Edited by Dr. David J. Ayersman, Mary Washington College, and Dr. W. Michael Reed, New York University

formerly Journal of Research on Computing in Education

Hester L. Fuller
Harvard University

Abstract

If school-based computer coordinators spent more time helping teachers understand how computers can best be used in U.S. classrooms, would students use school computers more routinely in their academic work? My analysis applies innovation diffusion theory to U.S. public school data (n = 6,085) from Stage II (1992) of the Computers in Education Study (CompEd) conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) (Pelgrum, Janssen, & Plomp, 1993). I investigate effects of the allocation of computer coordinator work time on incidence of student computer use in academic subjects in Grades 5 and 11. Findings suggest that teacher support is more critical to student use than student support, that effects differ in different grades, and that the effectiveness of technology support for teachers may be contingent on the degree to which the computer coordinator’s job resembles that of the client teacher.

Reference

Pelgrum, W. J., Janssen, R. I. A. M., & Plomp, T. (Eds.). (1993). Schools, teachers, students, and computers: A cross-national perspective: IEA CompEd Study Stage 2. Enschede, The Netherlands: Center for Applied Educational Research, University of Twente.

Web Resource
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Quality Education Data. (1997). Technology expenditures in K–12 public schools (chart from 1997–1998 Technology Purchasing Forecast) [Online document]. Denver, CO: Author. Available: www.qeddata.com/k-12spending.htm.

Contributor

Hester Fuller is a doctoral student at Harvard University Graduate School of Education. She is also a technologist for WGBH Interactive in Boston, where she has written a reader on designing Web-based instruction. She is currently a junior member of the technology team for the Web site that complements “Between the Lions,” the new literacy series for prereaders that debuted April 3, 2000, on PBS.

Address: Hester Fuller, Harvard University, Graduate School of Education, 412 Gutman Library, 6 Appian Way, Cambridge, MA 02138; hlf@post.harvard.edu.

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