President Obabma has made two major goals his priority in education. He wants to be able to raise the number of college graduates so that “60% of our population holds a 2-year or 4-year degree” and to “close the achievement gap so that all students…graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and careers” (Executive Summary p. v). We may be asking ourselves how are going to achieve this, especially in light of all of the talk of budget cuts.
There are five areas that will be used to achieve this. They are Teaching, Assessment, Learning, Productivity and Infrastructure.
- Teaching -They are proposing a teaching model called "connective teaching" teaching is a "team activity." Each teacher is responsible for building a PLC of students, educators around the world, other community members and organizations who see our students when they are not in school (p. v "ii).
- Assessment - By using "techonology based assessments" teachers can provide data on students which can be the driving force to make decisions for each and student and this should lead to ongoing improvement "across our entire learning system" (p.vii).
- Learning - The model calls for "engaging and empowering learning experiences for all learners" (p. vi).
- Productivity - Many businessess focus on "improving productivity" unlike our schools who are experiencing tight budgets. Schools can learn from the "private sector" how to "improve productivity and manage costs" (p. x).
- Infrastructure - This area not only includes technology based tools but also "people, processes, learning resources and policies" (p. ix).
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These are some very feasible and attainable ways to improve technology in our schools. If we can follow the productivity model that the private sector uses, we can make our budgets go further and still give the students what they need.
Reference
National Educational Technology Plan: Transforming American Education (2010). Learning Powered by Technology. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education
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