Chapter 2: Computer-Related Technology in
This chapter gives a brief overview
of the field of computer-related technology in
Moursund, D.G. (2002). Obtaining resources for
technology in education: A how-to guide for writing
proposals, forming partnerships, and raising funds.
Copyright (c) David Moursund, 2002.
Section Headings for Chapter 2
This chapter gives a brief overview of the field of
computer-related technology in education. An understanding
of this background information is essential if you are going
to write educational technology proposals. If your interest
lies in writing proposals in other fields, you may want to
limit your reading in this chapter to the sections on
educational change and the Internet.
Additional overview information on the field of IT in
education is available at http://otec.oregon.uoregon.edu. You might also want to browse some of Moursund's writings are listed at http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~moursund/dave/index.htm.
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The Information Age
Historians have identified four important eras in the
development of human societies:
- The Hunter-Gatherer Age
- The Agricultural Age
- The Industrial Age
- The Information Age
We live in the Information Age, where computers are used
as personal productivity tools and for entertainment. The
Information Age has brought us such concepts and tools as
telecommunications, the information superhighway, and the
Internet. It is characterized by the availability of
digitized information disseminated through multimedia such
as television, audio and videotape, camcorders, compact
discs, and digital tape. The Information Age has seen the
development of hypermedia (computer-based, interactive
multimedia) and groupware (productivity tools for groups of
people working together).
The Information Age has also brought us a new way of "knowing, researching, and using" the various academic disciplines that we study in school. As an example, in 1998 one of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was a Computational Chemist. The prize was awarded for his work in computer modeling and simulation of chemicals and chemical processes. Nowadays, there are three major categories of scientists within each science discipline: Experimental Scientists, Theoretical Scientists, and Computational Scientists. The idea of "Computation" is also beginning to take hold in the Social Sciences.
The Information Age has shrunk our world and is helping
to create a Global Village. It has changed business,
industry, government, and education. This transformation has
been fueled by rapid progress in computer-related
technologies and telecommunications systems that link
computers and other machines to each other and to people.
The computer's role as a "mind" tool has further fueled
change in the Information Age. One person who can use
computers effectively can often do the work of several
people who don't know how to use computers.
The Information Age has challenged our educational
system. It has complicated the functions of teacher
education and curriculum development. It has affected school
funding and the decision-making processes that determine how
school resources are allocated.
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Almost everybody agrees that education is important. Our
political leaders are good at coming up with statements such
as "the future of our nation lies in the minds of our
children." However, there is less agreement on what
constitutes an appropriate education and how to fund it.
Our educational system is a massive institution deeply
rooted in the history and traditions of our nation, and
thus, it is slow to change. It was not designed to deal with
the rapid and continued pace of change in educational
The result is that many students are not getting an
education that adequately prepares them for adult life in
the Information Age. Many teachers are working with archaic
facilities where students learn archaic curriculum. Parents
are frustrated that their children are not learning in an
environment that is as technologically rich as their own
work environments. Leaders in business and government have
expressed concern that our educational system is failing to
meet the needs of commerce and the nation.
There has been a great deal of research on educational
change (Fullan, 1991). If you are writing proposals designed
to help improve education--that is, to produce educational
change--you need to be familiar with some of the literature
in this field. Probably the single most important idea in
the educational change literature is the need to have a firm
and long-lasting commitment from the key stakeholder groups.
It takes three to five years of effort to produce a
significant and lasting change in an educational system.
Generally, projects that lack broad-based, long-term support
will not produce significant and lasting change.
Such findings by Fullan and others are very important to
proposal writers. For example, suppose you want to improve
science education in a middle school by acquiring 12
microcomputers and placing 6 of them in each of the two
science classrooms. As far as you are concerned, the
project's purpose is to acquire the hardware (and perhaps
some software) and place it in the classrooms.
However, this will probably have little impact on the
science education that students receive. The people who will
evaluate your proposal are familiar with the educational
change literature and will probably reject your proposal
because it does not address the broader issues that are
essential to producing significant and long-lasting
The proposal evaluators will seek answers to a number of
questions. For example, will the teachers receive adequate
training and technical support? How does your proposed
project fit in with the school's and school district's
long-range technology plan? What curriculum materials will
be developed or purchased? How will curriculum changes be
implemented? How will students be evaluated? Will the
computer use be consistent with and supportive of statewide
and district testing? How will the computer use help
students meet district, state, and national standards for
Information and Communications Technology? Who will maintain
the computers and replace them when they wear out? Do the
science department, school administration, and school
district support the use of computers in the science
curriculum? Do the school board members and parents support
this change in science education? A proposal that adequately
addresses these issues will have a much better chance of
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Goals for Information Technology in Education
The history of computer use in education is quite long.
