And yesterday's sessions, the close of a three-day technology training conference held at Williamsburg and Jefferson middle schools, were designed to help teachers overcome that hurdle. Virginia is one of the few states in the country to link technology proficiency to teacher licensing, although Maryland and several other states are considering a similar system. But Virginia has been ahead of the curve. Virginia's policy requires teachers to show competency in skills ranging from creating a Web page to explaining Internet copyright law. It's up to each school district to decide how to test this knowledge.
Many teachers welcome the requirement.
But some say it's asking a lot of teachers who are already overwhelmed with other demands. I have to find a way to have a balance of teaching English and showing computers to some students who have never used them before. It is a lot of work. Reed noted that teachers were not paid to attend the workshops. In the business world, we pay people to get this kind of training.