This backgrounder is mainly concerned with instructional use of IT, but the line between administration and instruction can be blurry. The same network that helps a school' s data processing staff tabulate grades also enables students to use the World Wide Web for research. Some administrative functions, such as the ability to transfer student records quickly when a child changes schools, can be important in making instructional decisions. When we discuss what kinds of technology to buy and how it should be installed in a school, it is important to be clear what kinds of uses we have in mind. Here, technology itself is the subject.
Computer programming is the main activity.
Before the personal-computer software industry developed, using a computer meant learning to program it. Today, this is a specialty area of study for students with particular interests in technology. Only a very small percentage of students take an AP computer science course. The computer is a useful and versatile mind tool. It can be used to help solve the problems and accomplish the tasks that are at the center of many different academic disciplines.