She notices other changes in her teaching style, as well. Computers make it easier to pair up students of different abilities, she says, and educational software allows her to give some students the running room to work ahead of others. But to proponents of education technology, they demonstrate one of the most important potential benefits of integrating computers into the curriculum. Education reformers generally agree that teachers should spend less time lecturing their students and more time engaging them in active learning activities. Technology, many experts believe, can help spur on this transformation.
Recent research seems to support that proposition.
Henry Jay Becker, an education professor at the University of California, Irvine, last year surveyed 726 computer-using teachers at 153 schools participating in the National School Network, a research project started by education technology enthusiasts and sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Then, when you give them technology, it will help them do it. It would be hard to say that it was automatic. Becker's findings echo those of a 1989 study conducted by Apple Computer Inc. of five schools in the company's Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow project. Then, they gradually changed their patterns of teaching to include more dynamic learning experiences for students.