I have spent much of the past four years as a volunteer trying to get more technology into schools. But too many schools are still ill-equipped and too many teachers still need to become familiar and comfortable with technology before its full impact can be measured or understood. It's a slow, expensive process to wire schools and buy computers at a time when money is scarce. They have to explain the goals, in understandable terms. Not all parents have used the Internet, and to some its value is questionable.
Schools have to create a sense of excitement about technology's potential.
They need to take advantage of NetDay to build a base of parental and community backing. And it will be difficult for parents and communities to be patient during this process. If another school has more equipment or is doing whiz-bang technology projects, parents will want to know why it's not available to their kids, too. To get a little conversation going in the bay area, I'd like to hear from parents, teachers and administrators about how they are using technology, or think technology should be used. We'll share some of the responses in Tech Times.