1

March 2005

Computer Technology in the Public School

Classroom: Teacher Perspectives

U.S. Department of Education

Institute of Education Sciences

NCES 2005–083

IssueBrief

In recent years, U.S. public school teachers have seen the level

of education technology in their schools and classrooms increase substantially. From 1994 to 2002, the percentage of

public schools with access to the Internet increased from 35

to 99 percent. Furthermore, in 2001–02, 87 percent of public

schools with Internet access reported that professional development on how to integrate the use of the Internet into the

curriculum was available to teachers (Kleiner and Lewis 2003).

Despite regular reports of increasing school-level access to

computers and technology, little national-level data is available on teacher opinions regarding the availability and usefulness of the technology in their classrooms. This Issue Brief

uses data from the 2000–01 Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS)

to examine teacher views on the technology in their classrooms.1

 Specifically, teachers reported which types of technology they considered essential for teaching and whether

they felt such technology was sufficiently available in their

classrooms.

Which Types of Classroom Technology Do

Teachers Consider To Be Essential?

In 2000–01, teachers reported on the types of technology—

regardless of availability—they considered essential for teaching. Topping the list were types of technology that reached

outside the classroom. A “teacher’s computer station with

access to electronic mail” was most frequently reported as

“essential” (68 percent; figure 1). Following e-mail, classroom

access to the World Wide Web (61 percent), a telephone in

the classroom (56 percent), encyclopedias and other reference materials on CD-ROM (51 percent), and the presence

of at least one computer for every four students (49 percent)

were the items most frequently reported as essential. Following those items, 35 percent of teachers reported presentation

software (e.g., PowerPoint) as essential. The items least frequently reported as essential were multimedia authoring programs (e.g., HyperCard), full page scanners, and video cameras (21 percent, 20 percent, and 18 percent, respectively).

Do Teachers Feel Technology Is Sufficiently

Available in Their Classrooms?

Teachers also reported on the availability of technology in

their classrooms. In 2000–01, a majority of teachers (57 percent) agreed with the statement “Computers and other technology for my classroom(s) were sufficiently available.” Of

all teachers, 25 percent “strongly” agreed that this was the

case. However, 35 percent of all teachers disagreed with the

statement, including 15 percent who “strongly” disagreed (figure 2).

Teachers’ familiarity with computers was related to whether

they agreed that classroom technology was sufficiently availFigure 1. Percentage of teachers who believed selected technologies were essential to their teaching: 2000–01

1 Presentation software refers to software such as PowerPoint.

2 Multimedia authoring program refers to software such as Hyperstudio or HyperCard.

NOTE: Standard errors are available at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005083.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), 2000–01, Questionnaire for Current Teachers.

Percent

0 20 40 60 80 100

Video camera

Full page scanner

Multimedia authoring program2

Presentation software1

At least one computer for every 

four students in classroom

Encyclopedia and other reference 

works on CD-ROM

Telephone in classroom

World Wide Web access in classroom

Teacher computer station with 

access to electronic mail 68

18

20

21

35

49

51

56

61

Selected technology
2

Figure 2. Percentage of teachers who agreed that computers and other technology for their classrooms were sufficiently available:

2000–01

NOTE: Standard errors are available at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005083.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), 2000–01, Questionnaire for Current Teachers.

Percent

0

20

40

60

80

100

Strongly 

disagree

Somewhat 

disagree

Neither agree 

nor disagree

Somewhat 

agree

Strongly 

agree

Teachers' opinions of classroom technology

25

15

19

8

32

Table 1. Percentage of teachers who agreed that computers and other technology for their classrooms were sufficiently available, by

selected teacher characteristics: 2000–01

! Interpret data with caution; estimates are unstable. The coefficient of variation is greater than 30 percent.

1 Estimate combines those teachers who either “somewhat” agreed or “strongly” agreed that technology for their classrooms was sufficiently available.

2 Estimate combines those teachers who either “somewhat” disagreed or “strongly” disagreed that technology for their classrooms was sufficiently available.

3 Includes religion, philosophy, home economics, health, computer science, American Indian studies, military science, gifted programs, arts, physical

education, remedial education, and others.

4 The classroom student-to-computer ratio was calculated by dividing the number of students in one “typical” class, designated by the teacher within the

main assignment, by the number of computers in the classroom where that designated class was taught. Teachers with no computers in the classroom were

excluded from the calculation. Percentages are based on the 58 percent of teachers who reported that their students used computers during class time.

