Designed to isolate curriculum needs for computer education courses for preservice and inservice elementary school teachers, this study identified patterns of microcomputer use as they have been planned and implemented in elementary classrooms together with factors that affect those patterns. The cluster analysis procedure was used to analyze interview, classroom observation, and questionnaire data on classroom microcomputer use obtained from 29 randomly-selected kindergarten through grade six teachers. Characteristics of classroom microcomputer use patterns are identified within two frameworks. The first is a typology developed by Shavelson which distinguishes among orchestration, adjunct instruction, enrichment, and drill and practice; the second is an adapted list of curriculum elements originally described by Goodland, Klein, and Tye, which focus on goals and objectives, subject matter, activities, teaching strategies, evaluation, grouping, time, and space. Five areas of confusion about computer use in the classroom were identified through a qualitative analysis of case records: (1) process vs. product; (2) entertainment vs. motivation; (3) what constitutes ethical use of time; (4) curriculum integration; and (5) student accountability. These are briefly discussed and their implications for both preservice and inservice teacher education are described. (10 references) (GL)