (Gorz, 1983;

Castells et al, 1999; McFarlane & Sakellariou, 2002). According to

Buckingham (2007), the new digital divide is not only defined by the

ICT quality access, in terms of the equipment and the information

resources, but more on the kind of support from other adults, if any,

children receive in their ICT use. Children belonging to vulnerable

groups or from LSES backgrounds tend to have more difficulties in

having this type of access (Buckingham, 2007, p. 84). However, as

argued here, by transforming the environment through community

involvement in the dialogic use of ICT, this new digital divide can be

diminish and even reversed.

These new tools and skills cannot be introduced at the school lonely



ignoring what is going on in the outside society. There is a growing need

to coordinate what happens in the school with what happens at home,

the street and the new virtual social spaces (e.g. instant message

systems, social networks and so on) (Aubert et al, 2009). Research

exploring the potential of community involvement in the use of ICT at

the school is found to be an emerging field. While very limited attention

has been paid in the community involvement in the ICT educational

literature, a similar pattern is found in the case ofschool and community

participation in the case ofICT access. Some ofthe relevant work in the

area and more specifically the identified benefits are reviewed in what

follows.

First, there is a body of research that has been exploring the crucial

role that community involvement play in developing a critical use of

ICT. For more than a decade, digital competence has been considered as

one of the basic key competences for lifelong learning in the European

Qualifications Framework (European Commission, 2005). Key compe-

tences were defined as a combination ofknowledge, skills and attitudes

which every individual needs for personal fulfilment and development,

active citizenship, social inclusion and employment. However, there is a

need for a step beyond ofdigital competence: a critical use of ICT. This

skill should not only be learned for the academic purpose, but to be

transferrable to the variety of contexts in which children are using ICT

today. In doing so, the traditional teaching and learning model based on

the exclusive relationship between the teacher and the students is not

enough. The research conducted from the critical media literacy shows

how teachers and adults in general should support the critical use of the

media (Macedo & Steinberg, 2007). The interaction with peers or adults

instead of an isolated use contributes to elaborate more critical analysis

of the messages. For this to happen, it is necessary to create the

conditions that allow for these spaces to exist during school hours, after

school programs, weekends, at home and so on. Although children are

very often much more grasped in the ICT use, the contents are mainly

produced within the existing gender, cultural, sexual, consumption,

value and other systems. Peers and adults can bring into dialogue their

experience and knowledge to promote a more shared critical read of the

world.

156 Suzanne Gatt& Teresa Sordé - ICTalone is not enough



Research has also identified new emerging risks like bullying and

sexual abuse that should be seriously considered (Livingston, 2003;

Layard & Dunn, 2009). These risks need to be taken into account within

the critical digital competences and as something to prevent by all the

members of the educational community. The family involvement will

not be enough and the entire community in its own diversity is

necessary in the prevention of these types of misconducts. At the

International Youth Advisory Congress (2008), participants asked

teachers, family members and other adults to get involve and to inform

everybody about the risks involved. Oliver, Flecha and Soler (2009)

demonstrated how not only a major coordination among homes,

communities and schools on the prevention ofgender violence is needed

but also the involvement of the other women who without an academic

degree have much to contribute to this issue. This coordination is

developed through the creation of mixed committees composed by

teachers, family members and students. These committees are in charge

ofdefining preventive measures according to what has been decided by

the entire learning community.

A second benefit identified in the revision ofthe scientific literature on

ICT and community involvement is their positive association with the

students’ academic achievement. The Becta report (2006)

conceptualized e-maturity where schools with greater levels of ICT

manage to achieve a faster increase in academic results than those with

a low level. E-maturity was defined as the ability to make strategic and

effective use of technology in order to improve educational results. The

academic and non-academic benefits obtained from the inclusion ofICT

have been reported in the case of at risk groups, for example, cultural

minorities and people with disabilities benefit from the use of ICT for

learning (Edmunds, 2008; Balanskat et al. 2006; Meiring & Norman,

2005).

A third benefit is the transformations that take place beyond the school

walls. Different types of technological developments can support in

more or less measure parental involvement with schools and their

children’s learning (Lewin & Luckin, 2010; Angus, Snyder, &

Sutherland-Smith, 2004; Stevenson, 2008).

