Marilu's action research: 3. Transforming American Ed.: Learning Powered by Tech.

"Education is the key to America's economic growth and prosperity and to our ability to compete in the global economy."

This plan states the educational goals set by the government for 2020. The two main goals set by the president are:

We will raise the proportion of college graduates from where it now stands (39%) so 60% of our populations holds a 2-year or 4-year degree.
We will close the achievement gap so that all students-regardless of race, income, or neighborhood-graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and careers.

These goals seem very ambitious to me. Yet the government has set some standards that must be followed in order for this to happen. The government plans to achieve these goals by urging all educators to be clear, collaborate, monitor, and hold ourselves accountable for progress and results. The five main focus areas are: learning, assessment, teaching infrastructure, and productivity. The plan also recognizes some "grand challenge problems."

The first area is Learning. The plan says that we need to empower students to decide on what they want to learn and how they want to learn it. As educators we need to focus what and how we teach to match what people need to know, how they learn, where and when they will learn, and who needs to learn. Educators need to tailor their instruction in order to reach all learners in ways that interests them. The second area is Assessment. As educators we need to find ways to assess only that that is important and meaningful. At the same time, we must include support from multiple stakeholders when in the process of designing and using assessment. Our assessment must be data driven. The third area is Teaching. This area emphasizes a model of connected teaching. It explains that information is readily available to students 24/7. In order for educators to do this, we need to collaborate with other educators around the globe. This model also brings education outside the classroom. We can do this by providing students with project-base work instead of traditional paper pencil assignments. This would empower student to create, and manage their own learning. Teacher need 21St century training if we are to accomplish this. The fourth area is Infrastructure. This area focuses on what is needed to accomplish our 2020 goals. What do students, teachers, and all levels of education systems need in order to succeed? We need to bring together libraries, museums, workplaces and homes. We need to have adequate Internet connections, that is the bottom line. The fifth area is Productivity. This area states that schools need to change the way we "block" students in classrooms. We need to change how we design our classrooms and move those students that are ready to a higher level.

The NETP presents five goals and recommendations that address these five areas. The goal for learning is that "all learners will have engaging and empowering learning experiences both in and outside of school that prepare them to be active, creative, knowledgeable, and ethical participants in our globally networked society," (pg. xii). Then it provides a list of recommendations like develop and adopt learning resources that use technology to embody design principles from the learning sciences. The goal for assessment is that "our education system at all levels will leverage the power of technology to measure what matters and use assessment data for continuous improvement," (pg. xii). The goal for teaching is for "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," (pg. xiii). The goal for infrastructure is for "all students and educators will have access to a comprehensive infrastructure for learning when and where they need it," (pg. xiii). And lastly, the goal for productivity is for "our educator system at all levels will redesign processes and structures to take advantage of the power of technology to improve learning outcomes while making more efficient use of time, money, and staff," (pg. xiv).

Reflection: I think that the plan has far reaching goals. Specially more so now because of the economic situation that our nation is going through. It will be very difficult to provide Internet access to every student and connect every teacher in order to work collaboratively and learn from each other. This plan will take time. It does seem difficult to train so many educators and prepare them for this near future that is already present. I think that the only down fall to this entire plan is the money issue. All stakeholders will need to be on the same page including: teachers, students, parents, business leaders, and the government. Profit and non-profit organizations must get involved.

Reference:

Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology

Draft: National Educational Technology Plan 2010

March 5, 2010