Sometimes it's not that schools don't have the technology, it's
that they don't know how to use it effectively. Schools may invest
huge amounts of money into computers, presentation screens, and
software, only not to use it efficiently.
If they have it, why don't they use it?
While some teachers are fortunate enough to understand how to
use computers and set up their classroom to take advantage of the
technology, some teachers still don't understand even the basics of
the computer --and most only know the basics, which doesn't
necessarily enable them to plan how they can efficiently use the
technology to benefit their classroom. It's not just the students
that need to learn about the computer; the teachers also need to be
knowledgeable.
What can teachers actually do in a classroom with a computer? A
lot. With one computer and a presentation screen, a teacher can put
notes up on the screen instead of writing them on a blackboard,
which can be hard to read. If the computer is equipped with a DVD
drive, movies relating to what is being studied can be shown, and
students and teachers can run PowerPoint slideshow
presentations.
Another thing that is starting to become popular is having
laptops in schools. Four years ago this wouldn't have been
considered, since laptops back then were simply too expensive and
could not fit 
into a school budget. However, things
change. The state of Maine recently purchased 36,000 iBooks in
order to equip all 7th and 8th grade students and teachers with
laptops, as I am sure many of you know. Other schools are following
in their footsteps buying laptops - whether Apple, Dell, or HP,
laptop computers bring many new possibilities to learning.
These possibilities, such as interactive presentations and
computerized exams, often cannot be used to their full extent for
several reasons. First of all, as I discussed three weeks ago in
The Sad State of Macs and PCs in
School, students often don't understand how to use the
computer, which can slow a class down. The other problem is that
teachers aren't well trained on the computer.
You'd think that a teacher would know what he or she was doing
on the computer. Unfortunately, many of them just don't have the
necessary skills to be able to instruct a class to do something
onscreen.
It's not necessarily their fault. Often the school will send out
one of the computer techs to show a teacher the "basics" on the
computer. However, one must remember that these are computer techs,
people who are bound to get very technical, very quickly. Most
teachers aren't able to understand the information that they are
presented with.
The techs may know what they are doing, but sometimes have
trouble showing others what they know. In fact, several years ago I
helped a tech set up my English teacher's computer to receive
email. She had never used Microsoft Outlook (Exchange Server Ed.)
and did not know how to use it. The computer tech tried to show her
how, but she constantly showed that she did not understand. Finally
he said to me, "You teach her."
Within about 10 or 15 minutes after that she was able to write,
send, receive, and reply to email. In this situation, the problem
isn't the computer techs. It isn't the teacher. And it isn't the
students. The problem is that the teachers don't understand what
the computer techs are trying to teach them to do.
Since the computer techs know what they are doing, they often go
too fast, losing the teacher somewhere in between "click this
button" and "after you've opened that application close this
window." The only way to improve this problem is for a school to
hire someone who knows how to effectively teach a teacher how to
use a computer.
Some schools do manage to eliminate these problems and integrate
technology, such as presentation screens, PDAs, and laptop
computers into everyday learning. However, others really need to
start getting their people very familiar with this
technology, and fast. Right now they might be on par with most
other schools, but within four years or so, many schools will be at
the point where the computer is a vital part of each class, and
those that aren't using it to it's full extent will be considered
severely behind the times.
