The Challenge of US policy on Educational Sciences
             The perception among policymakers is that spending more money on technology in the education system will improve student achievement in math and science. What they have not determined is how the new technology will be used. The tools are given to the teachers without ensuring the teachers can or will make effective use of them. In spite of this more than $5 billion will be spent on educational technology this year.
             The Clinton administration, and several state governors have recently endorsed technology as a necessary tool for education. However, immediate results from the infusion of technology into the classrooms should not be expected. As with any new tool, a period of adaptation and skill-building will be needed before benefit is evident. The is no guarantee that technology improves student achievement.
             We need to educate the educators. We cannot wait for the new bread of educator (recent teaching graduates) to dominate the classroom before benefits from technology can be captured. Technology is not a panacea, it alone can not improve our science and math scores. Our educators must be trained to use these tools and be able to teach the levels of science needed by today's student. Technology in the classroom is not the quick fix for declining math and science scores, but rather a facilitator to teaching and learning.
             Even training the educators to use these high-tech teaching tools is not enough, they must learn how to apply them to their curriculum. Learning to use a tool is one thing; learning how to make it useful is another. Survey's show that 46 percent of all educational technology courses are only half-day courses, and 79 percent of these focus on hardware, the software, or internet usage. Teachers are left to stumble upon ways to migrate the technology into classroom instruction. This appear to be a less than effective way to achieve what the tec
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