Governors hope to aid training
     Recognizing that training is the key element in initiating technology use, the National Governors' Association's Center for Best Practices is just one of the organizations trying to help school districts find programs to implement educational computer use.
     Dane Linn, director of education policy studies for the NGA, said state policymakers need to develop a more systemic approach to investing their dollars, such as committing resources to professional development. By soliciting ideas from states, the organization has provided technical assistance to match their priorities, which range from developing sets of teacher competency standards to building incentives for educators to continue their own education in technology. States like Tennessee have made advancements by focusing on professional development while West Virginia has linked its investments to helping students meet state standards, he said.
     "We've tried to help [states] through forums to focus on what they're getting for the money they're investing," Linn said. "Is it directed in the way that it helps teachers use hardware and software to improve student achievement?"
     Fatemi added that many responding to the survey said it has validated what they believe about the value of teacher training. The survey found that basic skills training on how to use computers isn't enough — teachers must be taught how to align technology with their curriculum. While 37 percent of teachers who had training on curriculum-integration said they felt "much better" prepared to use technology than they did a year ago, only 25 percent of those who received training in basic skills answered positively.

Lack of Quality Content, Programs
     One of the main things the survey found, Fatemi said, is that teachers are having a difficult time finding high-quality software and Web sites to use in their classrooms.
     "The nation has made progress in terms of actually getting the boxes and wires into the schools, but we find that taking that next step of finding good academic content is difficult for teachers," he said.
     The survey found that 49 percent of teachers said they had a hard time finding Web sites to fulfill certain educational needs, and 59 percent said it was difficult to find software. Fatemi attributes that to the sheer amount of products available coupled with the pressure educators feel to teach to specific government-mandated standards that sometimes don't align with technology product use.
     "The nation is so focused on ramping up infrastructure that the ability for schools to integrate content is the hard work that has yet to be done," said David Byer, vice president of government affairs for the Software and Information Industry Association, referring to educating teachers on product choice and use. Byer said schools first must determine what they want educationally and then survey what types of materials are available.
     And what they want educationally is the usually the basics of reading, writing, math and science. Technology only "helps students learn, it's a means to an end," said Michaela Platzer, senior writer and researcher for the American Electronics Association, who wrote the "Cyberstates" and "Cybereducation" reports for the industry lobby. "Teachers should apply technology in the classroom but the basics are really what matters. If (students) don't have the fundamental grounding in science, math and reading, they're not going to be able to go on and pursue more advanced degrees."

Federal Funds In Question
     The report's release comes at a time when funding for education, and technology in the classroom, is in jeopardy. The House Appropriations Committee's Labor, Health and Human Services and Education subcommittee approved deep cuts to education funding last week, including a $75 million reduction for helping to train teachers in how to use technology in the classroom. The move has spurred a chorus of complaints from everyone from the Software and Information Industry Association to the NGA and National Conference of State Legislatures.
     "Their indiscriminate cuts run from the new basics to the old — cutting everything from education technology to the most basic of all, reading," said Education Secretary Richard Riley.
     Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-MA, also blasted the appropriations version in the House. Some woes were expected to subside with the Senate committee's version, which passed Monday and approved $35.2 billion for the Department of Education, an increase of $2.3 billion.
—by Stephanie Lash