Also, through technology, teachers may work more as teams where knowledge is seen as being interrelated. You don't have to just teach science or just teach math or just teach music. All these areas are interrelated. But whether or not teachers can effectively take advantage of technology depends tremendously on them being prepared to do so. Before school personnel go out and start purchasing technology, they need to put together a very thoughtful, long-range plan that includes substantial investment to make sure teachers and other staff members feel comfortable using the technology that's going to be available so that it is effectively integrated into the school and into the curriculum.
States are responsible to provide resources for and to build an infrastructure.
States also should require that local school districts have a plan that incorporates not just acquisition of technology but also training and retraining staff to use it effectively and integrate it into the curriculum and into the mission of each school. It has to get into the designing of a curriculum, the selection of course materials, the preparation of teachers, the lesson planning. As much as anything, the first step is for technology to become part of higher education and teacher training. If it's not ingrained into the faculty of higher education that's going to turn out the teachers, it's going to be difficult for the teachers to pick that up, as we're already seeing. There are so many places where technology is being used in the classroom, and students are the primary directors, and the teacher is the aide.