Assignment 9
Stephanie Baxter
As you read the Introduction to the National Education Technology Plan, what did you determine
to be the purpose of the National Education Technology Plan? How does it affect
teachers and students, people like you and me? (feel free to be critical if you
like).
From my understanding
of the National Education Technology plan, there are many goals. I believe there
are two main purposes of the plan, one being to provide a well-rounded
education that caters to students of all backgrounds, learning abilities and
disabilities, ages, and SES levels. Like the introduction states, “America
needs a public education system that provides all learners—including low-income
and minority students, English language learners, students with disabilities,
gifted and talented students, early childhood learners, adult workforce
learners, and seniors—with engaging and empowering learning experiences.” The
second purpose of this plan is to implement technology into the classroom. It
is being used somewhat in classrooms today, but there is so much more potential
to be had with all of the different options and resources technology can
provide today. The plan even addresses how most students have more advanced
technology in their back pocket than an entire classroom has. The introduction
states how advanced uses of technology can improve the student learning
environment: “With technology we can provide engaging and powerful learning
content, resources, and experiences and assessment systems that measure student
learning in more complete, authentic, and meaningful ways.” I think a big part
of the low success rates in some schools is the lack of motivation and interest
many students have. Technology seems to be something that truly engages
students of all ages, so I agree that more technology use should be implemented
for this reason. The introduction goes on to address how using technology can
improve student learning: “With technology-based learning and assessment
systems, we can improve student learning and generate data that can be used to
continuously improve the education system at all levels.” With technology-based
learning we can learn so much about how students learn, what concepts they
struggle with, and where improvements can be made. All of this information can
be stored online for an endless amount of teachers and educational staff to
have access to. It could really change how teachers teach their students and
can help them become better educators.
2. 2. As you read the Introduction to the National Education Technology Plan (NETP), what were the main assumptions under which the plan was developed? (you may copy and paste
the main assumptions, and then answer the question below in your own words).
What are some concerns administrators, educators, or even students might have
with these assumptions?
“ Many of the failings
of our education system stem from our failure to engage the hearts and minds of
students” I think that the problem that administrators and teachers have with
this assumption is the issue of standardized testing. Teachers have a hard enough
workload put on them to make sure their students are being taught everything
that is going to prepare them for the standardized tests the students are required
to take to move on to the next level. Even
more, when student’s fail these tests, teachers are accountable. Teachers are
so concerned with this that they have little to no time to think of creative
ways to engage their students, especially the older grades. Lesson planning is
extremely limited also, so this adds on another stressor. I think teachers would
love the idea of making lessons more engaging to the hearts and minds of
students, but because of standardized testing, it makes it extremely difficult.
“Learning depends on
effective teaching, and we need to focus on extended teams of connected educators
with different roles who collaborate within schools and across time and
distance and who use technology resources and tools to augment human talent.” I
think the main problem that teachers would have with this problem is the lack
of time available for collaboration. Time is limited for collaboration at a
single school due to teachers having little to no time to lesson plan. Yes, it
being available via technology would help, but the teachers would end up having
to do this on their own time because there is simply not enough time in the
school day to do this.
“Making engaging
learning experiences and resources available to all learners anytime and
anywhere requires state-of-the-art infrastructure, which includes technology,
people, and processes that ensure continuous access.” I think the only problem
with this is where in the budget this would be possible. School districts are
constantly making cuts to programs such as the arts and sports. I don’t see how
we can afford to add on an additional resource to schools unless some serious
budget rearrangement is considered.
3. As you read the Executive Summary, the NETP presents a model of learning powered by technology, with
goals and recommendations in five essential areas. ( You may copy and paste the areas
directly from the document and then answer the question below in your own words).What
are the “21st century competencies” - see the section titled “what and how people need
to learn”- listed in the summary? How will technology support the growth of these
competencies?
Five essential
areas: learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, productivity.
The 21st
century competencies are critical thinking, complex problem solving, collaboration,
and multimedia communication. Technology can support these competencies
because it is being used to do just that in the adult professional world, as well as in colleges by professors. People use
technology such as wikis, blogs, and other web tools for research, collaboration, and
communication. Teachers can create kid-friendly blogs
and other web tools for their students to complete group work or peer evaluations.
They can use it to encourage collaboration with students on a group project. Teachers
can even stay in contact with their students after school hours through social media
tools.
4. As you read The State of Ohio's Educational
Technology Plan's "purpose and mission"
(page 6), how do you believe it aligns with the National Education Technology Plan? In which respects are the two plans perhaps not aligned?
Why?
Both plans address using technology to enhance the educational
opportunities available to students. The Ohio plan focuses on supporting
education from P-20 whereas the National plan is more focused on P-12. Both
plans will be reaching out to the community to learn what has worked through
their experience with technology. The Ohio plan offers the community a chance
to give their input and offer suggestions, whereas the National plan does not.
