No Pain, No Gain? Educational Use of ICT

This research reports on studies about how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been utilized and implemented in schools and whether there are tensions or contradictions that might hinder its implementation from advancing in the teaching, studying and learning process. The five empirical studies comprising this work were conducted with the cooperation of teachers and students from schools in western Finland in 2008¿2011. Based on the results presented in this study, overall guidelines and proposals for actions are suggested, specifically work-based learning, bottom-up approaches, mentor-teacher systems, changes in teacher training, an emphasis on teachers¿ professional agency development and teacher-centred, team-based learning.