Attention on Classroom Use of Technology
The importance of telecommunications technology in the classroom has received much attention over the past few years. In the United States, the percentage of public schools with Internet access increased from 65 percent in 1996 to 95 percent in 1999; classroom connectivity soared from 14 percent to 63 percent in the same period. According to the Web-Based Education Commission (2000), “what counts most for instructional purposes is classroom connectivity, providing student access to Internet connections where they learn -- in the classroom” (p. 27). The importance of classroom connectivity is also noted by Becker (1999, online document), reporting on a national survey that explored Internet use by teachers:
Certainly schools will increase the proportion of Internet-using teachers by increasing the level of classroom-located Internet connectivity -- by establishing connections for classrooms that do not now have them, by having those connections be LAN-based, high-speed links, and by having at least several Internet-linked computers in each classroom. Our results about the importance of classroom-located connections suggest that schools will not increase teacher use or satisfaction with the Internet by limiting linkages to computer labs external to classrooms. (p. 32)
Few would disagree that to be productive in the coming decades, citizens will need strong literacy and technological capabilities. We have already experienced a change in form and context of the way we read, write, and view information due to the advent of electronic mail and the Internet. Expectations for spoken, written, and visual competencies will continue to change as new technological advances arise. The new technologies of electronic reading and writing are slowly but steadily transforming classrooms, schools, and instruction (Bruce, 1997, online PDF document; Leu, 1997, online document; Leu & Kinzer, 2000, online document; Smith, 1999). The widespread attention to preparing today’s children, teachers, and preservice teachers to live and work in the 21st century is justified. The question is not whether technology should be incorporated into teacher preparation programs, but how.
From “Electronic Dialoguing in a Preservice Reading Methods Course: A Yearlong Study” by Denise Johnson.
Reading Online, www.readingonline.org
Posted July 2002