Have Tools, Lack Skills
RSSMD schools boast hardware, but not research skills
By Kathy Ishizuka -- School Library Journal, 05/01/2005
Despite the investment of millions of dollars in computers and other technology, Maryland public school students and teachers are not using these tools for higher-level analytical or problem-solving activities, according to a recent study by the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education (MBRT).
Instead, students and teachers use their computers primarily for basic tasks, such as e-mail and word processing, reports MBRT, a statewide nonprofit business coalition.
"The primary objective of the state's enormous investment in technology is improved student learning, but that can only be achieved if students are making effective use of those tools daily," says MBRT Executive Director June Streckfus.
With higher-level skills, such as information-gathering and collecting data in lab experiments, only 13 percent of K–12 schools report that their students use technology to "display data" every day. And just nine percent report their students use technology to "manipulate, analyze, and interpret information." The situation is more dire in poor communities. The higher the poverty level of schools, the less frequently tech tools are being used for data analysis or Web research, according to the survey.
Yet Maryland has made significant progress in student access to computers. In 1996, schools averaged one computer for every 16 students. The ratio in 2004 was 4 to 1, slightly higher than the national average, thanks to Maryland's $53 million investment in education technology in 1997. "While we have bettered the computer ratio, now we know we have these instructional issues, and that's a real challenge," says Jayne E. Moore, Maryland's director of instructional technology and school library media services.
Moore says that the Department of Education will work closely with MBRT on the state technology plan, which is due for revision this year. MBRT's report calls for the "seamless integration of technology tools into existing curriculum," with a particular emphasis on fostering critical thinking skills.
But Della Curtis, coordinator of library information services for Baltimore County Public Schools, calls MBRT's figures on student information skills "pretty low" and "not representative of what is happening in Baltimore County." She questions whether school officials who answered the survey were well-informed about their programming, she says. Survey respondents were chosen by district superintendents and included library media specialists, as well as tech coordinators, says Streckfus. In Baltimore, however, no media specialists participated in the survey.
Streckfus is well aware of the communication issues between district "techies" and media specialists, who, she says, need to better coordinate efforts on best practices in technology and share their successes with district leaders. And that, in turn, will influence where those leaders invest education funding.
That's why MBRT is steering educators away from "a line-item mentality" regarding technology, says Streckfus. "For it to work, technology has to be thought of as an integral part of the curriculum."
