The aim of this study is to probe the negative effects of using information and communication technologies (ICT) in education from the point of sociology of education. Because of a very intense use of ICT and the gradually increasing number of the people using them, the attempts to integrate ICT with education have increased (Aktaş, Gökoğlu, Turgut & Karal, 2014, p. 260). But besides their benefits, ICT have still some important negative effects. Because “technology is not neutral and its meaning changes according to its intended use” (Aksoy, 2003, p. 4).

Method

This study is designed as a qualitative content analysis. In more specific terms, “critical conceptual analysis” of the related literature is deductively employed as a method of constructing this study. 3 specific titles were composed for data collection: the problems about ICT users, functional problems of using ICT in education and economic and sociopolitical problems of using ICT in education. Books and articles dealing with using ICT in education issue were determined critically. Later, it was conducted that how they clarify the problems of the study. After comparing and contrasting the data gathered, patterns were established and they were analyzed critically.

Findings

The Problems about ICT Users

The effectiveness of using ICT in education is directly correlated with users’ competencies. But in FATIH Project, for example, there seems a lack of information. Many teachers do not prefer to use them because of the lack of information and inadequate in-service training activities on using ICT in education (Usluel, Mumcu & Demiraslan, 2007, p. 174). Students find using ICT in education as they are composed of entertainment. But “using ICT as a learning tool means that learners are actively participating in and contributing to their own learning, as they find, interpret and evaluate information, drawing on problem solving and critical-thinking skills” (Stoll, Fink & Earl, 2005, p. 67). Parents, another important partner of using ICT in education, have similar problems.

Functional Problems of Using ICT in Education

“There has never been a technology that exemplifies McLuhan’s aphorism, the medium is the message, better than computers” (Postman, 1993, p. 118). The medium is the message means that the technology used to convey the content moves ahead of the content itself and becomes more important than it. In such a case, a qualified education cannot be mentioned. Educational processes are the processes of interaction at the same time. And as Davis (2000) stated, “knowledge is usually situational, and is often shared and collectively produced” (as cited in Woodill, 2004, p. 12). But, using ICT in education puts a question mark in the minds within the context of togetherness and interaction. It is clearly seen in the other computer based distance learning processes, like E-learning.

Economic and Sociopolitical Problems of Using ICT in Education

“Schools cannot be analyzed as institutions removed from the socio-economic context in which they’re situated” (Giroux, 1983, p. 46). For instance, the inequalities based on the distribution of income, as a socio-economic problem, come up in educational environments in many ways and using technology in education is one of these ways. “Digital divide, whichindicates a differentiation between ones having information technologies and the others without them, becomes an important problem in providing equality” (Uysal & Yıldız, 2007, p. 172). And besides, “there has been a big faith in technology to transform schools and leapfrog over current difficulties” (Hurn, 1993, p. XI). But it is impossible because “the Social Contract was not drafted on a word processor. It cannot be repaired with one” (Sanders, 1995, p. 128).

Conclusion

There haven’t been desired results from technological investments on education, because there is an obvious lack of information among users of ICT in education. Technology is just an important tool helping people with their works, but it hasn’t got the ability to transform social institutions on its own. So, it is not realistic to expect a revolution from technology in education. Because “school reform is a social challenge, not a technological problem” (Cordes & Miller, 2000, p. 97). Using ICT in education has reinforced the current inequalities rather than removing them. Consequently, using ICT in education is an inevitable result. But it should be kept in minds that technology is a tool, not a goal.