Schools cannot afford to be far removed from this reality if they do not

want to be irrelevant. The schools’ role in fighting the digital divide

157IJEP– International Journal ofEducationalPsychology, 1(2)



becomes especially important in those cases where access to ICT is not

possible at home but depends on the opportunities provided by the

school. Schools are not only places in which children are educated for

future employment, but they are also bridges providing access to ICT

for the families in the community. The more families use ICT, the more

they are able to respond to the digital collaborative learning activities

which their children are involved in (Anastasiades, Vitalaki &

Gertzakis, 2008). For that reason the involvement of families and

communities becomes important, in the overcoming of the generational

divide. Thus, the dialogue held on the use of the media and the related

material is extended to the daily interaction ofall ofthe members.

The three benefits identified in the literature—a more critical approach

to media literacy, positive influence in academic performance and

benefits for the community—are all closely connected to the creation of

dialogic spaces to use ICT. In the next section, the seven principles of

the Dialogic Learning are presented, serving as a frame for the dialogic

use ofICT.

158

Puigvert and Flecha (2004) defined the dialogic use of ICT drawing

from the seven principles of the dialogic learning (Aubert et al., 2009).

These principles were created taking the contributions of Freire,

Habermas, Vygotsky, Chomsky, Scribner, and Mead and many others

into account.

Egalitarian dialogue is the first one. It means that agreements are

reached through the force ofarguments and not through existing power

relations (Habermas, 1981) (e.g. a teacher versus an illiterate mother).

The use of ICT can lead to a more democratic and horizontal

participation which is open to all (Pulido, 2007). The dialogic use of

ICT involves the promotion of these types of spaces, for instance, by

inviting community members to participate in discussions, consultations

or blogs related to the school or the village. Egalitarian dialogue means

to promote all types of dialogic interactions, with everyone within the

community, and not only with teachers, which has an impact on

children’s learning. In this context, ICT can promote a collaborative

learning process in which the diversity of interaction stimulates the

The dialogic use of ICT

Suzanne Gatt& Teresa Sordé - ICTalone is not enough



construction ofknowledge.

The second principle refers to the equality of differences that means

that everyone, besides his or her own difference, have equal access to

social opportunities. In terms of ICT, this means that different strategies

can be developed in respect to both diversity and equality. ICT allows

traditional models that tend to homogenise reality or participation to

make way for more plural and democratic ones. For instance, there is

not only one way to learn ICT, different people learn using very diverse

strategies. This leads us to the third principle, which is cultural

intelligence. This is understood here to be the intelligence provided by

each person through their own living experience. It includes academic

and practical intelligence as well as communication skills (language and

action). The more diversity in terms of types of intelligence which is

contributed to the community, the richer education on the critical use of

ICT becomes. For example, if a discussion is being held in relation to

the debate on freedom of expression and the regulation of online racist

material, the debate will be richer if other people from the community

also take part in it. If an immigrant father who volunteers in an anti-

racist association, a student cousin writing her master thesis on racism

participate in the debate, as well as a grandmother who has experienced

the Nazi Germany era, then different types of intelligence provide more

information, criteria, and arguments which enrich the critical reflection

process of all. Thus students not only gain academic knowledge from

the cousin, but also from the grandmother’s and the father life

experiences. In that case, a greater instrumental dimension in learning,

which is the third principle ofdialogic learning is achieved.

Through dialogue, the equality of difference, and value being placed

on the intelligence and knowledge of each person, relationships

involving greater solidarity are established between the people

participating in that community. This contributes to one of the other

principles, which is that of solidarity (Freire, 1997). The democratising

force of ICT has led to many examples of how people can organise

themselves into movements involving solidarity, and how they used it as

a tool to coordinate each other and carry out joint actions. Moving into

the field ofthe local educational community, the promotion ofsolidarity

two other principles which are the creation of meaning, based on the

159IJEP– International Journal ofEducationalPsychology, 1(2)



160

need to provide a meaning to all the actions we conduct (Weber, 1968)

and transformation instead ofadaptation (Freire, 1997).

