Integrating Education and Technology


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In the developed world, access to technology in educational institutions has continually been improved.  In the United States, the National Center for Educational Statistics reports that the computer to student ratio has dropped from about 12:1 in 1998 to 5.4:1 in 2001.   They also report that 99% of schools had internet access by 2001.  In Europe, the European Union has adopted the “eLearning: Designing tomorrow’s education” initiative (May 2000) that adopted and added to the objectives of the eEurope initiative. Namely:

1. To provide all schools with access to the Internet and multimedia resources by the end of 2001
2. To equip all classrooms with a fast Internet connection by the end of 2002
3. To connect all schools to research networks by the end of 2002
4. To achieve a ratio of 5-15 pupils per multimedia computer by 2004

In Asia, UNESCO reports that the government of Japan plans to have all schools connected to the Internet by 2003.   The Enlaces program in Chile reports that as of December 2001, 90% of the students at the basic level of education were connected to the internet and 100% of students at higher levels were connected.

Despite the improvement of access to ICT in education, statistics show that teachers are not prepared to integrate educational technology into the subjects they teach.  "Twenty percent of teachers reported feeling very well prepared to integrate educational technology into the grade or subject they taught while another 37 percent reported feeling moderately well prepared to do so." according to a US Department of Education study on teacher preparedness and qualifications.  Clearly much work remains to be done to facilitate integration.

Student Research & Inquiry CD-ROM
One of our goals at PDI is to help develop resources and influence policies that facilitate the integration of technology in education.  We have worked closely with the GLOBE program, an international environmental science and technology program, to help integrate technology into everyday teaching.  PDI developed a Student Research and Inquiry CD-ROM that is designed to teach students higher order thinking skills like research, help teachers facilitate teaching the research process to their students, and bring access to high quality environmental data even to those without Internet connections.  We have found that, even in developed nations, teachers are often loath to teach using the Internet because of the speed of the connection, its unreliability, etc.  The CD-ROM brings guaranteed access to a subset of data found in the GLOBE database, provides lesson plans on how to use those data and for those with access, encourages them to use the live database to facilitate their own research.

References:
Eurydice: The Information Network on Education in Europe