Using Technology to Support Education Reform

Book excerpt: Many critics of American education see technology as an important tool in bringing about the kind of revolutionary changes called for in new reform efforts. Consequently, support for the use of technology to promote fundamental reform appears to be reaching a new high. Following an introduction describing elements of school reform, Chapter 2 describes how technology can support the kinds of student learning described in a model of reform presented in Chapter 1. Chapter 3 describes the ways that technology can support student learning as defined by education reformers, and Chapter 4 describes ways in which technology can support teacher efforts to promote student learning. Chapter 5 reviews the literature on the effects of technology on student learning outcomes. The final chapter deals with issues of implementation for projects attempting education reform supported by technology. Three tables and two figures summarize information about technology and reform. (Contains 192 references.) (SLD)