The last but not least principle is transformation that occurs as soon as

traditional interaction based on power begins to change progressively

towards more egalitarian interaction. For example, the fact that

assemblies are set up (in which teachers, families and also students

participate) leads to end with the decision making monopoly that

teachers had. All the transformations which are generated through the

interaction established in the school and the use of ICT, have a direct

impact on interaction outside school. More opportunities for the future

are created, since the community holds more debates on the current

needs and challenges, while at the same time deciding how to respond to

them together. In this debate the use of ITC is seen as a crosscutting

tool, although not as an end in itself. The aim is to overcome the

inequalities generated by the digital divide, to accelerate children’s

academic progress, and to improve the community overall opportunities.

The dialogic use ofICT helps to empower the whole community from a

critical perspective. As a consequence of this learning children find that

adults acquire a greater critical capacity for the use ofICT and therefore

enrich the interaction they share, while at the same time promoting their

autonomy in relation to ICT use. In turn this interaction between

teachers, family members, and children, increases the well-being of the

whole community, and the traditional problems of conflict or distance

between the school and the family are overcome. The children also feel

that they are in a more positive environment, and this promotes greater

self-esteem for all the people involved.

Methodology

The Ariño case study has been conducted within the European Sixth

Framework Programe project INCLUD-ED Strategies for Inclusion and

Social Cohesion in Europe from Education” (2006-2011). The main aim

of the INCLUD-ED project is to analyze educational strategies that

contribute to overcoming inequalities and promoting social cohesion,

and educational strategies that generate social exclusion. With 15

partners from 14 countries in Europe, the INCLUD-ED project contains

Suzanne Gatt& Teresa Sordé - ICTalone is not enough



six projects which focus on researching the question of social exclusion

and education from different perspectives, including the role of social

structures, policies, social agents and transformative educational

projects.

The INCLUD-ED research and the case- study presented here are

framed under the contributions of the Critical Communicative

Methodology (CCM) (Gómez, Latorre, Sánchez & Flecha, 2006). CCM

starts from the premise that the creation of new knowledge arose from

the egalitarian dialogue among researchers and the researched.

Researchers are responsible to bring in the scientific community

advancements, not to hide it, but to share it and to create more and

better intersubjective knowledge. The researched perspective is present

throughout the entire research process. The dialogic creation of

knowledge guarantees the excellence and quality of the findings as well

as their relevance for the study end-users. Reality is not only described

or explained, but comprehended in order to inform its own

transformation.

The Ariño case was selected because they were implementing some of

the successful actions already identified by the INCLUD-ED

consortium (2009). Ifeducation is aimed at facilitating the acquisition of

those skills required by the Information Society, it is necessary to ensure

that everyone participates through the dialogic use of ICT. The selected

case is an example of how this process can be achieved. Under the

umbrella of the INCLUD-ED research project, this case has served to

the purpose of filling the existing gap within the scientific literature a

dialogic use ofICT through community participation. The uniqueness of

this school makes it to be a better scenario to explore in which ways the

community involvement in the use of ICT contribute not only to

improve students’ academic performance but also to deeply transform

rural village isolation.

Since the transformation of the school into a Learning Community,

researchers have been following the development ofthis school, actively

participating in the different processes involved. Within this framework,

the present case study draws from data collected through three different

strategies. First ofall, information about the school and the village were

collected throughout the life ofthe project, as an informal monitoring of

the INCLUD-ED successful actions implementation. Second, open-

161IJEP– International Journal ofEducationalPsychology, 1(2)



ended in-depth interviews with key players were conducted: the school

head-teacher, family members volunteering at the school, students and

alumni. A focus group with eight mothers was also organized. Third,

researchers have visited the school several times, conducting informal

interviews with teachers, students, family members, and neighbours.

During these visits, communicative observations were also conducted

within and outside the classroom providing rich data on what goes on

inside. The collected data was analyzed through the lens ofthe dialogic

learning theoretical framework, as it can be seen in the following

sections.

