PCs can give more power to teachers and students than any other
group of knowledge workers. Students are pure "knowledge
workers," since learning is all about acquiring knowledge.
Teachers will be able to use the Internet to share with each other
and to allow students to explore a subject in new ways. With a
solid infrastructure in place, some schools are already benefiting
from PCs in the classroom. Many schools struggle to find the
resources for these new tools, but clever programs have shown
that there are rewards for the effort.
The success of PCs as educational tools requires teacher
involvement. Without teacher training and making PCs central to
the teaching program, they will not have a big effect. Many PCs
have gone into computer "laboratories" where they sit, seldom
used. Schools need to shift from treating the PC as a subject—
teaching about technology—to including it in all areas of the
teaching program: teaching with technology. More and more
schools are now showing that PCs used as learning tools can have
a strong influence.
In the Western Heights Independent School District, just west
of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, teachers were enthusiastic when
the district provided training the summer before it introduced PCs. More than 200 of its 230 teachers signed up. Most teachers
have a great love of learning and they'll get excited about
anything that will help kids learn. What teachers don't want is to
be thrown into something they have not had the opportunity to
learn about and become comfortable with.
Western Heights is a small, seven-school district with a
moderate industrial tax base. The student population contains a
mix of cultures. About 65 percent of the kids qualify for free or
reduced-cost school lunches because they come from homes
with lower incomes. This is not the school district that you might
expect to lead the advance into the Information Age. But in the
past three years the district has voted three times to spend a total
of more than $6.8 million in local funds to create maybe the
leading technology-based teaching program in the country. The
community sees the investment as the only way to break the
cycle of poverty that could trap these children if they go
unprepared into the digital world.
A PC can be a powerful new teaching tool for teachers. They
find they can make kids more interested in lessons by including
photos, films, and links to Internet pages. One teacher at Western
Heights starts his class each day with fresh news from the
Internet. PCs are part of each teacher's life in class at Western
Heights. Teachers also use e-mail to communicate with one
another about common issues. They don't have to wait for the
district meetings that occur a couple of times a year. They can
reach out to fellow teachers with questions and get answers back
quickly.
"People may not realize how alone teachers are in the
classroom," Joe Kitchens of the Schools Department at Western
Heights says. "Most teachers remain behind closed doors all day.
They have little time for sharing experiences or interacting with
other teachers. There are only a few times a year when they can
gather together. E-mail stops them being isolated." Kitchens also jokes that teachers are able to complain to him more than before.
They expect him to answer their questions immediately over
e-mail.