Education and Technology

Background Facts

Computers and the Internet are now used by a majority of Americans

Over two thirds of Americans used computers in 2001 and 54% used the Internet.¹

The use of computers and the Internet is more widespread among children and adolescents than adults

About 90% of 5 to 17 year-olds (47 million persons) used computers and 59% (31 million) used the Internet in 2001.²

More children and adolescents use computers at school than at home

In 2001, 81% of children and adolescents used computers at school compared to 65% at home.³

But, more children and adolescents use the Internet at home than at school

Of those children and adolescents who use the Internet, 78% had access at home, compared to 68% who accessed it at school.⁴

Computer access is no longer the most pressing issue nationally or in Washington

Nearly all public school teachers (99%) reported having computers available somewhere in their schools in 1999;
84% had computers available in their classrooms;
Washington’s average is one computer for every four students with over 260,000 computers being used instructionally in K-12 schools.⁵

Access to the Internet is widespread across the country and in Washington

In fall 2002, 99% of public schools in the United States had access to the Internet.⁶

In 2003, 98% of all Washington K-12 schools and 95% of classrooms had Internet access.⁷

The Internet is used more in small schools

Internet usage for instructional purposes decreases by the size of the student body. For example, on a national basis, over 83% of schools with a student enrollment under 100 used the Internet for instruction versus 61% in schools with over 2,500 students enrolled.⁸

Rural areas have higher Internet usage than urban areas

A smaller percentage of instructional rooms are connected to the Internet in city schools (88%) than in schools located in towns (96%) and rural areas (93%).⁹

High poverty schools have the same access to the Internet as others

99% of all public schools and 99% of high-poverty schools across the country had access to the Internet in 2002.¹⁰

However, high poverty schools are slightly less likely to have classroom based Internet access

92% of all public schools had classroom-based access to the Internet compared to 89% of high poverty schools.¹¹

The Internet is less likely to be used at home by families in poverty

In 2001, 5 to 17 year-olds whose families were in poverty were less likely to use the Internet at home than 5 to 17 year-olds whose families were not in poverty (47% compared with 82%).¹²

Internet usage during non-school hours is partially available

In 2002, 53% of public schools with Internet access reported that they made computers with access to the Internet available to students outside of regular school hours.¹³

Targeting girls to increase their use of computers and the Internet is no longer an issue

In 2001, 90% of girls ages 5 -17 used computers compared to 89.1% of boys the same age.¹⁴
In 2001, 58.6% of girls ages 5 -17 used the Internet compared to 58.3% of boys the same age.¹⁵

Internet usage increases as students get older

In 2001, 53.5% of children ages 8 to 10 used the Internet compared to 77.1% of 15 to 17 year-olds.¹⁶

Computer and Internet usage varies by race/ethnicity

Age of children and adolescents ages 5 through 17 who use computers and the Internet, by child and family/household characteristics: 2001.¹⁷

Race/Ethnicity	# of children	percent using Computers	percent using Internet
White	33,433	93.4	66.7
Black	8,275	85.0	45.3
Hispanic	8,400	78.7	37.2
Asian	2,268	89.7	64.6
American Indian	637	89.8	53.5

Some groups are more likely to use the Internet at school than home

Computer use at school exceeds use at home by 30 percentage points or more for Blacks and Hispanics. Use at school also exceeds use at home by 30 percentage points or more for those whose parents did not complete high school, who live with a single mother, who live in households where Spanish is the only language spoken by household members age 15 or older, or who live in households whose family income is under $20,000.¹⁸

Computers are available but not widely used in classrooms

About half of all teachers with computers available in their schools used them for classroom instruction.¹⁹

Teachers in high minority and high poverty schools use technology less often

57% of teachers in schools with less than 6% minority enrollments used computers or the Internet for Internet research compared with 41% of teachers in schools with 50% or more minority enrollments.

