1. What are the current levels of technology availability and use?
2. Are availability and use distributed equitably across students, teachers, and schools in the district?
3. What essential organizational supports are necessary to encourage technology use in schools?
With expectations for technology use and its potential costs continuing to rise, the UChicago Consortium sought to provide baseline information on educational technology—the use of computers and the Internet for instructional purposes—in Chicago public schools.
We addressed the key questions in a year-long study that included both quantitative and qualitative analyses. We examined these questions by looking at nearly 100,000 responses to the UChicago Consortium's biannual survey of teachers and students in 434 of Chicago's schools, in addition to other administrative data. Further insight was gained through site visits to schools with model technology programs.
This study was sponsored in part by the Chicago Urban League.
