y content areas were explored. The structure of the National Education Standards and school curriculum was studied along with how existing NASA Web-based material might fit within this structure. The areas of study included school curriculum and existing NASA material.
In the third phase of the needs assessment, the teaching and learning processes were investigated. The investigators reviewed the ways that instruction could be presented most effectively for the teacher and the student. The review included best practices using the WWW in the classroom, teacher tutorials, and learning theories and teaching practices.
The purpose of the in-depth investigation of these eight areas was to identify which dimensions defined the area and further specify the critical factors for each of the dimensions. These dimensions and critical factors provided a structure for reporting the results found for each area.
Administrative infrastructure refers to the policies and personnel that facilitate the use of computer technology in the classroom. Policies are those mandated at the Federal, State, District, or Local levels. Personnel include principals, vice principals, school board members, teachers, secretaries, parents, and outside sponsors. Three important dimensions specific to the successful use of the WWW in the classroom emerged: supportive administrators, supportive computer technology and services, and support for teachers.
Supportive administrators. The level of support provided by the administrator in an overall management capacity and in day-to-day activities with teachers and support staff can set the pace for the use of computer technology in the classroom. The schools that were most successful at using computer technology and the WWW in the classroom had administrators who were
Supportive computer technology and services. A key function of the administrative infrastructure is to provide the computer technology necessary for the teacher and to plan for providing access to that technology. Technical support, including equipment maintenance, system administration, and user support, was critical in maintaining ongoing, effective use of the computer. Measures demonstrating supportive computer technology services included
Support for teachers. The extent to which Web-based activities are used in the classroom ultimately rests with the teacher, who must know how to integrate Web resources into the lesson plans. However, administrators must support the use of computer technology for it to become widespread. Effective ways administrators can support teachers include
The most critical administrative infrastructure dimensions impacting the use of computer technology in the classroom are supportive administrators whose budgeting, planning, and leadership skills are crucial to the success of integrating technology in schools. Supportive computer technology and services, including ongoing maintenance and technical support, are also essential.
Technology infrastructure refers to the physical characteristics of the WWW connection to a school. This connection can have different configurations and serve a variety of purposes, including classroom instruction. The dimensions of the technology infrastructure have a major effect on the type of instructional activities that can be performed.
Points of connectivity. A point of connectivity refers to where the WWW connection is used within a school. The two points of connectivity that affect instructional use are location of WWW connections in instructional rooms or noninstructional rooms.
Number of instructional rooms having access to the Internet. The number of rooms that have access to the Internet will affect how widespread its use will be in a school. This dimension is broken down into a sliding scale from no rooms (none) to five or more.
Type of network connection. Since the different types of media available on the WWW are expanding rapidly, the level of connectivity becomes an issue since it refers to the speed of data transfer over the connection. The types of connectivity currently availabl