The 1997 Missouri School District Computing Census
Summary Results - Notes:
Overview of District Computing Census
The purpose of the District Computing Survey is to assess the overall level of network development in the District. The core item on the questionnaire records the number of Internet and E-mail accounts provided by types of users including teachers, students, administrators, patrons, parents and others. The questionnaire also records other indicators of network development including the number of district staff supporting instructional telecommunications or computing, Wide Area Network development, the number of Local Area Networks (LAN), and LAN operating systems. The questionnaire also asks if the district has adopted a technology plan and an acceptable use policy. It also asks if the district has established a World Wide Web page. Finally the questionnaire poses an open-ended question about unmet technology support needs. A copy of the District Computing Census is in the Appendix.
Overview of the School Building Computing Census
The main purpose of the Building Computing Census is to record the number of computers by level of Internet connectivity and by educational setting within each school. Additionally, the questionnaire gathers information about operating systems, Internet connection speeds, Internet provider, local area networks and World Wide Web development. Finally, the questionnaire gathers estimates of the number of additional classrooms that remain to be wired for the entire building to have network access to the Internet, and the number of additional computers needed to provide at least one Internet accessible computer in every classroom. The questionnaire is designed to be completed by a local staff member with knowledge of the school's computing and networking environment. The District central office selected the respondent for each school. A copy of the School Building Computing Census is in the Appendix.
Internet Capable Computers, Type of Internet Connectivity, Setting, and Students per Computer
The Building Computing Census makes some important distinctions about computers, Internet connectivity, educational settings, and the number of students per Internet computer. These are summarized below and described further in the Appendix.
Internet Capable Computers: The census distinguishes between total computers and "Internet capable computers." That is, there is a minimum level of hardware and software required to achieve an adequate connection to the Internet. The census adopted a working definition of Internet capable as set by MOREnet:
- PC's with at least a 386 processor with at least 8 meg of memory running Windows, or Mac's with at least a 68030 processor with at least 8 meg of memory
Types of Internet Connectivity: Among the subset of the school's computers that are Internet capable the census records the number that have no Internet connectivity, the number that have dial-up only connectivity, and the number that have connectivity via a network with a dedicated phone line.
Educational Setting: It is important for instructional and technical planning to understand the distribution of computers by level of Internet connectivity by setting within each school. Schools with Internet capable computers in classrooms have much greater opportunities for instructional impact than schools with computers located only in administrative areas or computer labs. Thus, the questionnaire uses a series of tables to record the number of computers by educational setting and then elaborates the level of Internet connectivity for each setting. The settings include: Administrative/Business Offices, Computer Labs, Classrooms, Library/Media Centers, Vocational Education or Technical Training Areas, or Other Settings.
Students per Instructional Internet Computer: To measure Internet access for instruction we calculated the number of students per Internet computer for those located in classrooms, computer labs, and school libraries. While computers in "vocational education" and "other areas" are clearly used for instruction these settings are too diverse for a generalized measure.
Overview of the Building Instruction and Computing Census
The Building Instruction and Computing Census assesses the extent to which students and teachers have access to the Internet, the extent to which they use it for instruction and the extent to which they think it benefits instruction in their school. Completed by building level instructional leaders, 85 percent of Missouri schools (1,871 out of 2,200) are included in the census. A copy of the Building Instruction and Computing Census is in the Appendix.
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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