Public schools are spending
huge sums of money for computers, but without training teachers to use
this technology could the investment prove to be a costly failure?
With the recent infusion of money for school technology, American school
systems are now discovering they have state-of-the-art computer equipment
but lack the know-how to effectively use it.
"In a lot of districts, the primary focus has been to wire the schools,
buy the equipment, and buy software," says Rob Ramsdell, founder of FreshPond
Education, a company that trains teachers and administrators to use computer
technology. "Now most districts want to know how to use them to improve
student learning."
The goal must be to teach educators how to use the computers
effectively and integrate them into studies.
The problems attributable to the lack of quality teacher training in
the use of computers are coming to light. For example, a 1997 Maryland
Department of Education survey uncovered that in their state only 53 percent
of their teachers can use the Internet or E-mail independently (see "For
Teachers, Lessons in Taking Technology Into the Classroom," Washington
Post, 8/5/98).
The results of another survey were reported in NEA Focus (see "Teachers
Hit a Detour On Information Superhighway"). That survey of teachers in
400 public schools nationwide conducted by Quality Education Data, a Denver-based
research group, found that only 35 percent of the teachers queried felt
well prepared to use the Internet in their teaching, and just 20 percent
said they had received in-service training in its use. Forty-four percent
of the teachers said they had been self-taught, and only 15 percent of
them received as much as nine hours of training in educational technology.
Of the money American schools spent on technology last year only 5 percent
was devoted to teacher training, and then the primary focus was on how
to operate the equipment, rather than on selecting appropriate software
and integrating technology into the curriculum.
STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM
To address this problem, businesses and professional organizations have
begun to get involved. This March a California-based computer-chip manufacturer,
National Semiconductor, began Global Connections, a three-year program
to provide technology training for 6,000 Maine, Texas, and California
K-12 teachers. In a two-day program teachers learn how to integrate the
Internet with the subjects they teach, how to do online research, and
how to publish projects. It is hoped they will then go back and show their
peers what they have learned.
The NEA is also getting involved in teacher training. They are taking
part in a campaign to recruit teachers who know how to use computers,
and pair them up as mentors for teachers who don't. Their program, 21st
Century Teachers, which is just two years old, has already identified
more than 6,000 teachers willing and capable of training their peers.
School systems are scrambling to develop teacher-training programs,
too, but there are no easy answers about how best to teach teachers to
use technology to aid student learning. Rarely can one find statewide
guidelines for technology integration, so each school district decides
its own technology plan. Different schools' curriculum, style-of-teaching,
and demographics are so different that what works in one place does not
necessarily work in another.
In some cases schools are beginning to provide avenues through which
teachers can learn. In some school systems teachers have the option of
participating in summer institutes, graduate courses, in-house instruction,
interacting with district technology experts, and/or interacting with
computer consultants who come into the classroom and demonstrate different
techniques. But in other school systems the training provided is very
limited and poorly conducted.
STUDENTS ARE THE ULTIMATE LOSERS!
Most teachers completed their education before computer technology was
linked to classroom learning, and so without quality training they often
are not prepared to use the technology they might have in their classrooms
but not at home. One cannot expect teachers to buy their own computers
and then teach themselves how to use them at home in their spare time.
Nor can our society afford to wait until a new generation of teachers
more familiar with information technologies enters the schools. But until
we address the issue of how best to educate our teachers to use the technology,
students are the ultimate losers.
Students can use computers in a variety of ways. They can use them to
go over math problems or vocabulary words, in word processing, and for
drills and exercises. Students can use computers to do simulations, move
notes around a staff to understand the way different chords sound, and
create environments where they can change the weather and see the effects.
Students can use the Internet to collaborate on projects with others in
the state or country, interacting with peers or asking questions from
experts. They can communicate with pen pals in Australia or England, learning
about that culture from someone their own age. Students can take virtual
tours of historical places, access poetry databases, place their original
poetry and art on the Web, create multimedia presentations, and use the
computer as a research tool, finding material on the web and analyzing
and evaluating it -- but only in those classrooms in which the teacher
is well prepared and comfortable using the technology with students.
Teacher training is often hit and miss. To be most effective, training
needs to be on site, individualized, and teacher-oriented, but it frequently
isn't. Teachers in some schools are not as lucky as teachers in others
in the quality or quantity of instruction available to them.
The professional development of teachers has often been an afterthought
in American schools. When budgets get tight, staff development is often
one of the first areas to be cut. Computer hardware and software investments
are tangible and easily counted, while benefits from staff development
efforts are more difficult to measure. But simply providing computers
in the classroom does not mean teachers will use them in day-to-day instruction.
If teachers are to become comfortable with the technologies that will
reshape schools,
They must receive both pre-service training during their college years
and in-service training during their careers.
They need time to attend technology courses and meetings and to experiment
with new technologies.
They need access to technology in their classrooms and sufficient
time to practice the new skills before they are forgotten.
They need to be able to observe their colleagues integrate technology
into their curriculum and talk with them so that they can unlearn old
practices and build new ones.
In the long run, for technology to succeed, as much time and money must
be invested in teachers as is invested in the actual hardware and software.
ADDITIONAL INTERNET RESOURCES
Technology
@ Your Fingertips: A Guide to Implementing Technology Solutions for
Education Agencies & Institutions Decisions about technology can
be daunting for a school, particularly if no one there has experience
with hardware, software, or networking. That's why the Department Of
Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released
in October a 100-page publication that tells how to define your needs
and technical requirements; develop a "needs assessment;" determine
what resources you have and what resources you will need; implement,
support, and maintain your technology solution; provide effective training,
and more.
MultiMedia
Schools Magazine Offers discussions of practical ways to use the
computer effectively in the classroom.
Multimedia
Teaching Strategies Guidebook A guide to help teachers integrate
technology into their classrooms, offering resources, concepts, and
models that teachers might adapt to their own educational settings.
Integrating
Technology in the Classroom This site offers K-2 teachers suggestions
on lesson plans in different curriculum areas and how to set up learning
centers that include computer use.
webTeacher Tutorial
Created by teachers and developed by the National Cable Television Association
and TECH Corps, a national non-profit organization dedicated to improving
K-12 education, this site is a comprehensive, interactive, 80-hour,
self-guided and self-paced tutorial available free to teachers on the
Internet.
It's
Not What You Have But How You Use It!