Communications and Media

List of illustrations
p. vii. Computer literacy by educational level
p.ix. Percentage of elementary school teachers

Executive Summary
This is a feasibility report to propose the introduction of computer courses in elementary schools of Colorado. The advancement in computer technology and the consequent use of computer at all levels necessitates its use at the primary levels of education. The need for this has been recognized due to the lack of computer literacy in Colorado primary schools. The increasing importance of computer literacy advocates the implementation of a computer literacy program for primary schools that would prepare the school children with the necessary computer know-how and practical use.

The use of computers has increased over the years. Its use has spread from offices to educational institutes to aid in the education of students. It has been observed that its use greatly amplifies the writing, calculating and information organizing capabilities of children. There is a high need for imparting computer education at the basic levels so as to equip children with the necessary skills to not only help them in their current studies, but to also help them excel in their future.

Evaluation of computer courses at some schools has revealed huge gaps in the curriculum and teaching methodology. After analyzing the strengths and weaknesses, this plan has been devised to overcome the shortcomings of computer teachings at primary levels and to introduce it at a mass level so that all primary schools in Colorado can benefit from it.

To help achieve this, a well thought-out plan is needed. The plan would require the support of school administration, teachers, parents and the State department of education. Together, they can help identify the gaps in computer education and share their insights to make it more relevant to the current scenario. There is a need for a curriculum in computer studies specifically designed for primary level students. Teachers training is very important. Teachers with relevant degrees in computer science would need to be hired by schools. Moreover, a proper training system could be devised to train existing teachers at schools to teach the children.

The project is highly feasible. Technologically, it requires normal computers that are easily available and do not require any special installation procedures. Economically, the major costs include the hardware costs of computers and the salaries of teachers teaching computer courses that are well within the range of Education departments budget. From a social perspective, the project is highly desirable. This is because children are better able to learn with an interactive media such as computers. Parents also find it desirable to see their children equipped with the skills to operate computers that would be used by them throughout their lives. Ecologically, the adverse environmental impacts are almost negligible if proper procedures for disposing off are carried out.

The feasibility criteria of the project indicate that the project is not only feasible but also highly desirable for the state of Colorado. However, the state department of educations assistance in its implementation is very crucial. The department should extend monetary, technical and human resource to make this project a success. The departments role is also needed in developing a uniform curriculum for all the schools in Colorado in order to provide equal standard of education. The benefits of this program far outweigh the costs especially in the long run. However, to make it ecologically sound, policies need to be developed at the government level to ensure the safe disposal of used and old computers. With limited risks and high returns, the project will surely benefit the education standard of state.

The Problem
The main problem is the lack of computer related knowledge in students of Colorado elementary schools. The students do not know how to operate computers to the best of their use. They do not have enough programming skills as well. There is great amount of growth in technological sector all over the world and so use of technology is the basic requirement of each one of us. Currently every activity going on around us is automated and based on the use of computers. Life can become very easy if the person knows how to use computers and make programs in it. Internet is the most effective and easy way of communication without any issue of the distance involved between the two sides and that is only possible if the person knows how to operate computers. Large amounts of information can be easily stored with the help of computers that can be retrieved when and where it is required. A lot of time can be saved if one can make good use of computers. It also helps a lot due to its capability of multi tasking which can be a useful tool in many situations. There is huge database of information available on the internet that can be use for many different purposes in daily lives and that only is possible if one knows how to operate computers. Efficient programs can be developed to cater to a number of requirements of the community as a whole to bring technological advancements for it.
Computer ownership in the US appears to be somehow related to socioeconomic conditions and the educational level(Kruger, 2001 pg 99). Recent findings about computer usage could not be found but Krugers findings do suggest that its usage may still be not as widespread especially among children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.  Moreover, the fact that its ownership also links up with the educational level of the family suggests that well-educated families are aware of its enormous potential and their children may be able to better operate the computers. At the same time, children from less educated backgrounds are at a disadvantage when it come to computer literacy. The figure below indicates that there is still a huge gap for children from less educated families in computer literacy. This gap in computer literacy among children needs to be filled.

To help the children understand the environmental needs of technological advancements going on around them it is really important that they are given computer knowledge at early stage of their education. In this era computer is a necessity for children and is no longer a luxury. For that matter the curriculum of elementary schools should consist of computer and programming knowledge and also schools needs to be opened that have professional teaching computer related knowledge to children. As to survive in this competitive world computer knowledge is one of the major solution.

Advocate Plan
Computer knowledge must be provided to students of elementary schools in an effective way keeping into consideration a number of factors. Teaching computers at elementary level requires different schedules, curriculum, staffing patterns, resources and so on. They must be provided computer knowledge from the basics. To start with this plan teacher, administrators and parents should be share different magazine, newspaper and journal articles that are related to children using computers. This study group should then be organized and should be made to develop a curriculum for the students.

The curriculum should include firstly the knowledge about the computers and the benefits the computers have in the real world scenario. It should be kept in mind that teachers must be trained well in order to give effective computer lectures to students. The training can help the teachers to better integrate the use of technology with their teaching methodology. For this administration support is very critical. Teachers should try to generate interest in children about computers so that they try to learn about it themselves as well. They should be taught about the hardware and software components of the computer and the way they can be used.

