Blog Post # 3

Computer Technology in the Public School Classroom: Teacher Perspectives
By Lawrence Lanahan and Janet Boysen
Summarized by Adeba Sultana

Focus: “In recent years U.S. public school teachers have seen the level of education technology in their schools and classrooms increase substantially.” (Kleiner and Lewis 2003 through Lanahan and Boysen 2005) The authors of this article are reporting the results of a survey done on teachers about their views on the technology in their classrooms.

Which Types of Classroom Technology Do Teachers Consider To Be Essential?
Regardless of the availability most teachers considered electronic mail to be the most essential. Access to the World Wide Web in the classroom, a telephone, encyclopedias and other reference materials on CD-ROM and at least one computer for every four students were reported to be next essential and finally access to presentation software such as power point was mentioned to be essential.

Do Teachers Feel Technology Is Sufficiently Available in Their Classrooms?
Majority of the teachers (57 percent) thought they had sufficient access to technology however some disagreed to the statement. Generally those who were better familiar with the use of technology agreed to the availability of technology verses those who were less familiar with the use of technology.

Conclusion: The national data on teachers’ opinions on technology shows that most teachers think email, World Wide Web and telephone are the most essential for their classrooms. Most teachers believe that the available technology in their classrooms is sufficient.


Lanahan, L. & Boysen, J. (2005). Computer technology in the public school classroom: teacher perspectives. National Center for Education Statistics Issue Brief, Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005083.pdf