Findings

Teachers' Objectives for Student Computer Use

The TLC survey asked teachers who had students in their classes use computers to select the 3 objectives (from a list of 10) that were closest to their reasons for using computers. Exhibit 12 shows that, across all subjects and levels, computer-using teachers most commonly have three types of objectives: information-gathering objectives such as "finding out about ideas and information," constructivist objectives such as "expressing oneself in writing," and skills-related objectives, such as "mastering skills just taught."

However, again teachers differ substantially in their objectives for computer use based on the types of students they teach. Based solely on the SES-level of their school, there are clear differences in objectives between the bottom quartile SES schools and the other 3/4 of TLC sample schools, as shown in Exhibit 13. Teachers at schools in the bottom SES quartile are much more likely to select remediation and simple reinforcement of skills than are teachers in other schools, and they are somewhat less likely to have other kinds of objectives.