Much of the early work in developing electronic digital
computers was done in university research settings. As
computers came into use in colleges and universities, their
application quickly spread to the precollege level. Thus, by
1960 there was already some instructional use of computers
in some schools.
The commonly used term computer literacy, coined in the
early 1970s, originally referred to the ability to write
simple computer programs to accomplish academic tasks.
Later, the term encompassed a knowledge of computer
vocabulary, computer capabilities, and computer limitations.
More recently, the term has come to mean knowledge and skill
in using basic computer tools such as word processors,
databases, spreadsheets, graphics, and
In response to these developments, many schools have
established the achievement of computer literacy among
students as one of their curriculum goals. However, the
definition of computer literacy is now somewhat dated. Goals
for computer-related technology in education have broadened
into areas that had not been conceived of 30 years ago.
Today, computer literacy usually refers to a working
knowledge of the computer as a tool to help solve problems
and accomplish tasks encountered at school, work, and
Moreover, the expectations about computer literacy among
students are changing. As computer hardware and software
become more powerful, it is assumed that educational
institutions will help students learn to use this hardware
and software. As computers have become more readily
available, the computer literacy expectation for
students--even in the primary grades--has risen.
In 1998, the International
Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) published
National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for
Students. These standards specify what students should know
and be able to do by the end of the 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 12th
grades. In 2000 ISTE published NETS for Teachers, and in
2002 they will publish NETS for School Administrators. Such
national standards help to provide a solid foundation (are
part of the Needs Assessment) for many types of Information
and Communications Technology proposals. A number of states,
individual school districts, and individual schools have
adopted the various ISTE standards, or modifications
The following 11 items summarize a set of goals for
technology in education. The list was specifically designed
for precollege education settings. It has been adapted and
updated from an earlier list (Moursund, 1992). The goals
reflect what the education community must achieve if
students are to be adequately prepared for adult citizenship
in the 21st century.
When you are working to obtain resources for IT in
education, you will want to pay careful attention to the
goals for IT in education. You want to obtain resources to
accomplish one or more specific goals. Keep in mind that
there are other ways to represent or state these goals. For
example, the International society for Technology in
Education has developed National
Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for Pre K-12
students, for teachers, and for school administrators.
1. Computer Literacy: All students shall be
functionally computer literate. Functional computer literacy
can be divided into two major parts:
- A relatively broad-based, interdisciplinary,
general knowledge of applications, capabilities,
limitations, and societal implications of computers and
other information technology. This level of knowledge
should be achieved by the end of the eighth grade. It has
- Talking knowledge and reading knowledge of computers and other information technology and their effects on our society. Every discipline students study should include instruction on how electronic aids can be used for information processing and problem solving in that specific discipline.
- Knowledge of the concept of effective procedures, representation of procedures, roles of procedures in problem solving, and a broad range of examples of the types of procedures that computers can execute.
- Basic skills in the use of word processing, database, computer graphics, spreadsheet, and other general-purpose, multidisciplinary application packages. Basic skills in creating hypermedia materials as aids to communicating and to storing and processing information. Basic skills in designing effective communications in these computer environments.
- Basic skills in using telecommunications to communicate with people. The ability to make effective use of computerized databases and other sources of information located locally (for example, in a school library, a school district library, or a local community library) and throughout the world.
- Basic knowledge of hardware and skills in working with it. Knowledge of electronic and other hardware components and how they function. The level of knowledge should be high enough to "dispel the magic." Knowledge of the functionality of hardware so that one can detect and correct minor difficulties, such as various components not being plugged in, not receiving power, or not being connected, and the printer being out of paper.
- Basic skills in computer input. Currently, keyboarding is still the dominant computer input method students use. However, using scanners to input graphics is now common, as is using probes and other instrumentation in science labs. Voice input and pen-based input systems are rapidly gaining in importance.
- Deeper knowledge of computers and other information technologies as they relate to the specific disciplines and topics studied in high school. Here are some examples:
- Skill in creating hypermedia documents. This includes considerable emphasis on the design of effective communications for use in both print and electronic media. It includes a functional level of knowledge of both desktop publishing and desktop presentation.
- Skill in using computers as problem-solving aids in the various disciplines. For example, a student taking advanced math courses shall learn about using computers for these courses' subject areas. A student studying commercial art shall learn about the computer's role in that field. Industrial arts students shall learn about computer-aided design. Science courses shall include instruction about microcomputer-based laboratories and computer simulations in science.
- Skill in computer-mediated, collaborative, interdisciplinary problem solving. This includes students gaining the communication skills needed to work in a computer-mediated problem-solving environment.
2. Computer-Assisted Learning: This area is also
called computer-assisted instruction, or CAI. Education
shall use computer-assisted learning (CAL), when it is
pedagogically and economically sound, to increase student
learning and to broaden the students' range of learning
opportunities. CAL includes drill and practice, tutorials,
simulations, and microworlds. It also includes
computer-managed instruction (see item C below).