162

The case of the Ariño Learning Community

Ariño is a small village located in a mining area in Teruel, in the

Autonomous Community of Aragón (Spain). The scarce population

living there traditionally experienced isolation problems both physically

(transport and road communication systems) as well as virtually, due to

limited access to information and communication technology. Thus, the

crisis of the industry and the coal extraction left this area with the need

to reorient the main economic activities to more appropriate for the

existing times. In 2003, the transformation promoted by the school

began when the educational community entered a reflective process on

the social and economic opportunities in their area. With the objective

that no child be excluded from the information society, the decision to

transform the school into a learning community was oriented to create

new opportunities for everybody.

Learning Communities project consists in implementing those

strategies that are based on research evidences about what works in

overcoming situations of social and educational exclusion (Díez-

Palomar & Flecha, 2010). The project is based on dialogic learning

theoretical framework including all the community. The more than a

hundred schools in Spain and Latin America that participate in the

project have showed to achieve both academic successes for all and

better living together, transforming the school and its surrounding

context. Through the implementation of the successful actions, the

Ariño school became a state and international model in the ICT use.

Suzanne Gatt& Teresa Sordé - ICTalone is not enough



The transformation process entails the whole community dreaming of

the school they wish to have. Once the dreams are identified and

prioritized, the management of the school is organised so that these

dreams can be achieved. Mixed committees containing teachers, family

members and other community representatives are created in order to

coordinate their actions and to undertake the priority actions that have

been set according to the community dream. In the Ariño school, the

main dream that came up was to end with the double isolation and to

enter the technological era as a response to the industrial crisis. The

entire community got involved not only in the process of obtaining the

material resources but also in their implementation. In what follows

three strategies of how to promote a dialogic use of ICT are analyzed:

community involvement within self-sufficient schools, community

involvement beyond the school setting, and community digital literacy.

163IJEP– International Journal ofEducationalPsychology, 1(2)

Community involvement within self-sufficient classrooms

Since 2003, when its transformation into a Learning Community began,

the school managed to obtain resources to develop what are known as

self-sufficient classrooms. These are classrooms in which both students

and teachers have access to all the information and resources they need

online, with no need for any other didactic material. This is possible

because in each classroom there is a computer, a video camera and a

video projector which serves to screen the information onto a

whiteboard. Also, each student has a Tablet PC which is connected to

the central computer and to Internet. The Tablet PC allows keyboards

and mice to be used instead ofpencils, and it works for students as real

notebooks and textbooks with increased possibilities as compared to the

traditional ones. It was the community who mobilized in order to

acquire all these new equipments for the school.

The profound transformation ofthe traditional classroom generates the

possibility for more and better potential learning opportunities. In the

present study, it is observed that what makes possible to take advantage

of these opportunities is the ways in which these technological tools

have been used. The egalitarian dialogue created in the interactions

observed in the self - sufficient classrooms have changed the teachers’



164

roles, students and members of the community as well as the teaching

and learning strategies used. The students take an active role in the

classroom, volunteers promote this process and the teachers overview

the accomplishment ofthe learning goals. The head-teacher explained in

the following way these transformations:

The same network, the same way of working, is something, it is the

way we all learn. Before there was no access to the information, to so

much information so rapidly within the classroom, or the workplace,

and when not working on the internet the teacher was the one who

had the knowledge and who transferred this knowledge to the

students. Now it is the students who are capable of discovering and

creating all of that knowledge in a relationship within a network

which is produced with his or her classmates and with his or her

friends in general.

The dialogic use of ICT involve egalitarian interactions take place at

these self- sufficient classrooms. Throughout our fieldwork, three

different instances were collected: interactive groups, the school blogs

and the school TV channel. In all these three spaces, interactions

between teachers, volunteers and students take place moving beyond the

traditional scheme of teacher-student or peer to peer interaction.

Volunteers can be family members or neighbours who are concerned

about the children’s learning with no need to have any kind ofacademic

credential. The benefits of having more adults in the classroom have

been already pointed out in the literature, for instance, in the case of

interactive groups (IG). IG involves the organisation of classrooms in

small heterogeneous groups of students. Each small group carries out

different short activities, each coordinated by one adult who is in charge

ofpromoting interactions among the students.

