Kusum Ram's classroom computer sat for a year before she ventured near it. Then the science teacher attended her first technology training class.

        “I went back to my classroom and said, "I'm going to touch it. I'm going to turn it on,'” said Ms. Ram, who teaches grades 6-8 at Our Mother of Sorrows in Roselawn.

        Now, computer technology will play an important role in her teaching: “I won't be scared of the box,” the 31-year teaching veteran said.

        Many teachers lag in using technology effectively in the classroom.

        A survey last year by Market Data Retrieval, a Connecticut-based educational research firm, showed that almost half of schools report that more than 50 percent of their teachers are at an intermediate skill level — able to use a variety of computer applications but not adept at integrating technology into the curriculum.

        There are pockets of school districts and buildings where teachers are unprepared to integrate technology, said Cindy Geer, a Xavier University assistant education professor who trains teachers on using technology in curriculum.

        “There are still a lot of holes in places, but it's been improving over the last seven to eight years,” Dr. Geer said.

        Sister Carren Herring, director of Eastern Catholic Alliance of Schools for Excellence (E-CASE), recognized the holes in her own 10 schools on Cincinnati's east side.

        Computer labs were shuttered for a week when the coordinator wasn't there. Teachers wouldn't use the machines in their classrooms, lacking confidence in showing their skills to a class of computer whiz kids.

        “Schools have done a good job of getting hardware and a pretty good job of getting software, but schools have not kept up with teacher training,” Sister Carren said.

        Of the estimated $5.67 billion public schools nationwide spent on technology in the 1999-2000 school year, only 17 percent was dedicated to teacher training, according to Market Data Retrieval.

        Schools, however, are slowly shifting budgets toward training.

        “It took awhile for schools to understand” the importance of training, said Gini Browsh, educational technologist for Cincinnati Public Schools. “They got computers in and found they sat and collected dust because teachers didn't know how to use them.”

        E-CASE has collaborated with Xavier University to train 29 K-12 teachers in technology integration. Launched last year, Best Schools is a five-year project to help teachers use e-tools by infusing that technology into math, science, reading, art and more. Thirty more teachers will be enrolled next year.

        The teachers began attending monthly classes at Xavier in January, along with summer workshops.

        This summer, they're designing tech-integrated lesson plans.

        The K-12 E-CASE teachers range from beginners to experienced. What they have in common is a willingness to take a risk and learn new things.

        “You have to have a commitment from within. This is where education is at, and I've got to get on board, or my kids will lose out,” said Karen Gruenke, a 10-year veteran who teaches math and science to grades 5-8 at Cure of Ars in Madison Place.

        Kids are more motivated to learn with technology, experts say, and it helps those who don't learn as well with pen and paper.

        Mrs. Gruenke's students did a Power Point presentation last spring for a virtual curriculum fair.

        “If I had said we're going to do a three-page report, I would have heard a lot of groaning,” she said.

        Loi Claire Latscha, third-grade teacher and computer coordinator at Nativity School in Pleasant Ridge, has been a teacher 22 years. “The whole idea is using computers to be more efficient and effective,” she said. “We don't have time to do everything the hard way. We have to do it the best way. Computers give us the opportunity to do things we couldn't do otherwise.”

        Last spring, Miss Latscha's students wrote stories about heroes and drew their pictures on the computer. It enhanced writing skills, she said, by allowing them to edit and improve their stories. They compiled a book of heroes for each student to take home.

        One hurdle for teachers is the fact that students may be more computer savvy.

        Mary John Baxter, a 36-year veteran, said she is nervous about making mistakes in front of her seventh- and eighth-graders at St. Margaret of Cortona, Madisonville.

        Dr. Geer advises teachers to use their students as a resource.

        Annie Bauer, a University of Cincinnati professor of early childhood education, learned a few lessons about Palm Pilots from sixth-graders at St. Vincent Ferrer in Kenwood, where she is a parent volunteer.

        Dr. Bauer introduced the Palms to students and quickly realized their were far more proficient with the mini computers than she was.

        “They were masters of it in three days. That we would plan a training phase was laughable,” she said.

        “They were beaming to each other. I've been a Palm Pilot user for two years and never beamed anything to anyone,” Dr. Bauer said, referring to the use of infrared to send messages and information to other Palms.

        Chris Lapp, 12, of Kenwood is the Palm Pilot master at St. Vincent Ferrer.

        “When I got it, I knew I could do it because I've done a lot of computer stuff,” said Chris.

        He has learned more about computers through home and outside classes than at school. Schools need to invest in teacher technology training, he said.

        “Sometimes, if somebody was having trouble with the Palm Pilot, my teacher would say, "Chris, would you help him fix it?'”

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