Computers in schools

Computers
Today schools spend billions of dollars to purchase computers and other forms of technology for their classrooms. One can find some form of a computer lab in nearly every school in America. Teachers and students are faced with technology standards they should be able to meet. It is just assumed that this technology will positively affect what, how much, and how fast a student will lean. The view that giving a child a computer will make that child a better student is largely perpetuated by the computer companies themselves. However, research in this area has had mixed results(Rachal, 1993).

When was the first computer built?   There is no easy answer to this question because of all the different classifications of computers.   Different definitions and classifications of computers have been developed from as far back as 1822, but the first programmable computer,The Z1, originally created by Germany's KonradZuse in his parents living room in 1936 to 1938 is considered to be the first electro-mechanical binary programmable (modern) computer and really the first functional computer (Richie, 1986).

From the Z1 until the present computer technology has grown exponentially.   Today’s computers contain more information than ever thought possible.   People now have little computers in their hands all day long by the way of cell phones, Ipods, Ipads, and Android technology.   Business can now be done from a golf course, or information can be sent across the world with the click of a button.   The formation of email and “e-fax” has improved and sped up numerous businesses, and made convenience something that is taken for granted.   Just with a paper like this one, it can be sent straight to the professor by way of the computer, graded, and sent back with a few clicks of a computer mouse.  

The effects computers have had on the economy are amazing.   Millions of jobs related to manufacturing of hardware and software products related to computer technology have...