The Big Plan

     Under the Obama administration, the Department of Education created the National Educational Technology Plan: “Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology.” This plan promotes the following goals:

·         We will raise the proportion of college graduates from where it now stands (around 41 percent) so that 60 percent of our population holds a two-year or four-year degree by 2020.

·         We will close the achievement gap so that all students graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and careers.

     We need to ‘hook’ the students through technology. The plan refers to this and “Engage and Empower”. Because our students have 24/7 access to technology and communication, we can and must use this access to engage the students into the subject matter. The most often suggested way of doing this is through some sort of multimedia presentation.

    Next, we must assess these outcomes early and often. We must provide feedback early enough to improve the outcome. We must decide what is to be measured and create a consistent scale to be used throughout the education system. This data should be used from preschool through college. In order to create this scale we must get buy-in from all stakeholders.

     Finally, in the scope of teaching and learning, the plan stresses professional development. This is referred to as “Prepare and Connect”. The plan intends to give teachers the proper tools to access the web and other venues. Teachers are then to use social networking to create professional learning communities that will provide career-long support. As leaders, we should also provide online training for and about distance education. All of this is to be overseen by local and state education agencies with the ability to support and ever-changing infrastructure.

     I like this plan. This is the first plan I have reviewed that outline real-world problems and provided real-world solutions.