National Educational Technology Plan

The National Educational Technology Plan begins with the belief that education is central to the growth and prosperity of America.  Without a high quality education, we will not be able to compete in the global economy.  There are two goals of this technology plan. The first is to raise proportion of college graduates from 41% to 60% by the year 2020.  The second goal is to equip all high school graduates with the necessary skills to achieve in college.  This is a large goal.  Many high school graduates get to college and are overwhelmed and not able to complete college.  We need to narrow the achievement gap by raising the standards that we have in high school.  This will meet resistance from a struggling economy.  Many states, including Texas, are cutting budgets and money that goes into education.  We must bring up our students with cost effective strategies that require a deeper knowledge.  Technology is vital to our everyday lives.  If this plan is to succeed, it must incorporate technology.  The plan calls for technology based learning and collaboration.  Collaboration is crucial for teachers. When we share our best teaching practices, everyone benefits. The best teachers I know tell me that they learned everything from other teachers. Collaborating with our co-teachers improves our teaching ability. We should strive to collaborate as much as possible and share our best lessons. Technology can assist with this collaboration effort. Many school districts have SharePoint sites or blogs that teachers can post links and lessons.  With the proper use of technology, we can meet the highest standards we set for our students.

Resources:

Office of Educational Technology. (n.d.). National Education Technology Plan 2010. Retrieved July 22, 2011, from U.S. Department of Education website: http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/netp2010-execsumm.pdf