National Education Technology Plan

I have been reading the recently released National Education Technology Plan. It is quite well written, and anyone who has kids in public school, and/or cares about education in our country should take time to read it. The official title is Toward A New Golden Age In American Education, HOW THE INTERNET, THE LAW AND TODAY’S STUDENTS ARE REVOLUTIONIZING EXPECTATIONS. The plan does take every opportunity to herald the benefits of the NLCB legislation, and credit it as the driver behind almost any and every educational success in the last couple of years. But given that Congress is the intended audience for the plan, this can be forgiven.

There report offers some real promise for the desires of the current group of students, or the "millennials." 96% say doing well in school is important to them, 94% plan to continue education after high school, and 88% say going to college is critical. The problem is apparent when you compare this to the 12th grade proficiency ratings in math and science, which are below 30%. Obviously something is broken and needs fixing.

The plan provides some specific examples of successes with technology, highlights the importance of 1 - 1 student to computer ratios, and emphasizes the importance of teacher training. I'd expand that to teacher and administrator technology training. And that training needs to be done utilizing technology.

The need for some revolution in how we design and deliver education to our students is clear. But what we need to do is not think that simply pasting technology into existing educational structures will have the desired effect. Unless our teachers jump into the technology waters, and learn how to swim themselves, they will never be able to serve a leaders for this millennial generation.