ERIC Number: ED326195
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1990
Reference Count: N/A
Educational Technology and the Restructuring Movement: Lessons from Research on Computers in Classrooms.
Kell, Diane; And Others
This paper presents findings from a recently completed study of the use of computers in primary classrooms as one source of evidence concerning the role technology can play in school restructuring efforts. The sites for the study were selected by Apple Computer, Inc. in the spring of 1988 and included 43 classrooms in 10 schools in 6 large, mostly urban districts. The research goals were to understand the effects of classroom-based computers and the Apple Learning Series: Early Language (ALS-EL) software on teachers and students and on teaching and learning, to identify patterns and trends in ALS-EL use, and to determine the factors that contribute to the successful integration of computers in classrooms. Each of the six districts was visited four times during the 1988-89 school year. Open-ended interviews were conducted with ALS-EL teachers and with school administrators, and language arts instruction and computer use were observed in the classroom. It was concluded that computers in classrooms served a support role for instructional changes when conditions conducive to change were already in existence. Such conditions include: (1) a shared vision of teaching and learning; (2) leadership and support for the use of new technologies from school administrators; (3) organizational conditions allowing teachers flexibility, time, and incentives to experiment with new instructional methods; (4) opportunities for communication, interaction, and peer support among teachers; and (5) training and personalized support over time for teachers. (9 references) (DB)
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (Boston, MA, April 16-20, 1990). For related papers, see IR 014 736-738.