Discussions of the status of information and communications technology (ICT) in U.S. schools over the past couple of decades too often have had the character of attempts to convince others that ICT has been successful or to argue that it has failed. Just as opponents of the use of ICT often overstate the irrelevance, waste, or harm from the use of ICT in schools, proponents often overstate the positive consequences that have accrued from the use of computers and other technologies in education.

Many of the highly dedicated and capable people who work with ICT in schools know—often better than the critics—where we have fallen short in the effort to derive the full measure of benefit to students in the use of ICT. It is up to those who know what is possible in the use of ICT in our schools to be clear-eyed and frank in their assessment of the current situation and uncompromising in the expression of what needs to be done to make the possible a reality. The question is: How do we make what we see in schools where ICT is transforming schooling and bringing new life to classrooms and expanding learning opportunities for kids the rule, rather than the exception? What are the challenges we must face to make this happen?

If ICT is to play a role in the creation of a new generation of U.S. schools, structural challenges must be met. This requires action by school leaders, because these are matters of policy that transcend individual classrooms and teachers. Organizations do not typically morph in response to members whose functioning deviates from that which is structurally sanctioned. Organizations might be more or less permissive with deviants, but the consequence of the actions of deviants—whether they are good or bad—generally has minimal enduring impact on the organization after they leave the scene.

The seven challenges that follow pose quite significant obstacles of political, organizational, and structural nature. I present them in an "either-or" framework. The structural changes generated by decisions on these challenges form key elements of the organizational context for ICT in schools.

1. Curriculum integration—or curriculum disintegration?

The call for integration of ICT into the curriculum comes from those who seek to move ICT from being a side show to the mainstream of instructional practices. While the notion of curriculum integration seems to make good sense, the problem often being addressed is: How do we get teachers to use ICT? This is not the problem that needs to be solved.

There are serious deficiencies in the curricula of many of our schools. I use the term "curriculum disintegration" to indicate the need to break open the curriculum, to not accept it as a given, and to reconsider what kids in our schools need to learn as a prerequisite to the consideration of where and how we insert ICT into instruction. Integrating ICT into the curriculum will do little, if anything, to make irrelevant curricula relevant, antiquated information fresh, or useless skills valuable.