At first glance, schools seem to be headed in the right direction. An initiative by the Clinton Administration plans to have all schools online by the year 2000. Statistics shows that school systems are closing in on that goal. Almost 82 percent of public schools have Internet connections, and 96 percent expect to have them by the end of this school year, according to a study by Quality Education Data . While schools may provide Internet access, few teachers use it effectively.
Researchers estimate only one in five teachers regularly uses a computer in the classroom.
Schools are doing little to increase the percentage. Even where schools and teachers are online, students lack access. Fewer than half of public school classrooms have computers, reports Market Data Retrieval , and many of those are older PCs inadequate for really using the World Wide Web. Some schools have developed programs to change that. The Buddy System Project, conducted in Anderson Community Schools last year, placed almost 800 computers in the homes of students in five elementary schools.