New technology Getting Mixed Grades in School - Essay Example

New technology Getting Mixed Grades in School a. Should technology funding be tied to professional development for teachers? Technology funding should not be tied directly to the professional development of teachers since both may be quite independent of each other. A school may need computers for education as a general purpose tool and may need technological equipment for the teachers for which training and professional development is required. Additionally, a school may need to have a separate professional development budget for training and educating the teaching staff on non-technical matters.

On the other hand, untrained teachers may take away the value derived by the students from the technology. The ideal solution in such a situation would be to earmark training funds wherever there is going to be new technological equipment to be used in any classroom across America. b. Are our state legislators, district leaders, and school administrators doing enough to ensure that technology will be used appropriately?While it is easy to say that school administrators fully understand what their school needs, the same may not be true for state legislators or lawmakers which have a greater circle of influence (Lifto and Senden, 2006).

They may know in general that computers are good for a school and may even help them win more votes if they are able to convince the voters that they supported more technology for the school but the question would remain if it was the right technology. Further, the appropriate use of the right technology can only be governed by school administrators since they control what equipment would be used and by which classes. c. What specific technology is Lewis describing? Why do you think so?While at first it seems that Lewis is describing some magnificent work of technological greatness such as a smart board which is in use in many schools today, the year of the article, i.e. 1840, makes that proposition a very unlikely one.

A clear picture of the article and an explanation of what exactly Lewis (1840) is describing comes from Donawerth and Seeff (2001) who note that, “This article was describing the blackboard (Donawerth and Seeff, 2001, Pg. 238)”. Knowing that makes the article all the more interesting since it shows that problems in using new technologies in teaching have existed for more than 150 years. d. What other technologies (remember that software programs do not count as a “technology”) have met the charges indicated in the article excerpts?

Computers themselves have met the charges since they were expected to revolutionize teaching with things such as CBT and self guided lessons that let students explore and learn on their own. However, the failure of computers to improve our children’s education levels has also been blamed on the lack of training that our teachers may have with regard to using them. In fact, any modern technology such as projectors, media systems or even VCRs could fir the charges since they all may confuse the individual using them.

Word Count: 518Works CitedDonawerth, J and Seeff, A. 2001. Crossing Boundaries, University of Delaware Press.Lewis, P. 1848, ‘New technology Getting Mixed Grades in School’, New York Times.