European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 25, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Daily Magazine computers in the classroom faulty planning by Stephen Miller United press International there is no argument that computers should be used in classrooms but some critics say school boards Are spending millions on hard Ware and software with Little thought As to How they will be the Nick who runs a new York computerized message Center that answers teachers questions about computers and most schools got computers out of unadulterated fear and had no idea what to do with they the school boards Are getting a lot of pressure from parents because the parents Are afraid that if the kids Arent computer they wont be Able to find said Irene an educational com Puter consultant in los pressure from parents to teach children about computers is Felt most acutely by Many teachers who Are ill prepared to Deal with the i was trained to interact with not with said a new York Leanna editor in chief of instructor believes the push to use computers in class rooms came from teachers already comfortable with them who saw How to translate that knowledge into a teaching it was a grassroots movement pushed by teachers and no administrator Ever lets go out and buy Worth of computer equipment at least not in the she school administrators May not be in any better Posi Tion than the they Are under pressure to set up computer programs without really understanding what the technology can do or How it should be More they have no plan for teaching the teachers How to use computers As an Extension of their with All the push to computerize and the apparent Lack of planning on the parts of Many school is there any positive action being taken there is a fair amount of questioning going on about How computers will be integrated into said she said some people Are acting to answer those ques Many school systems Are now hiring computer the goal of the specialists is to figure out How to minimize the trauma that seems inevitable when some thing new is added to any the scope of the problem is not there has been a phenomenal growth in the number of computers in in 1981 there were about computers in by mid1984 that number jumped to about by mid1985 it is estimated that million computers will be in american that kind of spectacular growth does not give administrators Lime to contemplate How Best to use the there has been Little thought As to How to manage learning with said Lawerence executive director of the National education associations computer educational i can walk to Washington from new York in a month but a car can get me there in one the question is what do you do with the rest of the that is the kind of analysis Many schools have not said Fedewa said too Many educators misunderstand both the Power and the limits of computers allow educators to Delegate certain tasks thus giving More time for specialized student but if that is not the system Breaks Irwin director of technology for the new York Board of the nations largest school agrees that More planning needs to be done in integrating computers in the he also feels the administrative potential of computers has not been we dont do enough strategic and i mean not just in new York but All Over the we need to get our Best people and not just computer people involved in the said Kaufman is a firm believer in integrating the computer throughout the school from administration to helping students with special a computer in every classroom also is not the Kaufman new York times photo in step with the students at Westfield High school learn National exams for teachers proposed by Christopher Connell associated press Albert so president of the Amer ican federation of has called for creation of a new National Examina Tion tha tall new teachers would have to just As doctors and lawyers must pass Licens ing Shanker told the National press club in Washington his Union would eventually ban new teachers from membership unless they passed such an he challenged the rival National education association to join him in supporting Shanker said most current teacher licensing exams would be considered a joke by any other profession because they usually Are minimum competency tests that seek to bar Only the worst candidates from entering the in he prospective math teachers Are tested at the Shanker said he would ask education College presidents and leaders of other professions to join him within six months to create a National Board to decide what teachers need to know and How it can be Shanker has been a Strong supporter of requiring entry level teachers to pass exams of their general competence and knowledge of the subject they aspire to Mary Hatwood president of the million member National education Saidi Nea believes that it is the Basic right of the states to deter mine who qualified to successful classroom performance should be determined by a number of the score of a test might be one aspect of a comprehensive state teacher evaluation the Nea has softened its once strident opposition to All standardized but it still maintains that tests alone should not determine whether a person is hired to Nea spokesman Howard Carroll said the Union favors stricter standards for admission to and graduation from teacher training and better Shanker cautioned that the nation is about to face a shortage of qualified teachers Duei to Low poor mor ale and other conditions that have discouraged people from entering the he predicted that Many states will simply hire less qualified he said that the Federal government should not have anything to do with running the test or the new teacher just As it stays out of licensing lawyers and other states that did not require new teachers to pass the test would face Public pressure to do he and the nation would have a new National barometer that will Tell us the Quality of people who Are applying and in what he said it was possible that the existing National teacher which is made by the education Al testing service and used for licensing by some could be revamped into the National but he said it could not be a multiple Choice you cant possibly do this without a substantial amount of essay work on an exam offered Over two to three he said the exam should test prospective teachers knowledge on the subjects they will teach and their knowledge of How to teach and How to make judgments that will affect new teachers would be required to serve an internship of one to three years and pass Muster by standards set by the National he he said private teachers also should have to pass the test in states that enforce compulsory attendance and there should be a nationwide passing or the test would have no he he said within three years of creation of the the aft would Petose its doors to new teachers who had not passed Shanker said he had discussed the proposal with his executive Council and said it was consistent with past aft this is not just a 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