The Digital Divide in Classrooms... lack of training but
Nancy Willard
> Pam Mendes of the New York TImes spotlighed in a recent article the idea
>that education experts have trained their spotlights on a seemingly simple
>concept: If the billions of dollars being spent on technology in schools are
>to reap any educational benefit, teachers need to know how to use the
>computers that are purchased for their classrooms. Some of us teachers said..
>"duh!"
One big problem is that most of the focus has been on "teacher"
professional development. Until you provide professional development to
*administrators* related to how to effectively make decisions impacting the
integration of technology into the classroom, nothing really will change
within the organizational environment.
In Oregon, probably like many other states, there are now technology
requirements for teacher licensing, but not for administrator licensing. I
would be interested in knowing what the status of administrator preservice
and inservice requirements related to technology are in other states.
Nancy
Nancy Willard Phone: (541) 344-9125
Information Technology Consultant Internet: nwil...@ordata.com
788 W 23rd Avenue, Eugene, OR 97405
New Web Site: http://ces.uoregon.edu/responsibleuse/default.html
bscl...@ix.netcom.com
>One big problem is that most of the focus has been on "teacher" professional development.
Until you provide professional development to *administrators* related to how to effectively
make decisions impacting the integration of technology into the classroom, nothing really will
change within the organizational environment...I would be interested in knowing what the status
of administrator preservice and inservice requirements related to technology are in other
states.
Recently the National Center for Education Statistics sponsored an effort to create a document
aimed at principals or school technology teams faced with the difficult task of identifying what
computer technology was needed for both administrative and instructional purposes. A group of
persons who had implemented technology in schools, districts, and state education agencies came
together to share their experiences. It was field tested with schools, districts, state
education agencies, libraries and postsecondary institutions. Jerry Malitz, now Webmaster at
NCES, and I did the final editing. The document, called Technology @ Your Fingertips, is
available to download from the NCES website at www.nces.ed.gov. It can also be purchased from
the Government Printing Office for something like $9.50. My company has put the document and
a few extras on a CD-ROM version that we sell for $39.99. Information about the CD-ROM version
can be obtained by looking at our website at www.evalsoft.com.
The book is very practical and uses non-technical language to the extent possible. It has case
studies, checklists, and humor. What it doesn't say is exactly what hardware and software to
buy. We have heard that the document has become required reading in some administrator training
programs.
If you want additional information, please let me know.
Barbara Clements
Vice President for Education Services
Evaluation Software Publising, Inc.
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Barbara S. Clements, Ph.D.
Vice President for Education Services
Evaluation Software Publishing, Inc.
3504 Holly Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22305-1949
Telephone: (703) 836-2348
Email: bcle...@evalsoft.com or
bscl...@ix.netcom.com
Web: www.evalsoft.com
www.evalsoft.com
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