Island schools
trail in computersA national study says
that public schools in Hawaii
rank 41st in terms of access
Students in Hawaii's public schools have fewer computers than their counterparts across the country, but those in high-poverty schools here fare better than their peers, according to a study released today.
Hawaii is ranked 41st among the states and the District of Columbia for its relatively high number of students per computer, according to "Technology Counts," a survey published in Education Week. An average of 4.3 students share each instructional computer in local schools, compared with 3.8 nationally.
The state, however, places 14th in the nation for its success in getting computers into schools that have many low-income students. The number of students per instructional computer in high-poverty schools in Hawaii is 3.3, compared with an average of four for high-poverty schools nationwide.
"The expectation would be that high-poverty schools may not be treated as well, but in Hawaii it's pretty much the opposite," said Greg Knudsen, spokesman for the Department of Education.
Schools in poor neighborhoods qualify for extra federal funds that can go toward computers, while other Hawaii schools must rely on state tax money or school fund-raisers.
Technology in the schools took a hit last year when the DOE was told to cut its budget, and zeroed out the $3.3 million allotted to computer education. The funds had covered equipment and software purchases, maintenance and training. Knudsen said the item was chopped because other money in the budget could be used for computers.
Getting the hardware is only part of the equation. The survey showed that new teachers in Hawaii are wary about using computers in the classroom. Just 26 percent of novice teachers here felt well prepared to use computers for instruction in their first year, compared with 42 percent nationally.
"Years ago we used to think, get a computer for every child, and that would solve the problem," said Jeff Bloom, president of CTA Inc., which works with the public schools on computer education. "I think we've realized that that was just the first step."
He is trying to encourage other businesses to step forward to help train teachers.
Stephen Kow, state specialist for educational technology, agreed that teachers need help integrating computers into course work, especially in high school. "My personal opinion, I would put more money into training than the purchase of more hardware," he said, "so you can make better use of what you've got."
Other highlights of the report:
>> Computers in Hawaii's schools are more powerful than the national average: 52 percent are Pentium II or higher, Power Mac or IMacs, compared with 43 percent nationally.The figures come from a survey conducted last year by Market Data Retrieval, "Technology in Education 2002," which contacted 87,100 public schools via phone and e-mail, and received results from 25,500 schools.>> Hawaii's software is also newer, on average, with 22 percent using Windows 2000 or NT, compared with 13 percent nationally.
>> Hawaii is one of just 16 states nationwide with an online high school, the charter school Myron B. Thompson Academy.
>> Nearly all of Hawaii's schools, 96 percent, have Internet access.
