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Font ResizeAs part of NetDay'96, the politicians and volunteers wired the school for Internet access to prepare students for the 21st-century workforce. At the time California ranked near the bottom in the nation on per-pupil spending for technology.
Today, technology classes have been cut back at Ygnacio Valley to focus on literacy, but the school offers a few electives, such as electronics and digital photography. The so-called digital divide persists at many schools because of under-funding from the state and federal governments and fizzled initiatives like the highly touted Digital High School program.
Technology is not the panacea for the state's education problems, but more and more educators regard it as an integral instructional tool to prepare students for college and future jobs. Although progress has been made, the state has more to do. Some educators say it could be 10 more years before classrooms and technology are fully integrated.
"We're expecting our 21-century students to function in 20th-century classrooms," Barbara Thalacker, the state education technology director, said. "If we don't put more money into this state, that is known for high technology across the board, we're not equipping our students with 21st-century skills."
The state tried to boost classroom technology in 1997 with its Digital High School program, which funded participating schools at a rate of $300 per pupil to install computers and $30 per pupil each year for tech support. When the state faced budget woes earlier in the decade funding was slashed and the program ended. Some schools that participated have computers that are nearly 9 years old, said Micheline LeBlanc, who represents East Bay schools as part of the California Technology Assistance Project.
Since then, schools in the East Bay have cobbled together technology resources through parent donations, teachers spending their own money and grants and school improvement dollars.
In San Ramon Valley and Antioch schools, for instance, technology is being used to help track student progress on standardized tests.
Other districts, such as Martinez and Walnut Creek, have partnered with the state parks system on a program called Parks Online Resources for Teachers and Students to go on virtual field trips. Students can communicate, for example, with a park ranger and watch elephant seals come ashore at Ano Nuevo State Park south of Pescadero via live webcam.
Sarah Allen Peddie, a biology teacher at year-old Heritage High in Brentwood, uses streaming music and has TV monitors in her classroom. Other teachers in the Liberty Union school district use Smart interactive whiteboards, which allows them to e-mail class notes to students, even handwritten ones.
But elsewhere, the digital divide remains. Bob Bravo, Antioch schools' assistant superintendent of secondary education, said technology isn't used well enough.
"Sometimes we have a hard time determining priorities," he said. "What do you want the technology to do for you first? Manage student information? Communicate with parents? Provide content to students?"
While educators emphasize good teaching over tech gadgets, eighth-grade U.S. history teacher Branden Hays aims to blend the two. In his classroom he has replaced chalk and eraser with a remote control and a mouse. His students at Hillview Junior High in Pittsburg take tests using individually assigned remote controls.
With the assistance of a computer program designed by a company named eInstruction, students and teachers alike can get instant feedback on how well the class understands the material. Instead of the stress of waiting for tests to come back, students know how they did immediately.
"It's easier to take tests on, and it's fun," said Kristina Robles, 13, who, along with her classmate, Deja Ross, 13, wishes more classes had the devices.
"This is a way to engage," said Hays, who still assigns written essays and says the program keeps him accountable to student performance. "My job here is to teach. If they're not getting it right, whose fault is that?"
Rodger Johnson, the science department chair at Monte Vista High, said that although students may be "digital natives," much of their technological savviness is superficial.
"They don't know the processes behind" text messaging and other forms of communication they regularly use, he said.
Marina Leight of the Sacramento-based Center for Digital Education said the lack of state and federal funding doesn't fully explain the slow pace of classroom technology integration. The main focus in education is on raising test scores and student achievement. Still, sustainable funding for technology needs to be part of budget debates, she said.
"It's not only a question of money, it's also a mindset," she said. "The Clinton-Gore era raised the issue of infrastructure. Once all that technology arrived in schools the real work began of rolling up our sleeves to do what's next, which is still a great challenge — real technology integration."
Funding cuts not only stalled buying new equipment, it also pinched staff development. Gina Kroner, the technology coordinator for the Liberty Union High School District, said without staff development the digital divide has become generational as veteran teachers try to learn and keep up with technological advances — and their students. In other cases, it also kept the digital divide within school districts as opposed to between districts, said Mac Carey, the director of technology systems for the Contra Costa County Office of Education.
State Sen. Jack Scott, D-Pasadena, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said legislators don't want to tell schools how to spend money because local districts know what their needs are. He pointed to the state's recent $400 million to $600 million antitrust settlement with Microsoft that will buy software upgrades for poorer schools.
"We're still spending below the national average here in California," Scott said. "We need to put education in California in a higher priority. It's a step in the right direction."
But Al Glover, Mt. Diablo schools' grant-writer who helped develop the district's technology plan and facilitates its newly established technology council, said such funds will amount to a little more than $1 million for his district. That money is a drop in the bucket for what's needed as the district wants to replace a quarter of its computers annually, which comes to about $2 million a year.
"The issue is no longer do we need technology in the classroom. The issue is how to access and use the technology available for instructional purposes," he said. "It's everywhere in students' lives. We're behind in schools."
Andrew Becker can be reached at (925) 779-7116 or abecker@cctimes.com.
