Using data to increase, change, or decrease technology spending shows a professional approach to technology's strengths and a school district's careful use of technology dollars. Any district that begins with even a simple set of measures will quickly find that interest in the data will grow and the questions will become more sophisticated, generating even better instruments, questions, information, and choices. This model represents the way we have described technology's role in schools almost from the beginning. When technology first became visible in schools, it was necessary to remind staff and parents alike that technology itself was not the goal, that its purpose was high student achievement in other disciplines. Yet, the model seems a little stale and simplistic when we consider the ubiquity of technology today and students' expectations for it.
Students expect technology to be available and to work.
While it is still a bit of a struggle for adults to integrate technology into curriculum, to students, failure to make use of technology calls into question the relevance of a particular course or at least the currency of what they are learning. This still seems to support the idea that technology is mainly a high-quality tool. Yet simply placing tools in a classroom for students to use without due consideration of what instructional outcomes are expected does not serve teachers or students well. They typically occur distributed throughout the environment and social system in which we operate. Technology seems ideally suited for providing access to resources that promote intelligent behavior.