Published December 2000 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View
By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd Teaching Technology to Teachers
West Virginia is fortunate to have talented school teachers, many of whom have been at their jobs for years and some even for decades. Their experience has honed their methods of instructing children to make the lessons applicable to everyday life. But so many years in the classroom can also lead to at least one distinct dilemma. Computer technologies continue to change rapidly, and many teachers are not able to keep pace. As a result, some students may never have the chance to benefit from the educational opportunities that these new high-tech resources offer. West Virginia has spent $95 million over the past decade to install computers and software in each of the public schools in the state. However, nearly half of our schools report that their teachers are only at a beginner's level in terms of their technological skills. I am very concerned about this shortfall in our teachers' knowledge base. If West Virginia students are not able to learn about real-world applications of computers and technology, they will be far behind students from other states and from around the world as they enter the workforce. That is why I recently added an amendment to an appropriations bill to start to provide every math and science teacher in West Virginia's elementary and secondary schools with advanced training in computers and classroom technologies. The $2.5 million that I added to the bill will allow the Erma Ora Byrd Center for Educational Technologies at Wheeling Jesuit University to begin this training program. This initiative is ambitious. Working with the school districts, Wheeling Jesuit first hopes to train 1,000 of the state's 10,000 math and science teachers who have a significant part of their career ahead of them. These teachers will be selected for intensive technology training leading to a Master's degree. Each of these 1,000 teachers will, in turn, train nine other teachers. In the end, by matching highly skilled teachers with high-tech resources, West Virginia's students will be better equipped to move ahead in a computer-driven marketplace. Keeping up with the dizzying pace of changing technology is challenging. But it is a challenge that our teachers must meet if they are to prepare our students to compete in the rapidly developing global marketplace. I hope that this new training initiative will provide teachers with much needed support and help them to utilize computer technologies in the most effective manner possible. December 27, 2000