That makes it easier for us to use the computer to teach the whole class. We don't use smart boards or other tools, other than the computers and the projectors. What is the set up in the elementary school setting regarding labs and stations?

We generally have one or two computers per class in the elementary schools. Sometimes the teachers use it to do internet research, or to play a DVD for their class. The teachers sometimes assign remedial work to some students, who work on the computer doing exercises during school hours.

A understand from my elementary school teaching friends that there are no computer labs, and that they only have a couple of computers in each classroom. Since the teachers and students stay in one classroom, they have a bit more continuity. A lot of the teachers buy their own software or subscriptions and set it up on their classroom computers.

Is their a technology instructor at the High School level or is this part of the business courses?

Yes, we have a teacher who runs the Computer Science Lab in high school.

He's a good guy, but very busy. In addition to his teaching duties, he's our de facto 'go-to guy' for everything the students and teachers need related to computers. He even has to repair...

it's made a big difference on the amount of paperwork we handle. A lot more of the forms we need to fill out are online now, which makes things easier for us.
In my opinion, we don't use the computers in the way that we should in order to improve learning. The administration in the central office has a lot more computer resources than we do, but we never get to benefit from it. If we could have podcasts, online assignments, subscriptions to online services, online grading, we could cut our teacher workload on non-teaching items and be more effective teachers. The administrators don't seem to understand what we can do with these tools.

Observations

This school may not be atypical of government-run institutions with a low appreciation of what computers can do with them. Ironically, the central office has benefited from the use of computers more than the classrooms.

The teacher's frustrations are clear. She sees the power of computers in each classroom, and many of her peers buy their own software and put together their own lesson plans. She sees the benefit of networking to students, exchanging homework and lesson plans.

The general spending level is much too low. In American industry, computer spending can range from 3 to 8% of their total expenses per year. Spending less than 1% results in an underequipping of the schools, and a less than ideal deployment of computer tools.

Education Technology