The National Educational Technology Plan: Transforming American Education describes the goals and recommendations to prepare our schools nationwide for 21st century learning driven by technology. There are five essential areas covered in this plan: learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure and productivity.
In the area of learning the plan states that “we 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”. In other words it calls for alignment between what and how we teach to the specific needs of the learners. The plan makes technology the power behind achieving this goal by providing personalized instruction.
In the area of teaching and training the plan calls for technology to be used to build the capacity of teachers through increased collaboration with their peers and provided with tools that will allow them to give students relevant and engaging learning experiences. The plan calls this “connected teaching”. The plan states “in connected teaching, teaching is a team activity”. Teachers will no longer be isolated. They will build online learning communities with students, parents, other educators and the community to communicate and enhance learning. I think Texas Project Share has already started with this goal of connected teaching.
I truly enjoyed reading about this plan. I believe our Texas Long Range Plan is well aligned to the goals of the National Educational Technology Plan. Both plans address the need to prepare our educational system for the challenges facing our 21st century learners.
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