http://www.4teachers.org/keynotes/roberts/

In the article, "Nobody Believes it's the Quick-fix for America's K-12 Ills,"  Linda Roberts, then Director of the US Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology, discusses the impact technology may have on improved student achievement, and dispels the notion that technology, in and of itself, will improve education.  As an educator, Ms. Roberts discusses her initial interest in technology as a result of her involvement with the creation of Sesame Street and later, The Electric Company. After joining the Department of Education in the early 1980's, she was assigned the task of evaluating how schools were using computers, and if their use was justified. Before joining the Clinton administration as the first technology advisor, she was immersed in the area of technology assessment. From her work, she believes that technology has a positive impact on basic reading skills, improved writing, and helping students perform better in advanced math and science. Ms. Roberts sees the need to provide data from controlled studies which show that technology does improve student learning, and that those students who have access to technology learn more and learn faster that those students who do not have access to it. But, she also stresses that other means can be used to show student achievement using technology, such as student portfolios.  Her message in this article is that technology is not a quick fix to improve education and student achievement, but rather it is an important part of improving the quality of education, especially for students who have special needs or are behind academically and/or lack the motivation to perform well in a traditional classroom.  The Technology Literacy Challenge, passed in 1996, expects that all teachers will be given support in order to effectively integrate technology into the curriculum, and to provide students with motivating, engaging, and effective instructional resources, including online resources. Parents and potential employees also expect that graduates will have basic skills in utilizing technology. In order to prepare our students, Ms. Roberts echoes the beliefs of educators who not only want the technology available in the classrooms, but they also need the time, the support, and the professional development to use it wisely.

I find it interesting to note that this article was published in 1997, and I maintain that the ideas of Linda Roberts hold true today, more than ever.  My job as an instructional technology facilitator for elementary schools allows me the luxury of working with teachers and students to help them effectively use technology in their classrooms. I observe first-hand the positive impact that technology can have on student work, but I also observe that when used improperly without direct teacher direction or purpose, technology can become nothing more than a toy or a game station for the student, or worse yet, a place to stack dittos and chalk.  I also find it interesting that school systems provide money to purchase the hardware and wiring to connect classrooms to networks, but provide little support in perhaps the most important aspect of technology use in schools: that of staff support, time for teachers to learn to use it, and staff development. For the past two years  I was assigned to one school and worked with the staff and students. The students were able to create effective and exciting multimedia presentations, newsletters, original works of graphic art, web pages, graphs, to name just a few of the projects. This year, the county leaders decided that all schools needed the same access to a technology facilitator so my schools now number seven. Of course, no additional money was added to increase the number of facilitators, only the number of schools for which I am responsible. As a result, my schools see so little of me, I may not as well be there. The system also expects the staff to learn to use it on their own time, no substitute money is given for in-school staff development for technology. Even though I feel the county I work for has taken some backward steps in promoting the use of technology in the school system, my job still allows me the pleasure of watching students come alive in front of the computers as they learn to use it as an effective tool for their present and future.