Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
attrition rates suggest that current teachers are leaving the field more quickly than they are
being replaced (State of the Fund, 1999; State of the Fund, 2001).
Thus, the concern should be directed to the thousands of teachers currently in
preservice (undergraduate) programs. These programs must train teachers who are not only
literate in information technology but also are leading teachers in instructional technology.
Information technology may be thought of as the practice of accessing and acquiring
data, text, and graphic phrases and files. This technology is concerned with the tools known
as electronic card catalogs, search engines such as www.google.com or www.altavista.com,
meta-search engines such as www.metacrawler.com, and electronic databases, such as ERIC
and Proquest.
Instructional technology combines the fields of educational psychology, distance
education, and computer technology to form a growing and cohesive body of knowledge that
is based on learning theories, best practices, and innovative procedures that help the teacher
be a guide or a facilitator of learning.
A number of professional organizations and articles devote their efforts not only to
raising the awareness of technology literacy but also for measures to prepare our citizenry
for the explosion of information and instructional technology in our global society. The U.S.
Department of Education published “Getting America's Students Ready for the 21
st
Century:
Meeting the Technology Literacy Challenge” (Riley, 1996). This guide references the digital
divide and calls for action to bridge the gap between the “haves and have-nots” (Riley, 1996,
p. 44). It advocates for the achievement of four goals (Riley, 1996, p. 11):
1.
All teachers in the nation will have the training and support they need to help students
learn using computers and the information superhighway.
2.
All teachers and students will have modern, multimedia computers in their classrooms.
3.
Every classroom will be connected to the information superhighway.
4.
Effective software and on-line learning resources will be an integral part of every
school's environment.
Goal 1 discusses the support that is necessary to achieve a technologically literate
society. The federal government supports this endeavor by committing over $2.25 billion per
year. The support must also occur at the teacher preparation stage. Topp (1995) listed three
major areas to build a program in which teachers use the technology: an adequate and
accessible equipment store of technology, the proper amount and kind of training, and the
expectations to give technology importance in the profession. He further stated that this
importance is dependent on the support of those in charge. At Duquesne University, the
Instruction and Leadership department chair and the dean of the School of Education support
and encourage the use of technology. The use of technology is given the status of a theme
in the Leading Teacher Program, along with the concepts of diversity and leadership. Goal
3 from the Riley report (1995) has, to date, cost over $8 billion (Erate, 2001). This initiative was
funded by the Universal Service Fund (Erate) and was funded by the Telecommunication
Acts of 1994 and 1996. Essentially, telecommunication providers bill every user of telephones
(local and long distance), data circuits, and cable television a small percent of their monthly
bill to raise the $2.25 billion needed annually.
However, while the hardware was ordered from various manufacturers and installed
locally, a smaller proportion of the funds were committed to staff development and teacher
preparation programs. The desire to produce a technology-literate workforce continues to
