Top 10 lists are always popular this time of year as people and organizations reflect on their goals and adjust their course. In anticipation of the hundreds of millions of dollars in potential awards for tech-based approaches under the federal RTTT and i3 programs, as well as the seeming increased focus on the potential of technology to solve some of the most pressing educational challenges, now might be an opportune time for ed-tech advocates to lay out their priorities for 2010.
ISTE does just that in its Top 10 in ’10 Education Technology Priorities list, released this week. The list is intended as a guide to educators and policymakers as they contemplate funding and legislative options.
“No matter what kind of improvement path a state or school district may follow,” says ISTE CEO Don Knezek, “the use of technology in learning and teaching is essential for real and lasting change.”
So what’s on the list? Positioning technology as a driver of school improvement efforts, using digital tools effectively, and providing professional development and support essential to doing so. Internet access, data collection, research and development, and global citizenship are also included.
Does this list capture the right issues? Is there anything missing?
On a similar note, the SIIA has opened up its 3rd annual survey on school technology use. The 2010 Vision K-20 Survey gauges participants’ progress toward reaching goals for integrating 21st-century tools, accessibility, differentiated learning, assessments, and support services.
The most recent results found that more of the nation’s schools have tapped into high-speed Internet access to allow for greater and more efficient use of online tools for learning. Schools are also seemingly well-equipped to secure student data and provide safe access online, according to the survey by the Software & Information Industry Association.
But schools’ progress toward broader adoption of educational technology and using it to improve instruction and student learning is slow, the survey found, and most have not been able to incorporate tech-based assessment tools to the degree they need.
