September 22, 1999

Technology Counts
Examines ?Digital Content?

Url: http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=03tc.h19
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There are more computers and Internet connections in the
nation's schools than ever before. But a survey to be
released this week by Education Week shows that teachers
are struggling to find high-quality software and Web
sites.

Results of the survey--the most comprehensive analysis
to date of teachers' use of educational software and
World Wide Web sites--are included in the newspaper's
third special report on school technology, Technology
Counts '99: Building the Digital Curriculum.

The 112-page report also includes current state-by-state
and national statistics on school technology, as well as
summaries of each state's efforts to foster technology
over the past year.

Training plays a critical role in how teachers use
educational software and Web sites, which are often
referred to as "digital content," the survey
found. Teachers who have more technology training are
more likely to use those digital resources in their
classrooms, feel better prepared to use them, and rely
on them more heavily than teachers with less training.

The survey also addresses other factors that influence
teachers' use of digital content, such as the number of
computers in a classroom and the cost of educational
software.

The Milken Exchange on Education Technology, a nonprofit
initiative of the Santa Monica, Calif.-based Milken
Family Foundation, provided funding for the report.
Education Week worked with Education Market Research,
based in Rockaway Park, N.Y., to conduct the survey.

Education Week subscribers will receive the Technology
Counts issue of the paper, dated Sept. 23, following the
current issue.

--Erik Fatemi