Computer information technology

Computer information technology is creating a revolution in today's schools. The typical classroom in the early 21st century will be linked to the information superhighway, which facilitates access to educational resources around the globe. Social interaction between and among students, teachers, parents, schools, and communities will undergo significant changes. As a result, the educational profession is finding itself challenged as never before to meet the demands of the information age.

Connecting all of America's public elementary and secondary schools to the information superhighway requires strong leadership, foresight, and perseverance. The technology and infrastructure exist for this goal and cost is not a significant factor in its achievement. Evans et al. (1996) estimate that about 1.3 percent of the nation's K-12 public school budget is currently spent on computing resources and that connecting schools to the information superhighway would represent less than 4 percent of future budgets, even during peak years of spending (p. 1). The challenge comes in setting priorities, sharing visions, ensuring that the teaching staff has the appropriate training and confidence, and obtaining quality computer-related curriculum materials. Time is a significant factor in this respect. Bringing all the nation's schools online is a multiyear process that will take perhaps as long as a decade to complete. Enough flexibility must be instilled in the process so that indivi

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et connected to a variety of human resources as well. Students can interact with their peers around the world, teachers from other schools, and experts from the public and private sectors: "The connection to the [information superhighway] expands the information resources available to students and teachers, and creates new channels for communication" (Evans et al., 1996, p. 2). One of the greatest potentials for online computing in schools is distance learning. For instance, students can receive instruction from teachers via satellite. This capability is especially important for those schools which cannot afford to maintain specialist teachers on staff (e.g., anatomy or physiology instructors), but who have students who desire to take these subjects. A study of science students who took a distance learning class compared with those who took traditional face-to-face instruction revealed that the distance learning students achieved at a significantly higher level than did the control group (Evans et al., 1996, p. 9). Networking technology also facilitates the instruction of students at diverse proficiency levels. In one language classroom in New York City, a teacher is able to effectively instruct students at different lev

Category: Science - C