New research confirms the positive link between teacher training and the use of technology. In a study for Education Week , Harold Wenglinsky of the Educational Testing Service found that training in technology is linked to more effective uses of computers in 4th and 8th grade math classes. The Haves and Have-Nots Nationwide, the vast majority of teachers have had some training in education technology. Nearly 90 percent of teachers who had access to instructional computers in 1997 reported having had training in using computers for instruction at some time in their careers, a survey by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting found. When it comes to perceptions about whether teachers are prepared to use the Internet, strong differences of opinion surface.
Several studies show that fewer teachers have had training in more sophisticated uses of technology.
And CPB data show that teachers are only half as likely to report having had training in on-line activities as to report having had training in instructional uses of computers in general. A district-level survey conducted this year by the Milken Exchange on Education Technology suggests that teacher training in technology has become a priority. In about half the 21 states for which data were reported, the majority of districts reported offering incentives for teachers to become fluent in technology and to use it in their teaching. According to research conducted by Market Data Retrieval, a private company based in Shelton, Conn., schools reported an average of 21 hours of technology training offered to teachers by schools and other sources in the 1997-98 school year. Not surprisingly, schools with more technology report more training available to teachers, according to the MDR survey.