School Education’s Integration of Computer Technology
School Education’s Integration of Computer Technology
Teffany White
AED/200 Contemporary Issues in American Education
October 26, 2012
Gary Shepard
School Education’s Integration of Computer Technology
Since Apple’s invention of the IBM computer in the 1980’s computers have been the way of the future. Educators understood the importance of teaching computer literacy within the school doors and began to integrate computer literacy into the school’s curriculum through computer labs. However, as education has moved increasingly towards instructional technology the question has raised, should computer labs be phased out? Computer labs do support a certain amount of computer education, taught by an instructor fluent within computer technology. However, students are not able to form strong computer concepts in the allotted amount of time spent in computer labs. Students are able to form stronger computer and subject based concepts through the use of classroom computer instruction. One of the more difficult and complex decisions about education is choosing the most effective and cost efficient curriculum. According to Dupuis,” curriculum is anything and everything which supports student learning” (Dupuis, 2008, pg.423). Before considering a curriculum educators must first establish two things; what the students are expected to learn and the instructional material available. The Federal No Child Left Behind Act has set mandated benchmarks which the majority of students within schools are expected to achieve based on the Bloom taxonomy standards. The federal government has set a benchmark “requiring all students to be technologically literate by the end of the eighth” (Owen, n.d.). School districts are faced with the decision of how to integrate computer literacy within school curriculum. There are basically two ways in which to achieve this goal; traditional teaching curriculum with computer labs and classroom computer based instruction.
Teffany White
AED/200 Contemporary Issues in American Education
October 26, 2012
Gary Shepard
School Education’s Integration of Computer Technology
Since Apple’s invention of the IBM computer in the 1980’s computers have been the way of the future. Educators understood the importance of teaching computer literacy within the school doors and began to integrate computer literacy into the school’s curriculum through computer labs. However, as education has moved increasingly towards instructional technology the question has raised, should computer labs be phased out? Computer labs do support a certain amount of computer education, taught by an instructor fluent within computer technology. However, students are not able to form strong computer concepts in the allotted amount of time spent in computer labs. Students are able to form stronger computer and subject based concepts through the use of classroom computer instruction. One of the more difficult and complex decisions about education is choosing the most effective and cost efficient curriculum. According to Dupuis,” curriculum is anything and everything which supports student learning” (Dupuis, 2008, pg.423). Before considering a curriculum educators must first establish two things; what the students are expected to learn and the instructional material available. The Federal No Child Left Behind Act has set mandated benchmarks which the majority of students within schools are expected to achieve based on the Bloom taxonomy standards. The federal government has set a benchmark “requiring all students to be technologically literate by the end of the eighth” (Owen, n.d.). School districts are faced with the decision of how to integrate computer literacy within school curriculum. There are basically two ways in which to achieve this goal; traditional teaching curriculum with computer labs and classroom computer based instruction.
References: Dupuis, Victor L., Gollnick, D. M., Hall, G.E., Johnson, J.A., & Musial, D., (2005). Introductions to the Foundations of American Education (13th ed.). A llyn and Bacon Johnson, K. A. Ph. D. (2012). The Heritage Foundation The Leaders of the Community . Retrieved from http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2000/06/do-computers-in-the-classroom-boost-academic-achievement Owen, W. (n.d.). Oregon school computer labs overwhelmed by demands on students. Retrieved from http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2010/07/oregon_school_ computer_labs_ov.html Roller, W. (1210, January 8). Carpe Diem among top-ranked high schools. Yumasun.com,