Parents, mothers and other family and community members facilitate

the students’ small groups, while children use their Tablet PC’s in order

to carry out the activities. Maria and Lucia, two mothers who are not

very familiar with ICT, volunteer once per week in the natural science

class at fourth grade. In one of the observations conducted, the students

had several questions regarding the Iberian fauna, so they had to look

for the responses in Internet. The mothers neither knew about Iberian

Suzanne Gatt& Teresa Sordé - ICTalone is not enough



fauna nor more than the students to navigate the net. However, they

were promoting students solidarity in finding out the information and

sharing the responses and the strategies followed. This type of

classroom organisation and the interactions that take place promotes

learning being accelerated and also leads to opportunities for children to

develop different kinds of interactions with the adults other than the

teacher and other classmates. The inclusion of all members of the

community, like Maria and Lucia, makes to take into account their

cultural intelligence and enriching the learning experience. Besides

learning, motivation also increases when working in these groups, as

students enjoy more working in interactive groups, as one of the

mothers from the school explains in the following quote:

165IJEP– International Journal ofEducationalPsychology, 1(2)

When you go into the classroom and do the [interactive] groups and

they like that. (…) Because for them it is also something different,

and on top ofthat they also learn more things.

Maria and Lucia contributions are equally valued to the one provided by

Lourdes, an electronic engineering who also volunteers in the

maintenance of ICT. The three of them are equally welcome, thus, the

diverse experiences they offer contribute to enrich the learning

opportunities ofall.

The learning that occurs there is not only connected to the value

system but also to the instrumental dimension. Something that was

recognized is that the school students end up acquiring better verbal

expression competences. Right from the pre-primary stage the boys and

girls work on these competences through the participation in these

activities in collaboration with the volunteers. One of the mothers

described the difference between the activities carried out prior to the

inclusion of ICT into the classroom, and how learning is currently

acquired:

Of course for example, if the pre-primary methodology adhered to

what the teacher sets out, the child would still be at number 7, 8.

Three weeks at number seven. The children become tired of only

painting number seven. They have more ability than that. Therefore in

this way more oftheir potential comes out…



Different study participants recognized that the dialogic use of ICT

contributed to an acceleration of learning in the school, and the children

get better prepared for the transition from primary to secondary school.

An alumnus explained her experience going through this process

herself:

166

I felt I had some advantage in comparison to my classmates, as we

know to do more things from animated power point presentations to

producing and editing a video. We are very used and familiar to use

the computer for everything.

We base our statements on the grades, on the results they obtain later

at high school, right? For example, the first school year which started

with the tablet PCs in 4th year of primary in 2003 have now just

finished their first baccalaureate year. The school coordinators from

the high school always said to us that from that school year onwards

the skills that our students had in comparison to the other students in

the school were very notable. This is because they are children who

know how to search for information, they know how to deal with it,

they knew how to do those PowerPoint’s, they know how to present

them, things that, well, others did not have these skills. In some way

this has ensured that they are in a situation which has allowed them to

achieve greater success at school. In other words, it translated into

their grades.

The school head-teacher also acknowledged this fact:

When teachers, parents, neighbors and students realize that learning is

improving a meaning making moment emerges. The fact that the

instrumental dimension of learning is reinforced motivates volunteers,

teachers and also students to be more convinced about what they are

doing, in the way they are doing it.

Two other examples of activities which are carried out in the self-

sufficient classrooms with volunteers are the Ariniños blog, and their

school television channel. Through these activities, it is the students

themselves who, along with adults from the community, provide the

contents for them. Teachers, volunteers and students are are engaged

in producing joined forecasts, interviews, reports, and other activities

Suzanne Gatt& Teresa Sordé - ICTalone is not enough



for the television and radio programmes. The contents are linked to the

subjects they are studying at the school. Before producing post or video

a dialogue is held on what will be done, on the messages which will be

created and how they will be presented. Greater digital competence,

more creative and critical use of ICT, and instrumental learning are all

achieved. Everybody’s contribution is welcome from the grandmother

who has never lived away from the mines to the young professional who

is new in the village. This involvement makes the blog and the TV

channel to be followed not only by the students and the families but for

everybody from their homes. According to the participants interviewed,

most part of them recognized a meaning making process through this

collaboration. On the one hand, the students see how teachers, relatives

and other neighbors are committed to their learning and collaborate

together in doing so. Family and community members feel that their

participation is highly appreciated. The school becomes the village

nerve center at the educational and the cultural creation levels.

