DOE presents National Education Technology Plan

IDG News Service - School districts across the U.S. need to trade traditional textbooks for online educational content and offer students more e-learning options, according to a plan released by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) Friday.
The DOE's National Education Technology Plan, titled "Toward a New Golden Age in American Education -- How the Internet, the Law and Today's Students Are Revolutionizing Expectations," outlines seven broad areas where schools can improve the use of technology in education.
It said paper textbooks become outdated quickly and are "physically cumbersome," and recommended that schools train teachers in using online and multimedia instruction. It also said schools should consider online content but also place rigorous academic standards on that content.
Students should also have better access to e-learning opportunities, with courses designed for additional student credit or personalized instruction, the report advised. In another of the seven recommended steps, it called on schools to look for ways to provide students and teachers access to broadband connections seven days a week. Schools should make sure they have enough technical help to maintain school broadband connections.
Many current students don't remember a world without the Internet, and they want schools to make better use of technology, said U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige. "They're concerned that the schools aren't keeping up," Paige said.
This report, which builds on two other DOE reports released in the past nine years, will help move schools toward a "future where students receive the quality of education they deserve," Paige said during a webcast Friday.
Educational investments in technology are important as U.S. workers face competition from around the world, said Phillip Bond, undersecretary for technology at the U.S. Department of Commerce. "We don't want to compete to see who can pay the least, so we have to have workers who are smarter ... than their counterparts around the world," Bond said.
Among the recommendations in the report:

• Schools should invest in leadership programs to "develop a new generation of tech-savvy leaders at every level."


• Schools should ensure that every teacher has the opportunity to take online learning courses.


• Schools should look at new ways to fund technology, including reallocating spending on textbooks and other instructional supplies, and leasing technology with three- to five-year replacement cycles.