NOTE: Standard errors are available at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005083.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), 2000–01, Questionnaire for Current Teachers.

Neither agree

Teacher characteristic Agree1 nor disagree Disagree2

Total 57 8 35

Main assignment

Pre-K, kindergarten, and general elementary 58 7 35

Mathematics and science 62 9 29

English/language arts 59 8 33

Social science 64 5 ! 30

Special education 53 9 39

Foreign languages and bilingual/ESL 54 6 ! 40

Vocational/technical 56 8 ! 36

All others3 52 12 36

Hours of professional development for computers

No professional development 47 10 43

Up to 16 hours 65 7 28

17 hours or more 61 8 32

Agrees with "I am reasonably familiar and comfortable with using computers"

Strongly or somewhat agree 60 8 32

Neither agree nor disagree 53 14 33

Strongly or somewhat disagree 48 8 45

Student-to-computer ratio4

With computers in classroom

Less than 4 69 8 23

4 to less than 8 67 6 27

8 to less than 16 62 3 35

16 or greater 55 5 40

No computers in classroom 39 13 ! 48
3

The Issue Brief series presents information on education topics of current interest. All estimates shown are based on samples and are subject to sampling

variability. All differences are statistically significant at the .05 level. In the design, conduct, and data processing of National Center for Education Statistics

(NCES) surveys, efforts are made to minimize the effects of nonsampling errors, such as item nonresponse, measurement error, data processing error, or other

systematic error. For more information on the Teacher Follow-up Survey, visit http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/SASS/OVERVIEW.ASP#whatstfs.

This Issue Brief was authored by Lawrence Lanahan and Janet Boysen of the Education Statistics Services Institute (ESSI) and was formatted by Carol Rohr of

Pinkerton Computer Consultants, Inc. For further information, contact Edith McArthur, NCES, at 202-502-7393 or Edith.McArthur@ed.gov. To order additional

copies of this Issue Brief or other NCES publications, call 1-877-4ED-Pubs or visit http://www.edpubs.org. NCES publications are also available on the Internet at

http://nces.ed.gov.

able. Of the teachers who considered themselves “reasonably

familiar and comfortable with using computers,” 60 percent

agreed that technology was sufficiently available in their classrooms, compared with 48 percent of those who did not report

being “reasonably familiar and comfortable with using computers” (table 1). Also, teacher participation in technologyrelated professional development was related to views on classroom technology. Forty-seven percent of teachers who did not

participate in this type of professional development agreed

that classroom technology was sufficiently available, compared

with 65 percent of teachers who had up to 16 hours and 61

percent of teachers who had 17 or more hours.

The presence of computers in the classroom was also related

to teacher reports of sufficient availability of technology. Some

69 percent of teachers with a student-to-computer ratio of

less than 4 agreed that classroom technology was sufficiently

available. In contrast, 39 percent of teachers without classroom computers for students agreed that classroom technology was sufficiently available (table 1). In general, as the ratio

of students to computers increased, teachers’ dissatisfaction

with the available classroom technology increased.

Conclusion

By presenting national data on teacher opinions on technology, this Issue Brief adds a new perspective to the literature on

the proliferation of education technology. In 2000–01, technologies that allowed teachers to communicate with others or

access resources outside the classroom (e-mail, the World Wide

Web, and telephone) were among the most frequently cited by

teachers as being “essential” for their teaching. Most teachers

reported that they found their classroom technology to be “sufficiently available.” However, teachers with relatively few computers in the classroom reported sufficient availability of technology less often than teachers with more computers.

Endnote

1 The TFS sampling frame consists of all eligible teachers who

responded to the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) teacher

questionnaires in 1999–2000. Analyses in this Issue Brief are based

on data from the 4,153 public and charter school teachers in the

2000–01 TFS sample—a subsample of those 1999–2000 SASS

respondents who continued teaching—representing a target

population of 3.1 million teachers. All differences discussed in this

Issue Brief are statistically significant at the .05 level as measured by

two-tailed Student’s t tests. Bonferroni adjustments were made to

control for multiple comparisons where appropriate.

Reference

Kleiner, A., and Lewis, L. (2003). Internet Access in U.S. Public

Schools and Classrooms: 1994–2002 (NCES 2004–011). U.S.

Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center

for Education Statistics.