Gail Weatherly
Lesson 6: Article Review

Glennan, T.K., and Melmed, A. (1995). Fostering the Use of Educational Technology: Elements of a National Strategy.
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR682.html

This report highlights outcomes of four workshops that were instigated in 1994 ultimately by the Goals 2000: Educate America Act and the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. The four workshops dealt with creating a national plan to promote higher student achievement through the use of technology in education.

Computer use, costs associated with technology in education, standards for technology performatnce and outcomes in education, the role of the federal government and strategies to make effective use of technology were some of the topics.

It was interesting to find that in 1983 there was about one computer for each 125 students in the nation's public schools. By 1995, there was a computer for each nine students. In 1994, the nation's schools spent about $3 billion on computer and network-based technology. Estimates of $300 per pupil to sustain technology may become a problem, the article said, unless the public and the educational community come to feel that technology is essential to meeting their objectives for student learning.

Teacher training and high-quality software were pointed out as two other challenges. More Research & Development is needed for improved models of teacher training, equal access to educational technology by all citizens, and better assessment methods to encourage the use of educational technology.