"American schools have truckloads of the latest technology, but many teachers don't know what to do with the equipment. Many teachers realize our students know more than we do about technology and they feel threatened" Jill Ashworth, Learning Technology Center at Vanderbilt University.

What W E K N O W

One of the most effective forms of education is student-teacher interaction. A smaller student-teacher ratio creates more opportunity for interaction. "You can really teach in a class of 20 students, but a class of 35 students is more like crowd control."

By exchanging information, sharing in decision-making, helping at school, and collaborating in a child's learning, parents can become partners in the educational process. Research clearly shows that parent involvement encourages student achievement.

If technology is to achieve its ultimate use in the classroom, what teachers know and can do with it is of prime concern. At least 50% of today's teachers have not had adequate training and technical assistance in the use of technology. Many teachers enter the profession with only cursory exposure to computers as a learning or teaching resource.

Books have little to teach usthis was the conclusion of 17th century French philosopher, Rene Descartes. True knowledge derives as much from experience as it does from books. Education today must respect and find viable and effective ways of making connections between what students learn from books and what they can learn from real-life experiences.

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