Paper short abstract:

We conducted a series of in-depth interviews with early-adopters of table-use in German schools using a postphenomenological framework. The insights from these reports are important for policy makers in the digital transformation of educational systems.

Paper long abstract:

German schools underwent a major technological transformation in 2019-2023 as a result of the “Digitalpakt Schule” (digital pact for schools), a billion dollar federal funding project. The implementation of student operated tablets is a central element of this transformation. We conducted a series of in-depth interviews with early adopters of tablet use (n=4), students who brought their own tablet to school at an early stage (BYOD). They reported their experiences and human-technology relations before widespread use. Using the tools of postphenomenlogy and a specially developed question format, we investigated particular situations of use and found some interesting results. Active learning does not appear to be a stability of the tablet technology that can hold attention. Social groups emerge through communities of sharing via "air-drop" and users often use the tablets in a path-dependent manner analogous to the classic college block. The findings have implications for the further use of tablets in schools and disappoint some political hopes for the digital transformation of the educational system. In a view that complements STS, it is possible to explain how classic problems, such as the path dependency of technologies, take shape in concrete experience at the level of human-technology relations in society-wide technological transformations.