Teaching in the Time of the Internet. A Case Study from Italy

General description It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the Internet in transforming our culture and societies. The Internet is not just a technological and neutral tool, but it is a powerful element capable of changing the very roots of our lives. Concerns about the ways in which the Internet might affect the school system have been raised since its beginning, mainly concentrating on the cognitive and emotional effects exerted on youngsters. However, even stronger effects are taking place on the social side. The basic concepts of the web maintain close connections with the context of Californian counterculture of the 1960s, stemming from the desire of empowering people by disintermediating access to knowledge. This “long-running collaboration between San Francisco flower power and the emerging technological hub of Silicon Valley” (Turner, 2006) resulted in the disappearance of many traditional mediators. We buy plane tickets directly from airlines: so, no more travel agencies. We buy books on Amazon: so, no more bookshops. Teachers also, as institutional mediators between “culture” and society, are heavily affected by this trend, for what regards their relationships with both students and their parents. Methods In order to understand the impact of the web on the professional praxis of teachers, a case study (Ridder, 2017) was developed in a secondary school in Milano (Italy), providing a detailed picture of teachers’ daily work in managing their relationships with parents and students. Conclusions Comparing the results of our study with previous research findings, it is possible to detect important ongoing changes in teachers’ self-perception of their professional role.