Educational reformers look at the problems plaguing American school and quickly find fault with
teachers. The late 20th century saw big business promoting the idea that schools should be run
like a business and out of this, according to Cuban, came another wave of reforms for
education. Technology was touted as the answer to the ills of public education. The American
public was lead to believe that if teachers would integrate technology into their everyday lesson
plans and make technology accessable to all students, then teachers would become better
teachers and students would become students, and then these same students would become
better citizens, better wage earners and finally, better consumers. In turn, after all these criteria
were met, corporate America would make a larger profit and could continue to be leaders in the
world markets.
Reformers continue to believe technology alone will make teachers and students better
and more productive. Students will then be able to score higher on standardized tests and thus
parents will be happy, government will be happy, administrators will be happy, and so on.
However, questions arise as one progresses through Cuban's book; "Who really stands to benefit
the most from technology integration into the public school classrooms? Do students really reap
he highest yield from the use of technology in school or do the big companies that make the e
equipment, software, and do the wiring stand to make the biggest profit? Cuban states in his
book that,
Venture capitalists funded start-up companies that made millionaires
out of 20-something engineers and programmers, and parents and
business leaders pressured schools to adopt more technology. The
state legislature and department of education responded with grants
and technical support (Cuban, 2002, p. 75).
It seems then that the public viewed technology as the avenue to new "riches" (much like the
gold rush of old) and thus wanted their children to get "a fair share" of the wealth. However,
while salaries for individuals who work in the technology industry, that is, for programmers,
technicians, and so on, remain high, there is little clear evidence that minimum technology skills
guarantees an average high school graduate who possesses a few basic skills on computers will
be able to secure employment that offers a high wage. It stands to reason that technology is an
effective tool in high schools, but students will more extensive, in-depth training in technology if
they wish to earn the kind of money programmmers earn.