Arizona students lag behind their national counterparts in access to technology, a new report has found.
Only 39.5 percent of Arizona’s students have a computer in their classroom, compared with a national average of 49.5 percent, according to Technology Counts 2007. The 10th annual report on educational technology was put out by Education Week, which is published by an East Coast nonprofit organization.
Arizona also falls below average when it comes to access to a computer lab or media center: 71 percent of Arizona students have access to a computer lab. The national average is 77 percent.
In addition, the report found that the ratios of Arizona students per computer and per high-speed Internet-accessible computer was greater than the national average.
There are 4.7 students per computer in Arizona, while nationally there are 3.8 students per computer. In Arizona, the report says, there are 4.3 students per high-speed Internet-capable computer while that number, nationwide, is closer to 3.7 students.
Overall, Arizona received a grade of “C+”, the same as the national average, for its use of technology in education.
Technology in school is no longer merely a supplement for research and communication, said Carole Vinograd Bausell, assistant director at the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, which helped with the report. Bausell said students will compete in a global work force and a technological education is key to their success.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said the report “underscores the importance of my initiative of a laptop for every student.”
In January, Horne asked state legislators to support an initiative to offer a laptop computer to every student at seven high schools in Arizona. Eventually, Horne hopes to offer every Arizona student a laptop.