Each of these four categories of readiness represent vastly different staff development challenges if the school expects to see a significant return on hardware investment. Without such staff development, there is a probability in low readiness schools that the computers may serve as screen savers rather than information ATMs. Another way to assess readiness is to make use of Plugging In , the excellent technology planning document available from the North Central Educational Laboratory. Central to this document is the concept of Engaged Learning derived from the work of Barbara Means. Assessments are based on students' performance of real tasks.
Students participate in interactive modes of instruction.
Students work collaboratively. Students are grouped heterogeneously. The teacher is a facilitator in learning. Students learn through exploration. In which help a school to determine how far it has traveled and how much farther it has to go up the path toward a high level of engaged learning.