National Education Technology Plan

The current administration has No Child Left Behind and gone into warp speed. With the goal of changing how we teach and learn in the 21st century technology is the vehicle that will drive the progress.

As we learn how to incorporate more technology, things like blogs, wikis, and podcasts in the classroom, students will have on-demand type educational experiences. This will enrich their learning in multiple ways. First and foremost, my ability to get students to do homework is negligible. However, if I can tap into my students' world and meet them where they are, my homework will no long be homework in the traditional sense, but rather an extension of a lifestyle they already have.

We have to redesign the process and the structure of our educational settings, or as one article said this week, "we will become extinct." I think the statement in the national plan that stated this administration is not seeking "evolutionary tinkering" but instead is looking for "radical change" may be the most important statement in the entire 114 pages. We are too far behind the curve to just slowly and incrementally change what we're doing. We have to change, and we have to change now. Our students are already a decade ahead of us, even someone like me who grew up with technology at my finger tips.

The only concern I have with the plan is that there is a national plan. The government/Constitutional teacher in me believes there are clear lines between what is federal and what is state. Education is one that I believe falls on the shoulders of state governments. The nationalization of education is something that bothers me only because education cannot, or perhaps should not, be uniform. Yes, this sounds almost heretical in education today; however, the cultural, economical, and vocational goals and opportunities are going to be completely different from Texas to California to Maryland. Why should someone in Bellvue, WA be able to tell someone in Ann Arbor, MI what academic programs they need to be focused on? Wouldn't the people in Michigan know what is best suited for their context?