However, while their integration guide is typical of most, severely neglected are the important areas of preparing novice teachers to adopt technology to use in teaching students. Far too often integration programs are started with little or no planning, let alone an informed approach that takes into account facts about how teachers learn to use technology. They do stress the value of inservice training for staff development but with an emphasis on skills and the notion of training. There is virtually no mention of a more general education or development of a conceptual understanding of computing which might enable a teacher to adapt to changing and emerging technologies. However, the vast majority of teachers are, if not beginners, nevertheless still working to develop value and efficiency in computing.
Teachers often feel thankful to have access to a word processor.
For most, the many technologies available today are still an unknown and planning must take this into account. It is important not only to examine what teachers do with computers but also to consider how teachers learn those skills. Programs emphasize only what teachers are expected to use rather than what might develop good concepts. But, the notion that teachers will not do programming yields programs consisting exclusively commercial software. Teachers as end-users of software never see the construction process or design issues behind the experiences they are supposed to learn.