Lesson 9 Assignment
Karon Tarver

Part A:

In researching the positive/negative impact of educational technology I found two sites that I thought were particularly interesting. The first site is hosted by the Benton Foundation:

http://www.benton.org/Library/KickStart/kick.realizing.html

The site provides a very detailed account of the technological benefits in the following areas:

• Enhance and improve the lives of individuals
  
• Reinvigorate and improve education
  
• Improve and expand business opportunities
  
• Rebuild and strengthen communities

The other site that I believe is very beneficial to someone that is either new to technology issues or wants a detailed view of both positive and negative impacts of technology. The site is hosted by the Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility organization and provides a good reading list for an in-depth study.

http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/lists/rre/Computerization_and_Controvers

The article list is described below:
["Computerization and Controversy", edited by Rob Kling, is far and away the best introduction to the social aspects of computing. In addition to the chapters by others, Rob has written a batch of new text to draw together this rapidly changing area. The book is kind of expensive, but its intellectual level-headedness makes it worth any ten of the hyperbolic best-sellers about the digital future.]

Part B

My particular position on technology as an effective instructional tool may be out of the mainstream of thought. I believe that instructional or educational technology will someday be as common as today's overhead projectors. However, current practices in K-12 will continue to impede that prediction administration buys into the fact that technology is integral and not addtional.

For instance, staff development is currently something that is done periodically at best, and usually with targeted skill sets such as email, or word processing. Usually, this training is included after TAAS target teaching or reading initiative training or other test-driven trainings. It has been also been my experience that consistent training can only be funded outside the local budget - i.e. grants. I believe that until teachers feel not only knowledgeable about technology but also empowered by it, true integration will not occur. The current attitude that pervades K-12 is that technology is "something else to do."

I do realize that there are large districts in the US where they have not only obtained grant money to train their teachers but also are now supplying each student with laptops - thereby decreasing the digital divide of their community. However, I believe that this has provided impetus to the real digital divide between the have and have-not schools.