Then the students should be given practical knowledge about computers and the programming languages. On the later stages when children are interested enough to work on computers they can be taught programming in easy and effective ways and this depends on the skills of the teachers. A number of programming tools are available to help the teachers in this. Most importantly to learn computers students have to use them more often and so parents can play an important role to support the teachers in providing their children with effective computer skills.

Feasibility Study of the Advocated Plan
Some elementary schools are already teaching computers to students but not in an effective way. The current level of teaching methodologies being used there was evaluated and then their strengths and weaknesses were found out. This made it easier to devise a plan that could focus on teaching computers and programming to children in an effective way. As a computer science student, the difficulties one faces if computer knowledge is not provided at earlier stages become prevalent at later stages of life. The funds required for this advocated plan are not that high because it requires only investment in purchasing computers that just satisfy the basic computing needs of students. They students should be bought in 1 to 5 ratio i.e. one computer for every five students to make this plan more cost effective. So suppose a class of 30 students will require a budget of around 7500 to 10000. But this can be done in installments and the costs recovered from students fees.

Also teachers will require some training but that can done with the help of government support on the basis of  alleviating the levels of technological knowledge in the community. There is no lack of elementary teachers, and the training of a fraction of those teachers for computer courses would not be difficult to carry out. The chart below shows the percentage of elementary school teachers.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), State Nonfiscal Survey of Public ElementarySecondary Education, 2001-02
However, some teachers may have to be hired at later stages but then at later stages if the plan works well more students will be enrolled in the class so greater funds will be available through increased amount of fees. And also the teachers at this level are not paid that highly.

This plan is desired to alleviate the technological skills of the students that will be beneficial for the society as a whole and so government should be supportive enough to carry on with this plan and provide the school with funding whenever it is needed.

Feasibility criteria
This section of the report will deal with whether the proposed solution is possible and justifiable. The following aspects of feasibility are discussed here.

Technological feasibility
Technologically, this project does not require something highly technical. For children to have a better know-how of computers and their usage, schools would need to have normal personal computers. PCs are commonly available and dont need to have anything technologically advance to make them useful for children.  A simple Pentium IV computer can serve the purpose.

Economic practicality
The hardware requirements can be met at low relatively low costs. A stripped down version of desktop pc practical for this purpose ranges in price from 150- 300. A typical school in Colorado will need close to 100 such computers if a student population of 500 is assumed.  To teach computer lessons, each school may need to hire two or more teachers with computer qualifications. Given the budget of the state department of education, the proposed program would cost considerably less. The tangible and intangible benefits of the project far out-weight its costs. It will increase the productivity of students and give them the ability to learn using new tools on their computers. Students will learn to experiment with a resource at a very small age that they would even use in their professional lives.

Social desirability
The ability to understand and use computers is not only socially desirable, but has become increasingly important. There is a widespread agreement among the public and the educators that students need to be computer literate (Robinson, 2008 pg 3).The computer has become an important social tool helping people communicate. It is also socially desirable because it vastly amplifies childrens ability to write, calculate and organize information (Golubchick, 1991 pg 358).

Ecological soundness
The proposed project poses no threat to the ecological environment if used properly. However, proper disposal of used computers is highly needed to dispose of computers that are no longer under use.

Conclusions from feasibility analysis
From the feasibility analysis, it can easily be concluded that the project is highly feasible from the perspective of the stated criteria. The cost-benefit analysis of this project shows that the long-term benefits of this project by far outweigh the short-term costs. With support from the Department of Education, little investment would help in getting huge benefits. The project does not require any special technicalities and would utilize easily available technologies. The computers needed for this project need not be high-end, since any normal computer can serve this purpose really well. However, trained teachers need to be available which can be accomplished either by hiring teachers qualified in computer education or training existing teachers. As a result, a socially desirable outcome can be achieved from this project. Highly desirable socially because the trend over the years indicate that the computer has become an important part of everyday life and parents and teachers would like to have computer-literate children who can utilize the enormous potential of computers for the betterment of their childrens education. The project also poses almost no risk to the environment. However, proper policies need to be devised to ensure that the disposal of computers is according to environmental regulations. Some of the toxic materials inside computers could damage the environment but a proper mechanism for its disposal would eliminate any such fears.

It can safely be concluded that the plan will work and will produce the desired results of educating primary school children about computers. With little effort, these children will be able to use computers for their studies and as communication tools. Moreover, this would go a long way in helping their future careers since the use of computers is widespread in almost any professional organization.

Recommendations
The department of Education should provide financial, technical and human resource for this project.
A reliable vendor should be contracted to provide the computers at discount prices.
A uniform curriculum should be developed to ensure uniformity in computer education across all the schools.

The Department of Education needs to develop a separate certification for teachers qualified to provide computer education. This certification would help schools identify if a teacher is eligible to teach the curriculum at the school.

Environmental regulations should be in place to guarantee safe disposal of old computers
Support from teachers and parents is highly recommended to make the project successful.