HOOKED ON TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

The state of technology use in American Schools is very difficult to pinpoint because it changes constantly. According to the U.S. Senate’s Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), there were 5.8 million computers in classrooms in 1995, or about 1 for 9 students; however, the computers in use were between 4 and 6 years old. In the fall of 1996, the average ratio of multimedia capable computers to students was 1 to 16. Although these figures show marked improvement from a decade ago, when there was an average of 1 computer for every thirty students, schools are still short of the optimum ratio of 1 computer for every 5 students (Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 1996).

The CEO forum on Education and Technology (1997) states that less than 3 percent of America’s schools are at the leading edge of effectively integrating technology into classroom practices.

Although tremendous progress has been made to prepare Tupelo Middle School for Y2K, we still fall short of the desired ratio. Technology integration has been slow; however, as technology has been added, teachers are becoming adept at letting technology serve as their educational goals. This manual brings our resources together to aid TMS classroom teachers in integrating technology throughout our curriculum thereby enhancing learning.

We hope you find some practical advice and some examples that you can use in your classroom.

*This manual was prepared at a SEIR-Tech Academy, June, 1999.