A mismatch that slows down the evolution of education

Digitalisation is a worldwide trend in various contexts such as at home, work and school. Especially in the Netherlands, the digital becomes more and more important and ICT has also become an important policy area. Although digitalisation is embraced in the Netherlands, the adoption of digital technologies in education is diffuse. Several studies have been conducted on the reasons for this diffuse adoption, however, none of them has focused in the Netherlands. Besides that, most studies are focused on the adoption of digital education materials in secondary school and focus on teachers, while publishers of digital education materials are an important actor as well. Therefore, the aim of this study is to get an in depth understanding of both teachers’ and publishers’ perceptions on digital education materials in primary school. Through semi-structured interviews and focus groups the data for this study was obtained. The interviews and focus groups made clear there is a mismatch between the teachers and schools’ view on digital education materials and the publishers’ view. The main mismatches relate to following themes: financial problems, digital skills, technological barriers and opportunities, institutional characteristics, collaboration between publishers and government. These seven themes made clear that conversation and collaboration between all actors involved is needed on all fronts, to take away the barriers for the adoption of digital education materials in primary school. However, it has to be considered that the adoption of technology is not a linear, but a continuous process. Technology is constantly changing and developing, so the actors involved have to think of a platform through which continuous communication can be established.