School crossings on the information superhighway: Slowdown points or roadblocks (and some alternative vehicles!)

According to a 1995 report from the Office of Technology Assessment, U.S. schools overall have about one computer for every nine students, and 35% of schools now have access to some kind of computer network. While "connected" groups see this as cause for great joy, a sign that education is ready to take dramatically new and exciting roads to science literacy and career preparation, those implementing environmental education and curriculum development programs with electronic linkages often note that we may be going too fast on the famous information superhighway. For example, only 3% of actual classrooms have access to the internet, and access is limited mainly by school infrastructure. Most teachers, asked what technology they want most in their classrooms, respond that a telephone would be wonderful! There are, however, classrooms that are linking to each other, to the environment, to scientists, and to science databases through other exciting technologies.