The merger of ict and education: Should it necessarily be an exercise in the eternal recurrence of the reinvention of the wheel?

The chapter defences the claim that there is no systematic rational discussion on the issue of the integration of ICT and education and therefore no rationally sustained strategy or strategies at its basis. It further defences the claim that such a discussion can and should be developed. The paper starts by defending the claim that within the ranks of educators and professionals the issue of the merger of ICT and education is based on three blatantly opposed paradigms (first section). It then proceeds to support our assertion that no discourse exists among the adherents of these three paradigms whose field of view is limited by its own tunnel vision (second section), that such a debate is vital for the future of Western educational systems and societies (third section) and that free and open deliberation is socially and epistemologically possible (fourth section). The chapter ends by discussing the questions on the boundaries of the desired discourse, the reasons for its non-existence and on the steps that need to be taken.