Examining the extent to which students have access to computers either at home or in school may help predict how prepared students will be to enter an automated work force. The percentage of students using a computer at school more than doubled between 1984 and 1993, increasing from 29 to 59 percent. Twenty-eight percent of students used a computer at home in 1993, up from 12 percent in 1984. For additional information about the use of computers in schools, check the appendix at the end of this module. A good software program allows students to access ideas, data and knowledge about relevant topics or issues.
Computers can provide instruction on some topics par excellence .
By taking advantage, in math for example, of a computer's ability to perform complex calculations, students can change their focus from number crunching to solving problems and to evaluating the results of their calculations. A curriculum needs to change to acknowledge the changing world and the existence of calculators and computers. The graphical representations of ideas provided by computers can allow animated presentations of complex ideas to allow students to actually see a physical law in action. The advantage of this relevant feedback typically reduces the amount of time required for student learning. This paring should be flexible so as social conflicts occur or as student learning needs change, it is easily possible to modify pairing assignments.