167IJEP– International Journal ofEducationalPsychology, 1(2)

Community involvement beyond the school setting

When students see how community members and families volunteer at

the school, they are not learning about the theory of solidarity, but

experiencing it in the practice. Thus, solidarian community involvement

is not confined within the school space and hours. It is precisely the

flexibility and diversification of participation opportunities what has

generated enthusiasm and more people involved. Different types of

volunteers in terms of tasks, times, and roles makes possible for a

diverse range of people to participate, and for the students to benefit

from this amount and diversified interactions, putting into practice the

equality ofdifferences principle. The respect for different circumstances

makes possible for any person to be able to contribute with her or his

time to the shared school project.

Online volunteering is one of the ways to get involved at the school.

There are family members without the time to be at the school, but they

are able to collaborate from their homes. Online volunteers can be in

charge of other tasks related to the school blog, organizing the end of

the year trip, looking for new resources or strategies to promote the



168

school project. A teacher explains an example of how this works in

practice:

There was a group of mothers, who we called the “technological

mothers.” They offered to resolve any resource related problems that

any of the new teachers had. In other words, if you needed any

resources for your language class, maths class, social studies class, or

knowledge of science. You would ask them about it and they would

find it for you and if they didn’t find it then they would make it for

Well, we have a goblin called “Adivipupi” who guesses and knows

everything and the pre-primary children are very fond ofhim because

he is in contact with them via a weekly email. This goblin suggests

things to them and they, well, look for the information that is

suggested to them, they write to him and reply to him, and he, well,

especially if it is correct, well he is very happy (…) In fact it is a

mother who dedicates 10 minutes a week on her computer…to the

school from her office and she is constantly in contact with the tutor,

the class teacher…this volunteer does not necessarily have to be

physically present in the school.

This is a form of participation, in which both the mother and the

teacher liaise in order to carry out a learning activity in the classroom,

without it being necessary for the mother to be there.

At the beginning, “class representative” were appointed. They were

volunteer family members in charge of supporting the dialogic use of

ICT by talking with families, explaining the learning, and also recruiting

other people to get involved in the project. In a similar way, later on the

technological mothers group was created. These were a group of stay

home mothers who without any specific degree in ICT provided support

to the teachers. For instance, a teacher told us that if they were learning

about Pre-history and need to find electronic resources showing the ages

evolution, they would ask this group to prepare some supporting

materials (e.g. power point presentations, interesting links, videos) on

the topic. The technological mothers felt that they were not only getting

acquainted with ICT but they were exposed to continuous learning and

supporting their children academic progress:

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169IJEP– International Journal ofEducationalPsychology, 1(2)

All the different aspects of the dialogic use of ICT identified until now

connect with the last principle that is transformation. The transformations

found in the learning, knowledge, values, interactions and so on are also

transposed to the whole village. Digital literacy is not confined within

the teacher and the students but it is offered to the whole community. In

less than ten years time, all the neighbours’ homes have moved from

being isolated to be connected to the net. This figure would not have

been that different to other similar villages, but what is found to be

distinctive is the way this ICT is used. An important part of it is due to

the different strategies that have been identified as part of the

community digital literacy both at the school and outside ofit.

At the school, the family education program is aimed at facilitating the

dialogic use of ICT in the school and the community. Families

participate in ICT courses for themselves. But this learning allows them

to understand the digital language of their children, be part of it and

appreciate the transformation the school.

The head-teacher mentioned one of the fathers from the school, who

began by taking part in a digital literacy course in the school, and who,

as a result of this, is now in charge of the children’s digital video

activities which they upload onto a blog. This case is not an isolated

one. There are several family members who, having participated in these

courses, have then continued their own education through direct

participation in their children’s learning or in the school management.

These are important transformations, if compared to their relationship

with the school ten years ago.

The dialogic use of ICT promoted in Ariño has led to the acquisition

ofcritical digital competency that is transposed in every single domain.

