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At 45, I'm about the age of the average American teacher. And like most teachers, I came of age when computers were just making a debut in the world beyond science fiction. The first computer I encountered was the giant mainframe housed in the bowels of Portland State University during the early 1970s. I remember sitting in a dim, windowless room, punching codes into manila-colored cards, carefully bundling them into thick stacks, and handing them to the computer operator at the counter. Behind closed doors, my cards were read by the mainframe to analyze data I'd collected for a research-methodology class. I went back the next day to pick up a printout of the results. The setting, the process, and the machinery all seemed mysterious, intimidating-even a little ominous. (Those of us old enough to remember Hal, the sinister computer in the sci-fi classic 2001, A Space Odyssey, can hardly be blamed for any lingering technophobia we may harbor.) I successfully avoided touching a computer again until I landed my first reporting job in 1981. During my first days in the newsroom, I bumbled hopelessly with the word processor. Finally, the news editor, trying to suppress a snicker at my clumsy efforts to control my cursor, strolled over and offered to help. That's where many teachers get stuck: In most schools, there simply isn't anyone available to stroll over and help. A mere 6 percent of elementary schools and 3 percent of secondary schools had a full-time computer coordinator in the building in 1995, the Office of Technology Assessment reports. And the training available to most teachers tends to be inadequate-delivered in a hit- or-miss fashion and focused on mechanics rather than content. "Most schools cut corners on training," is the blunt observation of Christopher Conte in a recent report on education technology from the Benton Foundation. Report after report calls on U.S. schools to double their investment in technol ogy training. But until that happens, the typical teacher is largely on his or her own to explore, experiment, and innovate. In this issue of Northwest Education, we offer readers a glimpse inside classrooms around the Northwest where teachers are using technology skillfully to teach subjects as diverse as economics and ecology. We also offer a guide to getting off the ground, giving practical tips for using the Internet and selecting software. And a longtime teacher shares her strategies for getting the most from a lone computer in a classroom full of kids. Our hope is to provide ideas and inspiration for teachers who want to embrace technology or expand their technological toolkit. Behind the mystique, technology is, after all, just plastic and wires. Its power for learning can be unlock ed only by the skill, creativity, and daring each teacher brings to the classroom. -Lee Sherman
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Date of Last Update: 9/28/01 
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