Computers are used for various student purposes

Teachers assigned students to use these technologies for word processing or creating spreadsheets most frequently (61% did this to some extent), followed by Internet research (51%), practicing drills (50%), and solving problems and analyzing data (50%).²⁰

Computers are used more for schoolwork in upper grade levels in Washington

Almost 60% of 11th and 12th graders reported they used a computer for schoolwork four or more hours per week compared to 45% of 9th and 10th graders and 30% for middle school students.²¹

On-line course taking is growing in Washington

3,432 K-12 students were enrolled in on-line courses in September 2002.²²
25% of secondary schools had one or more students enrolled in on-line courses during the 2001-02 school year.²³
Schools with students currently enrolled in on-line courses estimated the number of students taking such courses would triple by 2006.²⁴
About 80% of schools without students enrolled in on-line curriculum courses in 2002 expected to have students taking on-line courses within 6 years.²⁵

On-line schools are operating in Washington

At least five online schools are currently in operation in Washington including Federal Way Academy, Evergreen Internet Academy, Edmonds Cyber School, Christa McAuliffe Academy and Washington State Virtual Classroom.
15 states, including Washington, have at least one virtual school.²⁶

Teachers use computers for administrative and instructional purposes

Many teachers use computers or the Internet to conduct a number of preparatory and administrative tasks (e.g., creating instructional materials, gathering information for planning lessons) and communicative tasks (e.g., communication with colleagues).²⁷

Newest teachers are most likely to use computers and the Internet

Teachers with the fewest years of experience are more likely than teachers with the most years of experience to use computers or the Internet at home to gather information for planning lessons (76% compared with 63%) and creating instructional materials (91% compared with 82%). They were also generally more likely than more experienced teachers to use these technologies to access model lesson plans at school and at home.²⁸

Teachers indicate they receive computer and Internet training yet many are at “beginning levels”

Most teachers indicate that professional development activities on a number of topics are available to them, including training on software applications, the use of the Internet, and the use of computers and basic computer training (ranging from 96% to 87%).²⁹
Over a 3-year period, most teachers (77%) participated in professional development activities in the use of computers or the Internet that lasted the equivalent of 4 days or less.³⁰
22% of teachers in Washington described themselves as “beginners” in using technology.³¹

Few states require pre-service requirements in technology

15 states, including Washington, require teachers to take courses in technology.³²
9 states require a technology test (Washington is not one of them).³³

Few states require professional development in technology

³⁴

Few states have technology proficiency requirements for administrators

³⁵

Outdated, incompatible, unreliable, and insufficient quantities of computers are barriers to use in teaching

Among the barriers most frequently reported by teachers to be “great” barriers to their use of computers or the Internet for instruction in 1999 were not enough computers (38%) and lack of release time for teachers to learn how to use computers or the Internet (37%).³⁶
Teachers in schools with more than 50% minority enrollments were more likely to cite outdated, incompatible, or unreliable computers as a “great” barrier than teachers in schools with less than 6% minority enrollments (32% compared with 22%).³⁷
Teachers were more likely to use these technologies when the technologies were available to them, available in their classrooms as opposed to computer labs, and available in greater numbers.³⁸

Insufficient technical support is also a barrier to using computers and the Internet in Washington classrooms

A network operator in Washington’s public schools typically supports over 350 personal computers in a school compared to 40 in the private sector.³⁹

Wireless computer use is increasing

While 80% of Americans access the Internet through dial-up service, residential use of broadband service is rapidly expanding. Between August 2000 and September 2001, residential use of high-speed, broadband service doubled—from about 5% to 11% of all individuals, and from 11% to 20% of Internet users.

The data indicate we should:

Focus on the applications of technology as a teaching and learning tool.
Stress pre-service and professional development for teachers in the area of web based curriculum applications.
Provide time for students to use computers and the Internet during non-school hours.
Adopt technology standards for students, teachers, and administrators.

The data indicate we should not:

Focus on access or providing minimum equipment levels.
Try to train boys or girls differently in computer uses/applications.
Emphasize any particular geographical location.
Focus on training teachers or students in basic computer/internet skills.

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