Digital Discourse / Archives for Enhancing Education Through Technology

Privacy legislation gets a push, ed-tech funding is threatened

March 22, 2011 By

Last week’s Senate Commerce Committee hearing on privacy provided a boost to Senate efforts for advancing privacy legislation. Most notably, both Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and White House representative Larry Strickling voiced support for legislation, with Strickling announcing that the Administration would be issuing a statement of support for privacy legislation in the near future.

Meanwhile, Sen. Kerry (D-MA) is still working to finalize his draft legislation. Additionally, House Commerce Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee chair Mary Bono Mack indicated last week that she is ready to proceed with the first of several hearings on the issue after the Easter break.

Also, just as the nation’s education system is poised to accelerate technology-based innovation and improvement, a critical U.S. Department of Education program is on the chopping block. House-passed and Senate-proposed bills would zero-out funding for the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program for Fiscal Year 2011.

In response, SIIA and several education groups (ISTE, CoSN and SETDA) joined last week to express a statement of strong concern about budget proposals that would eliminate critical funding for critical education technology programs. EETT is the only federal education program designed to leverage innovation and technology to adequately prepare all of the nation’s children for the competitive 21st century global economy.

For SIIA policy updates, including upcoming events, news and analysis, subscribe to SIIA’s weekly policy email newsletter, Digital Policy Roundup.

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Filed Under: Digital Policy Roundup, Education, Education Policy, Government, Policy, Software Tagged With: , , ,

Pending Federal Budget Cuts Would Stall Technology-Based Education Innovation

March 18, 2011 By

The use of technology and digital learning in education has reached a tipping point — the conversation has shifted from “if” to “how,” and education leaders are touting digital learning’s power to improve productivity, personalize learning, and expand learning opportunities. Yet, just as the nation’s education system is poised to accelerate technology-based innovation and improvement, a critical U.S. Department of Education program is on the chopping block. House-passed and Senate-proposed bills would zero out funding for the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT; NCLB II-D) program for Fiscal Year 2011 (i.e., 2011-2012 school year).

Advocates are mobilizing to respond, contacting their Members of Congress by e-mail and phone and advocating in-person April 13 (at SIIA’s Ed Tech Government Forum, which will also include speakers on government programs and policies of interest to digital learning providers).

SIIA and several education groups (ISTE, CoSN and SETDA) expressed strong concern in a recent statement: “We are deeply disappointed that despite many Members’ understanding of the vital role technology plays in K-12 education in their states and districts, Congress is on the verge of eliminating funding for this critical program. Elimination of the program also is the surest way to devalue the billions of dollars invested over the last two years on improving broadband access to K‐12 schools and directly undercuts ongoing state and federal efforts to deploy education data systems, implement new college and areer‐ready standards and assessments, and address the well-documented STEM crisis. Our educators and students deserve better, and we urge Congress to reverse course and fully fund the EETT program.”

[3/22/11 Update: 14 U.S. Senators called on the Appropriations Committee to restore funding for the EETT program to the FY10 $100 million level. See their letter, along with a supporting statement from education groups including NEA and NSBA.]

EETT is the only federal education program designed to leverage innovation and technology to adequately prepare all of the nation’s children for the competitive 21st century global economy. Integrating technology among all programs is necessary, but not sufficient, while public R&D supoort is needed but not an alternative for directly supporting schools. This targeted investment is needed to provide leadership and professional development, and to increase the capacity of educators to redesign education to further personalize learning and engage students.

Spread the word to educators and colleagues! Contact your Member of Congress now!

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Filed Under: Ed Tech Government Forum, Education Policies, Education Policy, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,

Education and Industry Groups Advocate for Technology in ESEA

March 31, 2010 By

Following the introduction of the Obama Administration’s ESEA Blueprint for Reform and with healthcare reform signed into law, the U.S. Congress  has once again turned to reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).  Among the many programmatic and regulatory issues needing to be addressed is the role of technology.  The Obama/Duncan plan is short on details, but raises concerns by ending the Enhancing Education through Technology (EETT) program without an alternative targeted program.

A coalition of 50 education and high-tech organizations supports the Administration’s proposal for infusing technology throughout the ESEA programs, but as part of a two-tiered approach that also includes the Achievement Through Technology and Innovation (ATTAIN) Act.  The coalition – including Apple, ASCD, Intel, NSBA and NCTM – affirmed: “Many of today’s educational goals and requirements – including both the central tenets of ESEA as well as those set forth in the Obama Administration ESEA Reauthorization Blueprint for Reform – can be most effectively achieved by modernizing our educational practices and system through technology.”

