 
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
              
|
Internet access in 87% of Pa. schools
Thursday, September 23, 1999 By Eleanor Chute, Post-Gazette Education Writer
Pennsylvania hasn't cleared the national average on the percentage of schools with Internet access.
But technology in schools in the state and the nation is growing significantly, according to "Technology Counts," an annual report by Education Week being released this morning.
The report shows that the percentage of Pennsylvania schools with Internet access grew from 77 percent in 1998 to 87 percent in 1999.
The national average of 90 percent. The top figure is 99 percent in Delaware and Maine. The bottom figure is 80 percent in Oklahoma.
In Pennsylvania, there are 5.5 students per instructional computer, and that's better than the national average of 5.7.
But for Internet-connected computers, the state figure is 16.6 students, compared to a national 13.6.
John Bailey, director of education technology for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, said high numbers in the report don't necessarily mean progress.
"Our approach from Day 1 over four years ago was to try to stay away from some of those quick, easy sound bites, such as, 'Let's get a computer for every kid.'
"The focus was on how to take our state funds and invest in projects that were more comprehensive, training and digital content," he said.
The state has spent $105 million on technology grants in public schools and expects to spend another $20 million this year.
Digital content -- such as software and Web sites -- or the lack thereof is highlighted in this year's Education Week report.
The report, which included a survey of 1,407 teachers nationwide, said 53 percent use software for classroom instruction and 61 percent said they use the Internet for instruction.
But the study concludes that teachers struggle to find good digital resources.
Forty-eight percent of teachers who look for Web sites to use said that it is "somewhat" or "very" difficult to find sites or services to meet classroom needs.
And 59 percent of teachers who use software for instruction also said finding such software was "somewhat" or "very" difficult.
Bailey said he thinks finding the best digital resources is still a struggle in every profession, not just education.
"There's a lot of good content on the Web. Part of the problem with the Web is how large it is. There's always going to be a certain amount of content that's not useful," Bailey said.
Sifting through the possibilities can be time-consuming.
Joseph Marrone, director of technology and information services in the Quaker Valley School District, said "a lot of junk" was on the Web and in software, but that the district had found some particularly good digital resources.
In physics, for example, the district has software to do modeling and remote sensing. In music, software enables a teacher to set up individual musical arrangements for students and place the instruments in the best place for sound in the room. A computer-based algebra program helps students who have trouble with a particular concept.
He thinks software choices are improving. "It's better now than it was a couple of years ago. Teachers are becoming more savvy and demanding the better software."
In the Fox Chapel Area School District, Norton Gusky, coordinator of technology, said some new textbooks were listing Web resources and offer Web sites updating those resources to streamline the search.
Bailey said teacher training to use technology was "absolutely critical."
Nationwide, the number of hours spent in a year on technology training offered to teachers was 21 hours in 1998. In 1999, the question was reworded to ask teachers how many hours were "received" rather than "offered," and the number dropped to 12 hours.
The drop in Pennsylvania was from 15 hours to 13 hours.
Fox Chapel Area has set standards on what teachers should know. Teachers must be able to send, receive and respond to e-mail, receive and reply to a voice mail message, compose a word-processing document, for instructional purposes and access and use a Web resource and integrate that into a lesson plan.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
