Activity: Computers Make Kids Smarter Many questions arise around the use of computers in school. As the instructional leader, you must keep abreast of technology trends and developments in evaluation and assessment so your students have the experiences and backgrounds to enter careers that increasingly depend on information literacy skills. As liaison between school and community, you must be able to justify your decisions to use technology-based assessments, whether they replicate traditional competency-based assessments or address higher-order skills. Heather Kirkpatrick and Larry Cuban pose answers to some of the difficult questions surrounding technology use in their article Computers Make Kids Smarter—Right? Kirkpatrick and Cuban review findings from a wealth of studies that have attempted to discover the effects of educational technology in classrooms. They suggest that while schools will no longer question whether to use technology, there are important questions practitioners, policymakers, and parents should ask when planning educational technology use. These questions are: What do we want to use computers for in our classrooms? Can we reach our goals at less cost—without additional investments in technology? Will computers help create the type of students and citizens we seek? Through what means can we achieve our desired ends? Read this article in TECHNOS to find their answers. Then, look for additional literature that either supports or challenges the arguments presented by Kirpatrick and Cuban. Are there key issues that have developed that are not present in their article? Can you find evidence to dispute any of their arguments? Post some of the findings of your research. Take a stand on at least one issue raised by Kirkpatrick and Cuban. While your own experiences will certainly influence your position, corroborate your experiences with at least one example from your research. Educators hear these questions daily from parents and policymakers. Researching and discussing your responses in this forum will help you shape the way you answer these questions when they are posed in your school or district. Click the "Discussion" button on the top menu bar to view your response and the responses from other participants to this activity.