This strategy has worked for teachers, but it usually means that computers, relegated to the sidelines, are employed for supplemental work, special projects, and skills and practice work rather than core subject matter. With this strategy you might see a teacher encourage writing with word processing, using spreadsheets to make charts and graphs, or encouraging students to create reports using presentation software. The teacher might set goals for learning new software in the summers and plan to incorporate it in one project until a comfort level is reached. Teachers who use this tend to have a lot of trust in their students' abilities to solve problems and find their way to subject matter. With the right support and access, all of these problems tend to recede as teachers and students gain experience with technology.
Teachers learn how much to structure students' access to content.
They develop effective assessment tools that help students focus on subject matter. Students come to understand the possibilities and expectations for learning with technology. Teachers and students both learn that different technologies offer different affordances and constraints in relation to what is being learned. To further embellish our characterization of this critical tension between technology learning and content two cases of research can be examined. However, while districts are spending a great deal of money on technology, there seems to be only a vague notion of what computer literacy really means.