Ed474 409 - Technology in Schools

This handbook is intended to facilitate the assessment of technology used to support elementary and secondary education in the United States. It is designed to help decision makers and technology users prepare, collect and assess information about whether and how technology is being used in their school systems. To make assessments that will be the basis for good decisions about the distribution and use of computers in the educational environment, well-focused data are necessary. The guide is organized around key questions pertaining to the type, availability, and use of technology in education systems. The key questions are grouped into seven primary topics, each with a chapter: technology planning and policies; finance; equipment and infrastructure; technology applications (software and systems); maintenance and support; professional development and training; and technology integration. For each topic, authors identified key questions and how they could best be answered. A measure, the result of which answers the key question, is called an indicator and more than one indicator can be provided for a given key question. After listing key questions for the topic and an overview, each chapter defines the topic precisely in order to delimit the area of assessment and then discusses the indicators that provide answers to key questions. A master list of key questions is provided at the beginning of the guide. Includes a glossary and two appendixes, \“Data Elements and Term Definitions\” and \“Creating Indicators from Unit Records and Data Elements: Some Examples. (AEF) I.