What is learned at the school by students and family members is also

found at the homes’ dining rooms. Thus not only the instrumental

learning but also the dialogic use of ICT. One of the interviewed

mothers explained in which ways her son was bringing home what he

learned at the school. The fact that she was attending the community

PowerPoint presentation containing what the teacher had asked for or

whatever.

Community digital literacy



170

digital literacy program facilitated her comprehension and interaction

with him. She recognized in which ways the families are more able to

provide a response to the challenges which arise, as well as help their

children in this process. She said:

For them is much easier, they do not have any problem in using it,

navigate online, they use as a tool part of their learning, much better

than us. They learn really fast… I do not think they have ever asked

me how to do something. It is in the other way round. I asked them

about different things or how to look for something, and he finds it

very quick. The other day my six year old nephew taught me how to

screen an online video. When I was alone, it was stopping all the

time, until he came and told me where to press in order to see the

entire video. I had no idea about how to do it.

The digital literacy has gone beyond the schools and home walls by

extending it throughout the village. Technologies and the dialogical

processes have opened up more spaces for the inclusion of the whole

community, not just to the children. A clear example that deeply

transformed the entire community was the extension ofan open wireless

coverage in the village, making it possible for students to work from

home. This new resources increased students’ opportunities to

communicate and interact with their peers and other adults. Today, the

families dream of their children being able to work and learn in the

same way in secondary school. The transformation has not been

confined to the village boundaries. The Government ofAragón decided

to extend the implementation of the Ariño experience to all the primary

schools in the Autonomous Community in Spain.

Thus, the case has also gone international. In 2008, four children from

the Ariño school attended the Government Leaders Forum—Europe

(GLF) in Berlin, a dynamic discussion platform for government,

business and education leaders from across Europe. During this Forum

the leaders discussed the role that ICT plays in achieving success in

education and the economy. The case of the Ariño was presented at this

forum as the school of the future , and thus became a role model at a

global level. That same day, the testimony of the children from the

Ariño school were included into Bill Gates’ speech. Vicente, one of the

Suzanne Gatt& Teresa Sordé - ICTalone is not enough



three children ofAriño participating in the Bill Gates Forum, showed

him how to use the Tablet PC. The children ofAriño showed the world

how they mastered and Bill Gates promised to send an email to the

school. And he did.

The Ariño analysis serves to the purpose of adding new knowledge to

the existing one on community involvement in ICT. It shows in which

ways the implementation of the dialogic use of ICT involving the seven

principles--egalitarian dialogue, equality of differences, solidarity,

instrumental learning, cultural intelligence, the creation ofmeaning and

transformation—works in a real case scenario. Particularly, the Ariño

experience does not only teach us how the dialogic use of ICT can be

promoted at a school, a rural village and in the virtual space but also that

their implementation has benefits for the students and their families and

community. The transformations observed move beyond the classroom

reaching homes, streets, regions and even international audiences. The

dialogic use of ICT has contributed to make the dream of making the

Information Society available for everyone a reality. Through solidarity

and dialogue, families’ lives in the Ariño have been deeply transformed.

They have not only seen how their contributions were welcome at the

school but also many of them have become active learners there. Their

incorporation into lifelong education processes have led to improve their

critical use oftechnology and capacity to support their children learning.

In short, the Ariño school has gone from being a local project,

specifically in the province of Teruel, to a more global proposal to

overcome inequalities in the field of ICT and to promote successful

actions in the improvement in academic performance. As the head-

teacher said: “We cannot go backwards; it is unthinkable to retreat in

this process which has now been undertaken.” They know that there is

only the way forward, and that the school and ICT cannot do it be

themselves, the entire village is needed.

171IJEP– International Journal ofEducationalPsychology, 1(2)

Final remarks



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174

Suzanne Gatt is a Senior Lecturer in the Department ofPrimary

Education at the Faculty ofEducation, University ofMalta, Malta.

Teresa Sordé is Ramón y Cajal Researcher for the GEDIME

(Study Group on Immigration and Ethnic Minorities) in the

Autonomous University ofBarcelona, Spain, and professor of

sociology at the same university.

Contact Address: Direct correspondence to Teresa Sordé at

Autonomous University ofBarcelona, Departament de Sociologia,

Edifici B, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain. E-mail: Teresa.Sorde@uab.cat

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