National Technology Plan and Standards

Plan

Toward a New Golden Age in American Education: How the Internet, the Law and Today's Students are Revolutionizing Expectations is the new national technology plan. This plan identifies Seven Major Action Steps and Recommendations:

  1. Strengthen Leadership: For public education to benefit from the rapidly evolving development of information and communication technology, leaders at every level - school, district and state - must not only supervise, but provide informed, creative and ultimately transformative leadership for systemic change.
  2. Consider Innovative Budgeting: Needed technology often can be funded successfully through innovative restructuring and reallocation of exiting budgets to realize efficiencies and cost savings. The new focus begins with the educational objective and evaluates funding requests - for technology and other programs - in terms of how they support student learning. Today, every program in No Child Left Behind is an opportunity for technology funding - but the focus is on how the funding will help attain specific educational goals.
  3. Improve Teacher Training: Teachers have more resources available through technology than ever before, but some have not received sufficient training in the effective use of technology to enhance learning. Teachers need access to research, example and innovations as well as staff development to learn best practices.
  4. Support E-Learning and Virtual Schools: In the past five years there has been significant growth in organized online instruction (e-learning) and "virtual" schools, making it possible for students at all level to receive high quality supplemental or full courses of instruction personalized to their needs. Traditional schools are turning to these services to expand opportunities and choices for students and professional development for teachers.
  5. Encourage Broadband Access: Most public schools, colleges and universities now have access to high-speed, high-capacity broadband communications. However, broadband access 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year could help teachers and students to realize the full potential of this technology and broadband technology needs to be properly maintained.
  6. Move Toward Digital Content: perennial problem for schools, teachers and students is that textbooks are increasingly expensive, quickly outdated and physically cumbersome. A move away from reliance on textbooks to the use of multimedia or online formation (digital content) offers many advantages, including cost savings, increased efficiency, improved accessibility, and enhancing leaning opportunities in a format that engages today's web-savvy students.
  7. Integrate Data Systems: Integrated, interoperable data systems are the key to better allocation of resources, greater management efficiency, and online and technology-based assessments of student performance that empower educators to transform teaching and personalize instruction.

Standards