- All students shall learn general applications for computers as aids to learning and specific ways CAL can be useful. They shall become experienced users of CAL systems. The intent shall be to focus on having students learn to investigate problems, become responsible for their own learning, and become lifelong learners. Students have their own learning styles, so different types of CAL will fit those styles to greater or lesser degrees.
- CAL shall be an integral component of the educational system when it is a cost-effective and educationally sound aid to student learning. For example, CAL can help some students learn certain types of material significantly faster than can conventional instructional techniques. Such students should have the opportunity to use CAL as one aid to learning. In addition, CAL can provide educational opportunities that might not otherwise be available. A school can expand its curriculum by delivering some courses largely via CAL.
- Computer-managed instruction (CMI) includes record keeping, diagnostic testing, and prescriptive guides about what to study and in what order. This type of software is useful both to students and teachers. Students should have the opportunity to track their own progress in school and understand the rationale behind the work they are doing. CMI can reduce busywork.
3. Distance Education: Telecommunications and
other electronic aids are the foundation for an increasingly
sophisticated distance education system. Education shall use
distance education, when it is pedagogically and
economically sound, to increase students' opportunities for
In many cases, distance education can be
combined with CAL; therefore, there is not a clear
dividing line between these two approaches to education.
In both cases students are given an increased range of
learning opportunities. The education may occur at a time
and place convenient to the student rather than in a
school's traditional course schedule. The choice and
level of topics may be more under student control than in
our traditional educational system.
4. Applications: The Computer as Tool: Computer
applications as general-purpose aids to problem solving
using word processor, database, graphics, spreadsheet, and
other application packages shall be integrated throughout
the curriculum. This is called computer-integrated
instruction, or CII. Students shall receive specific
instruction in the use of each of these tools, ideally
before completing elementary school. The middle school or
junior high school curriculum, as well as the high school
curriculum, shall assume that students know how to use these
tools and shall include specific additional instruction in
their use. Throughout secondary school and in all higher
education, students shall be expected to use these tools
regularly, and teachers shall structure their curriculum and
assignments to take advantage of and enhance student
knowledge of the computer-as-tool.
5. Information Technology Courses: A high school
shall provide the following two, more advanced, tracks of
- Computer-related coursework preparing the student who seeks employment immediately upon leaving school. For example, a high school business curriculum should prepare students for entry-level employment in a computerized business office. A graphic arts curriculum should prepare students to be productive in that field's computer-based graphic arts facilities. Increasingly, some of these courses are part of the Tech Prep (Technical Preparation) programs of study in schools.
- Computer science coursework designed to give students a solid college preparation introduction to the discipline of computer science. This includes problem solving in a computer programming environment.
6. Students With Special Needs: When research and
practice have demonstrated its effectiveness,
computer-related technology shall be routinely and readily
available to students with special needs.
- Computer-based adaptive technologies shall be available to students who need such technology for communication with other people and/or for communication with a computer.
- When CAL with demonstrated effectiveness is available to help students with special learning needs, this CAL shall be made available to the students.
- All staff who work with special needs students shall have the knowledge and experience needed to assist them in the use of computer-based adaptive technologies, CAL, and computer tools.
7. Assessment: Student assessment systems shall reflect the student goals listed in items 1 to 6. For example, when students are being taught to write and solve problems in an environment that includes routine use of computers, they shall be assessed in such an environment.
8. Staff Development and Support: The professional education staff shall have computers to increase their productivity, make it easier for them to accomplish their duties, and support their computer-oriented growth. Every school district shall provide for staff development, and particular attention shall be paid to accomplishing goals 1 to 7. Teacher training institutions shall adequately prepare their teacher education graduates so that they can function effectively in a school environment having these goals.
This means, for example, that all teachers shall
have access to computerized data banks, word processors,
presentation graphics software, computerized gradebooks,
telecommunications packages, and other application
software that teachers have found useful in increasing
their productivity and job satisfaction. Computer-based
communication is becoming an avenue for teachers to share
professional information. Every teacher should have
telecommunications and desktop presentation facilities in
the classroom. Computer-managed instruction (CMI) can
help the teacher by providing diagnostic testing and
prescription, access to item data banks, and aids to
preparing individual educational plans (IEPs).
9. Facilities: The school district shall integrate
adequate resources into its ongoing budget to provide the
hardware, software, curriculum development, curriculum
materials, staff development, and staff needed to accomplish
the goals listed here.
10. Long-Term Commitment: The school
district shall institutionalize computers in schools through
the establishment of appropriate policies, procedures, and
practices. Instructional computing shall be integrated into
job descriptions, ongoing budgets, planning, staff
development, work assignments, and other areas. Every school
shall have a goal of increasing the functional computer
literacy of its students and shall have appropriate methods
for adequately assessing its students' functional computer
literacy. The school district shall fully accept that
computers are here to stay as an integral part of an
Information Age school system.
