National Educational Technology Plan: Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology
The National Educational Technology Plan: Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology describes how information and communication technologies are to help educate students for 21st digital world. Education must be a priority for the United States in order to have a successful society. The goal of the Technology Plan is to “enable all learners engaging and empowering learning experiences both in and out of school that prepare them to be active, creative, knowledgeable, and ethical participants in our globally networked society” ("Transforming American Education:," 2010). The plan also states that "by 2020, we will raise the proportion of college graduates from where it now stands 39% so that 60% of our population holds a 2-year or 4-year degree. So that all students will graduate high school and be ready for college or careers in the 21st century, the plan has placed in motion the idea of closing the achievement gap despite race, income and living arrangements” ("Transforming American Education:," 2010). The long range projection is a transformation of the US education system and the plan illustrates a system where technology is integrated in the curriculum to meet the needs of 21st century students by providing a more student centered learning environment, which would be accessible daily. The plan is to "connected teaching" so that teachers will no longer have to work as "solo” with the help of technology, they can utilize local and global Professional Learning Communities in order to improve their techniques and facilitate improved learning in the classrooms. Technology engages students and is an effective method for learning. Incorporating technology in the classroom provides teachers and students a variety of ways to present information and communicate ideas. To reach these two goals the plan suggests that professional development be collaborative, continuous and convenient. It also recommends that we develop and adopt technology-based content with online learning that creates opportunities for educators. To make sure that all students comprehend what is being taught, the draft presents an idea that educators need to use technology to gather and analyze data in order to roll out quality instruction. Another goal of the plan is that all students and educators will have access to a comprehensive infrastructure for learning at home or on campus. This affords all unlimited access to resources; it will provide opportunities and efficiency in educating the future generations. After reviewing the plan, I really felt several aspect of it could make positive changes to education; mainly by using data to drive results. Our goal as educators is to be effective and efficient facilitators of information and data is our navigation system that will provide the best route for students’ needs and success. Forcing teachers to get out of their rooms and become part of a professional learning community and collaborate with colleagues is another aspect that I liked. Finally it is refreshing to know that a plan has been put in place to embrace technology, but with the budget shortfall in education, it will impact the application of technology for several years. So to see a plan is great but it is just printed on paper, money is needed for this program to be implemented. I think it will be interesting to see the decisions that are going to be made regarding the educational budget in the coming months and the impact those decisions of the budget will make on educational technology.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology. (2010). Transforming American Education: learning powered by technology
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