Yet, even technology advocates like Ms. Williams, who directs the NSBA's technology programs, concede that there is too little discussion of what technologies are expected to achieve, how to make them as user-friendly and reliable for teachers as possible, and which ones are most effective in addressing which problems. Many teachers are likely to talk about telephones, photocopiers, and voice-mail, for example, when asked which technologies would most benefit them. It's also true, Ms. Williams said, that some politicians and technology companies, as well as some educators, oversold the promise of technology, generating cynicism that is not justified. She recently argued with a journalist who asked her if computers had failed to live up to their promise. Ms. Williams replied.
Computers are just tools to help teachers teach.