Computers in the hands of capable teachers can be extremely effective tools for reshaping the educational process. Those who dismiss the notion of a computer revolution assert that classroom culture will dictate the way computers are used with little or no change to educational practice. Those who see technology as the newest tool for the wholesale restructuring of education invoke visions of the modern classroom that computers will soon create. Research from computer-integrated classrooms suggests that both interpretations are overstated. The relationship between classroom organization and computer use is better characterized as a mutually influential one.
Computers extend, rather than replace, instruction by teachers.
Computers can extend the power of students to create, analyze, compare, examine, and understand. Educational technology makes it possible to create learning situations in which students can be engaged in activities that they find interesting and exciting for their own reasons and which accomplish the educational goals of their teachers. Teachers establish functional learning environments by relating the computer activities to other educational tasks the children perform. Linking computer work with other classroom work allows teachers to establish a mutually supporting context in which similar skills can be applied. There is much work to be done to discover how technology can be used to enhance all areas of learning.