11. Community-Wide Commitment: The community--the entire formal and informal educational system--shall support and work to achieve the goals listed in items 1 to 10.
Many educational technology grant proposals focus on one
or more of the 11 goals. These goals can be worked on in
both formal and informal education, and at all levels of
education. Projects can center on curriculum development,
evaluation, implementation, research, or some appropriate
combination of these areas, and on one or more of these
goals. They can focus on narrow audiences (for example,
students with specific handicaps) or broad-based audiences.
Projects can focus within a single discipline (for example,
the role of computer technology in helping third-grade
students learn musical composition) or cut across many
disciplines (for example, the use of the Internet to
retrieve information in all academic disciplines).
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for Computers in Education
One very important component of most funding proposals is
a discussion of what is known about the problem being
addressed. This means that you need to have knowledge about
the literature in the field your proposal addresses.
There are many sources of information about education,
technology in education, grants, and so on. In this book,
contains contact information for a number of major granting
organizations and agencies. provides relevant Internet
addresses. Resources for Grant Writers and GrantsNet may
prove to be particularly useful to you. Appendix G,
References and Resources, is an annotated bibliography
designed to help meet information needs of grant
The Internet can be visualized as a huge collection of
computers connected to each other by way of an extensive
telecommunications system. The Internet is designed to
facilitate reliable communication among people and
computers. Many of the computers connected to the Internet
contain documents and databases that can help a proposal
Figure 2.1 shows major components of the Web. Think of
yourself as a client (a person with a computer) seeking
information. There may be thousands of clients all using the
Web site at the same time. There are now hundreds of
millions of clients who make use of the web.
Think of each of the server computers as containing
documents and databases that might interest you. There are
many millions of server computers. The interconnecting
telecommunication system contains computers, telephone
lines, fiber optics, satellite systems, microwave systems,
and other telecommunications systems.
Figure 2.1. Diagram of the Web.
For this system to work, both the client computers and
server computers have to follow a consistent set of software
and electronic "rules." The World Wide Web (WWW) is a set of
"rules" that has been developed for use by clients and
servers. This set of rules contains specifications for
documents that contain graphics, text, audio, video, and
three dimensional graphics. The type of software needed to
retrieve Web materials is called a browser.
The Web can be viewed as a Global Library that is rapidly
growing in size. For example, the Google Search Engine now
indexes over 1.6 billion Web pages. Some Web "experts"
suggest that this is well under five percent of the total
number of pages that are currently published to the Web.
By then end of 2002 there were approximately 500 million
Web users from throughout the world. There is an emerging
trend of Websites and Web users using languages other than
The Web-Global Library is unlike any library we have seen
before. It has millions of authors. It has become common for
students--even elementary school students--to have their own
Websites. When one uses a browser to do a Web search, most
often one gets a large number of "hits"--sites that may be
relevant to your search. This places a major burden on the
(human) searcher to sort out the the wheat from the chaff.
It is not easy to learn to to make effective use of the
Web--in essence, to develop some of the skills of a research
Here are two information retrieval approaches that might
be helpful to you:
- Try out several Search Engines until you find one
that seems to work well with the way you think about the
organization of stored information. Then use this Search
Engine until you develop a comfortable level of expertise
- Identify and make use of several Websites that
specialize in computers in education. Here are a couple
that may prove to be good starting points for you:
This Website was developed by David Moursund. The
References page of this Website provides brief
annotations plus links to a very large number of sites of
interest to educators.
This is the Website of the International Society for
Technology in Education.
The US Department of Education provides many excellent
information resources, including the ERIC
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- Select a school or some informal educational
organization you know about. Analyze this institution by
considering its uses of educational technology. Describe
its successes and failures in terms of the outcomes you
feel are appropriate and desirable. After completing your
analysis, identify one or more specific problems the
organization faces that might be the basis for writing a
proposal. In carrying out this activity, you have been
doing a needs assessment, which is often the starting
point for writing a proposal.
- Select a stakeholder group such as a school district,
school, classroom, or particular group of teachers or
students. List some educational technology problems this
stakeholder group faces but does not have adequate
resources to overcome. (This is another needs-assessment
activity. Proposal writing often begins with the
identification of a problem to be solved. Practice
identifying problems that might serve as a basis for a
- Analyze your own level of computer literacy. Use this
analysis as a basis for identifying a project that could
help meet the computer literacy needs of people like
- Talk to a person who is successful in writing
proposals. Summarize some of this person's suggestions
about how to succeed in the proposal-writing
- Are you comfortable using the Internet or some other
networking service to access information? Many people who
write grant proposals routinely use these sources of
information. Spend some time browsing the ERIC and ISTE
information sources, looking for information relevant to
your grant-writing interests.
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