SIIA also recently submitted recommendations to Congress on ESEA addressing several areas: Systemic Transformation from Mass Production to Mass Customization;  Modernize Education Practice Through Technology; Innovation, Public-Private Partnership and Appropriate Federal R&D Role; School Improvement and Low-Performing Students; Teacher Effectiveness and Connectedness; Assessment, Data & Accountability; and High-Tech Workforce Readiness.

SIIA called for ESEA to “drive transformational innovation that reengineers education delivery models [and] Incentivize the shift from a seat-time, assembly-line education model to a more flexible, student-centered outcomes-based model built around individual learning needs and pace, and anytime-anywhere learning [i.e., personalization].”

ESEA was last reauthorized in 2002 through the No Child Left Behind Act.  Congress made a similar attempt in 2007, but policies and politics prevented the House and Senate Committee Chairs from ever formally introducing a bill.  While there appears to be much agreement in principle, including on fixes to the current accountability system, many hurdles exist, and many insiders are suggesting Congress will run out of time in this election year before completing work to update Title I and most other major federal K-12 programs.

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Filed Under: Ed Tech Industry Summit, Education, Education Policy, Policy Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

U.S. Education Secretary Duncan: “technology enables us to respond as never before”

March 24, 2010 By

Amid the flurry of recent federal policy activity around education and the role of technology, SIIA’s successful 2010 Ed Tech Government Forum seems a distant memory.  A record 100 SIIA members participated in two full days of discussion with national education leaders on topics critical to the education sector. 

2010 Conference Photo Album & Session Summaries 

Among the highlights were U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s first speech focused on technology. 

The Secretary challenged SIIA member publishers and developers of technology-based educational interventions:  “As providers of educational products and services, you have a huge impact on—and share a huge stake in—the success of America’s students. So, I ask you to join the great endeavor to not just reform education but to transform it. I challenge you to put your talent and ingenuity to work to equip 21st century students with 21st century skills.”

And the Secretary laid out the opportunity:  “As research gives us new insights into how today’s students learn, and technology enables us to respond as never before, you can help lead the way in providing a model for 21st century learning.”

The Secretary spoke at a joint forum before members of SIIA and the Association of American Publishers (AAP).  SIIA and AAP issued a joint statement to “support the voluntary Common Core State Standards Initiative for education and its implementation through our members’ development of instructional, curricular, professional development, assessment and other resources, both digital and print, that align to the standards and are necessary for the teaching and learning of those Standards.”            

The Forum also featured visits to 200 Congressional offices to advocate for federal school technology with partners CoSN, ISTE and SETDA representing state and local educators and administrators. 

SIIA members can review summaries of all the conference sessions, including on Race to the Top and i3, Title I and School Improvement, the Obama College Initiatives, ESEA reauthorization, Common Core implementation, and Government OER Initiatives.

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Filed Under: Ed Tech Industry Summit, Education, Education Policy, Policy Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

“The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”

March 17, 2010 By

In the last few weeks, federal and state officials have introduced a plethora of plans and proposals with implications for education and the role of technology that is perhaps unprecedented in scale and scope.  The latest is the “National Broadband Plan: Connecting America” released today by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in response to a Congressional request in the Recovery Act a year ago.  The others: the National Education Technology Plan, titled “Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology” released two weeks ago,  the Obama Administration’s ESEA “blueprint for reform” and the NGA-CCSSO Common Core standards, not to mention the final Investing in Innovation (i3) rules.  The timing is largely coincidental.  The question: What does it all mean?

A few observations specific to education technology and SIIA members:

-The Obama Administration (including the independent FCC) seems to view technology as an important means to educating our students to maintain our global competitiveness.

- The Obama Administration is proposing a new federal policy path to realizing that goal, proposing to increase the E-Rate, eliminate targeted DoED funding through the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program, infuse technology in other ESEA programs, and look to “supply-side solutions” such as investment in open educational resources (OER) and interoperability as well as potentially far-reaching regulation around copyright, technology standards, etc.

- It is unclear whether the Obama Administration’s vision for transforming education through technology is a priority or sufficiently backed by “demand-side” targeted federal policies and investments (i.e., those directly supporting educational agencies and teachers around technology) needed to help lead the nation’s education system in this new direction.

- It is less clear how the U.S. Congress, not to mention education leaders, will react in that their actions are largely need to legislate and enact these policies and recommendations.  For example, “Many of the FCC’s proposals are short on details, and lawmakers and the agency can accept or reject any number of the ideas.”  [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Ed Tech Industry Summit, Education, Education Policy, Policy Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

What’s the (Ed Tech) Plan?

