A computer on every teacher's desk ( includes related articles on assessment, management of classroom and teacher planning for technology use)(Special Edition)

FOR MANY YEARS, THE emphasis within educational computing was to put computers into labs or computing centers. The then-current wisdom was that computers would eventually find their way into the curriculum--if only enough of them could be brought together in one place.

But, too often, labs were underused or, worse, became a haven for computer-game playing. The problem, it came to be seen, was that no one had instructed teachers about how computers can be used to teach the curriculum and, perhaps more importantly, the teachers themselves did not have access to a computer.

"The emphasis has now changed," says Sam Petruso, coordinator of computer services, Millcreek School District, Pennsylvania. "Now the idea is to put computers into' classrooms and onto teachers' desks."

At Millcreek, Petruso speaks of computer-clustering and computer saturation. By clustering, Petruso means a three-to-one student to computer ratio in the classroom. By saturation he is referring to a computer for each student and teacher.

Bell Valley elementary school is the district's "school of the future," Petruso says. "It's already at the place we want all our schools to be. Bell Valley has about 400 Macintosh computers. Every fifth-grade class is saturated, and the other grades, with the exception of first, are clustered. And, of course, each teacher has a computer workstation. All the classroom Macs are networked to the teacher's computer. The classrooms are networked to each other, and the entire school is networked to our education center. As a result, the availability of information sources and data exchange have grown exponentially."

That setup may sound a little daunting for a district or school with minimal funds. Of course, not all that networking and related equipment is necessary to have a successful computer program. However, what is becoming clear, particularly when you analyze the research (see Research column, page 8), is that putting a computer on each teacher's desk has stunning benefits.

A teacher with his or her own computer spends more time with individual students, feels empowered and more professional, spends less time on clerical work than ever before, and much more. In short, many teachers find that their teaching career has been transformed by the use of the computer. (See profiles of computer-using teachers on page 16.)

It's not enough, though, just to make the technology tremendously accessible; extensive teacher training is required to ensure optimum utilization. Without training, the computers--as they did so often in the past-- will sit and collect dust. All of the schools we contacted for this story had strong, ongoing training programs for teachers.

"Inservice training is extensive and ongoing" at Bell Valley, Petpaso says.

The "success stories" below come from interviews with educators at schools and districts around the country. All have instituted a computer-on-every-teacher's-desk program, and all have met with great success.

TEXAS

Beth cain, the music teacher at Hurst Hills Elementary School, part of the Hurst-Euliss-Bedford School District, Tarrant County, Texas, agrees that having a Mac Classic II on her desk greatly facilitates many of those tasks that precede,…