5. As you read Ohio’n w s State Educational
Technology Plan outlined on page 8, how do you believe this outline aligns with the
"model of learning powered by technology, with goals and recommendations
in five essential areas" proposed by the National Education Technology
Plan? In which areas are the two plans perhaps not aligned? Why?
Ohio’s State Technology Plan’s Outline somewhat
aligns with the goals and recommendations of the National Plan but there are
definitely some differences. The Ohio plan discusses expanding and integrating
P-20 longitudinal data. This goal is similar to that of 2.0 and 4.5 in the
National plan. The National plan discusses how “Our education system at all
levels will leverage the power of technology to measure what matters and use
assessment data for continuous improvement.” This goal discusses the need for
improvement of the data we collect through the use of technology. 4.5 discusses
how the plan will “Develop and use interoperability standards for content and
student-learning data to enable collecting and sharing resources and
collecting, sharing, and analyzing data to improve decision making at all
levels of our education system.” Again, this is addressing the importance
technology has in advancing the data we collect and how it can improve teaching
and decisions on a child’s education.
The Ohio plan discusses how it will offer “virtual
learning content and opportunities” to all Ohio students. The National plan has
ideas similar to this in section 1.3 and 3.3. 1.3 states “States, districts,
and others should develop and implement learning resources that exploit the
flexibility and power of technology to reach all learners anytime and
anywhere.” This is basically saying that the use of technology through
computers, tablets, etc., should be available to all students at any time. 3.3
furthers this claim including the use of an internet connection, “Use
technology to provide all learners with online access to effective teaching and
better learning opportunities and options especially in places where they are
not otherwise available.” Both plans stress that online and virtual content
should be available to students at any time for free. I also think that both
the plans have the goal to have more services available to students and
families.
The Ohio plan discusses the goal of providing
“advanced student services,” and the National plan somewhat applies with 4.1,
“Ensure students and educators have broadband access to the Internet and
adequate wireless connectivity both in and out of school.” Schools generally
only provide these services while the students are in school. The option of
having internet and virtual content available to all students for free is a new
and much needed improvement.
Both plans have similar goals and recommendations in regards to
staff development. The Ohio plan discusses the delivery of “high quality
professional development.” The National plan covers this issue as well in goals
3.5 and 3.0. 3.5 is discussing the need to “Develop a teaching force skilled in
online instruction.” I think this goal is geared towards the long-time teachers
who have always taught using pen and paper. Many teachers don’t want to face
the reality of technologies influence on students these days. 3.0 discusses the
main inclusion technology will have on today’s teaching staff, “Professional
educators will be supported individually and in teams by technology that
connects them to data, content, resources, expertise, and learning experiences
that enable and inspire more effective teaching for all learners.”
There are some areas where the plans do not align. The Ohio plan
discusses how it will “support public broadcasting and media delivery.” This is
not addressed in the National plan. The National plan also does not address the
“support of federal programs” like the Ohio Plan does. However, the Ohio plan
does not address anything specifically about engaging and empowering students
like the National plan does in the first goal, 1.0. It also does not mention
anything about assessment, as the National plan does in the second goal, 2.0.
Lastly the Ohio plan offers a chance for Ohioans to give their point of view on
the plan whereas that option is not mentioned in the National Plan
6. As you read Ohio’s State Educational Technology Plan's
"measurements of success" (page 16), what barriers do you see to
fulfilling this plan? Provide four reasons why it may not be possible to reach
these "measurements of success" in the state of Ohio.
The first item on the plan to “measure the success”
discusses “Number of
Ohio teacher preparation programs requiring the experience integrating
technology into curriculum and teaching practices as part of graduation
requirements.” I think the main problem some schools will have with this is not
every school in the state can afford to do this. Some schools do not even have
computers because of it being in a severely deprived area. The second problem I
see is with calculating the “Percentage of students reporting
use of technology in the learning environment.” Not every student in the U.S.
is going to report this information necessarily. You can tell a student to
report this information, it doesn’t mean they will remember to or choose to do
this. Unless this somehow involves teachers, you can hold young children
accountable for this. Older students, yes this could work. A third problem I
find with this is calculating the “Number of students enrolled in on-line
courses.” Not every student who has technology available will be able to
enroll. Unless the technology is provided to them, which this plan implies will
happen. Also, students with learning disabilities and physical disabilities may
steer away from this option, which could cause problems with accurate results.
One last problem this plan may have is increasing the goal in the “Number of higher education faculty
teaching distance learning course sections. I think a lot of teaching faculty
would need to be trained to efficiently run distance learning courses. Until
this happens, those teachers knowledgeable with distance learning will have a
heavier workload with more students. This will cost a poor learning experience
and environment due to overworking teachers.
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