Computer Technology Integration Into the Public School Classroom – A Qualitative Update

The number of computers found in public schools has greatly increased over the last forty years. As recognized by the National Center for Education Statistics (2000), the dramatic increase has led to a need for understanding how these computers are being used in the classroom and how teachers feel about the current state of integration. Some observers of this phenomenon have suggested that the desire to acquire computer technology for use in the public school classroom has been so strong that many of the proponents of computer technology integration into the public school classroom have spent little time in explaining or justifying it (Skinner, 2002). Cradler (2002) suggests that the superintendents and politicians who propose and fund school budgets need credible research and evaluation findings to justify sustaining and expanding funding for technology in schools