March 5, 2010 By

The U.S. Department of Education today released a draft of the National Educational Technology Plan titled, “Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology.”  U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan previewed the plan March 3rd during SIIA’s Ed Tech Government Forum in his first speech centered around technology-enabled teaching and learning.  SIIA staff and members were pleased to be invited to provide input into the draft plan, including an SIIA member focus group held in June 2009.

The Plan is not merely a technology plan; it is importantly a plan for the future of teaching and learning. The described model of 21st century learning, powered by technology, is very consistent with SIIA’s Vision K-20. It calls for “personalized learning instead of a one-size-fits-all curriculum, pace of teaching, and instructional practices,” “technology-based assessments,” and “using technology . . . [for] enabling a shift to a model of connected teaching.”  The plan also recognizes that technology can make our education system more productive, as it has done in most other sectors, as well as that “an essential component of the 21st century learning model is a comprehensive infrastructure.”

The Plan’s release comes on the heels of the Obama Administration’s FY2011 budget, which proposes, among other changes, to eliminate funding for the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program and instead infuse technology into other programs.  SIIA is working to understand the details and implications of this policy shift and has shared some early thoughts (here and here).

SIIA has little doubt those few communities with the vision, capacity and resources will continue to pursue the model outlined in the Plan, but what will happen to those without absent this federal investment?  How credible and viable will the Plan and federal leadership be without matching targeted resources? Failing to adequately plan has slowed our nation’s progress toward a technology-enabled 21st century education system, but absent the enabling investments, this important initiative could amount to no more than planning to fail.

Upon initial review, SIIA supports the Plan’s vision, and many of the recommendations.  We are very pleased that the Obama Administration has put forward such a bold model for the transformation of our educational system.  And we look forward to working further with our members, education stakeholders and the Obama Administration to not only further refine the Plan to ensure it is appropriate and actionable, but more importantly to ensure the critical investments in technology are made and systems changed to realize the Plan’s successful implementation and the continued competitiveness of our education system.

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Filed Under: Education, Education Policy, Policy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Is Every Education Program a Technology Opportunity? Obama Budget, Part II

February 4, 2010 By

After an initial reaction here Monday to the Obama Administration’s proposed FY2011 budget for the U.S. Department of Education and educational technology, a fuller analysis is now possible (see others here, here and here).  The budget notes that: “The President strongly believes that technology, when used creatively and effectively, can transform education and training in the same way that it has transformed the private sector.”  The question then is how the budget proposes to support that notion, and if in fact it would.

The Obama educational technology proposal includes three core elements: (1) “consolidation” of the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program, which would end the program and diffuse those dollars as a technology priority throughout the new Effective Teaching and Learning programs (p.7, 26-27, and 34); (2) integration of technology into other programs including i3 and RttT; and (3) enhanced R&D investment in USED and National Science Foundation.

The EETT budget justification reads:  “The Administration‟s ESEA reauthorization proposal would consolidate this [EETT] program into the Effective Teaching and Learning for a Complete Education authority. Each of the three programs under this new authority would include a focus on integrating technology into instruction and using technology to drive improvements in teaching and learning. In addition, using technology to improve student outcomes is a key priority in the Race to the Top and Investing in Innovation (i3) programs. The Administration‟s proposal for College- and Career-Ready Students [i.e., Title I] also will promote the development of State capacity to support district efforts to use technology to improve instruction.” 

SIIA applauds the Obama Administration’s proposed budget for recognizing the important role of technology to transform education and improve student outcomes.  We also welcome proposals to better integrate technology to drive improvements in teaching and learning throughout the many grant programs. This integration currently exists on paper, but there are many opportunities to further leverage this approach into practice.

SIIA also believes targeted federal investment, including through the EETT program, plays a critical role in both building state and local capacity for educational innovation through technology, as well as for coordinating disparate school improvement investments that leverage educational technologies. Directed investment may be especially important where capacity and resources are otherwise lacking to take advantage of existing and new flexibility, thus risking exacerbation of the classroom digital divide between schools.

SIIA looks forward to working with the Administration and Congress to ensure that any new federal K-12 paradigm continues the systematic and coordinated investment in educational technology leadership needed to drive education innovation and continuous improvement.  This includes work during the ESEA reauthorization processes to further integrate technology throughout all education programs as proposed, as well as continued support for increased investment in EETT (or an alternative such as the ATTAIN Act) at least until such time as there are meaningful and quantifiable alternative approaches enacted to achieve these goals.

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Filed Under: Education, Education Policy, Policy Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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