By CATHERINE LANGFORD
As the world becomes increasingly wired through computer access and the Internet, the need to train school children in computer use becomes a more important issue in their ability to find and keep jobs after high school and college graduation.
But who trains the teachers to use the new technology?
The National Education Association reports that at least 50 percent of teachers have not had adequate training and technical assistance in the use of technology.
What's more, only 18 states require technology training as part of teacher certification processes. But the problem also lies in the example of instructors in teacher education classes, said Paul F. Merrill, chair of the Department of Instructional Psychology and Technology at BYU.
'If you really want (students) to learn to use technology when they get out into the public schools in their secondary classes, then they need to see some of their other classes in the university using technology,' he said. 'Otherwise they say, 'Nobody else uses it, why should I?''
The problem is time and resources, Merrill said. Many BYU professors have teaching, research and service responsibilities that may limit the time left over to learn new skills or integrate technology in their classroom plans.
Adequate technology training is time consuming, reported experts from the NEA. Such reports estimate it takes four to seven years of education, experimentation, reflection and revision to turn classroom teachers into what NEA representatives call 'true education technology innovators.'
A 1995 Electronic Learning survey indicated that 60 percent of technology workshops for educators are offered only twice a year or less, and 62 percent of all workshops are conducted in all-day or half-day sessions.
NEA officials suggest that educator training should be a part of the school day, and that it should be ongoing and collaborative so that teachers and administrators can discover what works and what doesn't in specific situations.
Another difficulty is that universities like BYU have limited classes that teach how to use technology in classroom situations. Merrill said the Department of Instructional Psychology and Technology is a graduate department, but it does provide a course to undergraduate education majors for instructional technology. Even that class, though, is more of an introduction to the skills required to effectively use technology, he said.
The brief exposure comes by necessity, Merrill said. The education program is supposed to require only four years yet still expose majors to a broad range of subjects.
'Our students get a minimal exposure to technology not because everybody doesn't think it would be valuable to have more,' Merrill said. 'The question is, if you give them more of this, what do you take away?'
He said the School of Education's goal for the future is to expose students to a variety of classes in their course requirements which actually use the technology in the classroom so they have practical exposure to refer to when they are teaching.
According to the NEA, 'Teachers who experience good examples of how the computer can be employed beyond an 'electronic notebook' are more likely to exploit the device for collaborating, communicating, storing and retrieving information, streamlining administration and fueling creativity.'
The problem then lies in how to teach them since they have so little free time to learn. Natalie Bingham, a kindergarten teacher at Geneva Elementary School in Orem, works from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on an average day, and most of her time before and after hours is spent in preparation. She said she has little time for anything else.
A fall education conference gave Bingham the opportunity to receive extra training, but as the NEA reports, occasional inservice opportunities are the least effective means of training -- especially for technology.
Bingham does have an advantage, though. She is a first-year teacher and, as Merrill said, new teachers are more likely to use technology than older ones.
One reason for this may come from an increase in school districts that require technology training for new or transfer teachers. Alpine School District is one of these, said David Walton, district director of technology.
Another important issue is how technology is used. Merrill said that computers can be used in education as tutors, tools and tutees.
Using technology as a tutor means using computer-based instructional applications to teach students, he said. This includes drill practices, tutorials, educational games and simulations.
Teachers and students use the computer as a tool when they use word processors, spreadsheets and databases to teach or learn, or to present what is going to be taught or what has been learned, he said.
The key, Merrill said, is to add educational value to the technology tools available, and to go beyond simple presentation in the form of handouts or other conventional computer uses.
One example he gave was using a computer projector to put graphs or spreadsheets on a screen for all students to see, and then to discuss how different variables would affect the results.
Walton said the Alpine district has been operating under the philosophy that computers and other technologies are tools. He added that he thought the most benefit could be gained if students were trained to use word processing programs, etc., rather than drilling them on skills.
However, educators who have never been exposed to the idea of using computers for classroom presentations, and supplemental learning would obviously be slower to employ the technology without training or help.
One resource for BYU professors who want to use technology but lack the training, is to hire graduate students trained to help them, Merrill said.
'We have quite a few who have taken advantage of that, but many have not,' he said. 'One of the big challenges is how do you help people to change -- especially those who have been doing what they've been doing for quite a period of time and feel comfortable with it.'
BYU has a number of resources for faculty training, including orientation for new faculty, Merrill said, as well as inservice programs and courses from BYU's Instructional Technology Center.
From 1988 to 1992, Alpine district educators were required to be trained in the use of technology for administrative purposes, Walton said. Technology training has not been mandated since, but Walton said he anticipates that Internet and e-mail training will be required during the 1998-99 school year.