| Summary: | This research assessed computer use by teachers in the public and private high schools of the Clear Lake Area in Texas and the public high schools of Brevard County in Florida. Specifically, the domain of computer use, extent of computer use, and factors affecting computer use by teachers were examined in these schools.
The NASA Johnson Space Center- 1ies at the center of an area generally Known as "Clear Lake" in Texas. The Clear Lake Area lacks definite geographical or political boundaries. The University of Houston-Clear Lake defines the Clear Lake Area by using twenty-two United States Census tracts, eleven postal Zip Codes, twelve municipalities, and five independent pub 1 ic school districts.
The NASA Kennedy Space Center 1ies near the center of an area encompassed by Brevard County in Florida. Brevard County, unlike the Clear Lake Area in Texas, has definite geographical and political boundaries. Brevard County at 995 square miles is almost four times larger than the Clear Lake Area at 250 square miles. This research project used these definitions of the Clear Lake Area and the geopolitical boundaries of Brevard County to stratify the high schools of this study. Data from these high schools were examined for possible relationships between the teacher’s computer usage, the student computer ratio, and the yearly expenditure per student.
Pearson Product moment (PPM) correlations were calculated for any possible relationships between the educational computer use by teachers, the student-computer ratio, and the expenditure per students in the study schools. A relationship (PPM = 0.22) existed between the computer use by teachers and the student-computer ratio. However, almost no relationship (PPM = -0.06) existed between the teachers' computer use and the yearly expenditure per student.
Since a correlation exists between the student-computer ratio and the computer use level, it is possible to determine the optimum number of single-use computers a school district should purchase based on their student population. In this study, this optimum ratio (named the Nova Ratio) is statistically determined to lie between 9 and 10 students per single-use computer.
A first-order polynomial was found to estimate the school-wide teacher computer use based upon the school’s student to computer ratio: C - 0.0131 * X + 1.14722. Where C = Mean computer use between 0 (no use) to 3 (every week) and X = (School student population / Number of school computers)
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