Education Technology Standards

1.       As you read the Introduction to the National Education Technology Plan, what did you determine to be the purpose of the National Education Technology Plan? How does it affect teachers and students, people like you and me? (feel free to be critical if you like).

The purpose of the National Education Technology Plan is to prepare students for what they may encounter in the real world. The real world is becoming very reliable on technology. Technology is very important to many future employers and students need to know how to use technology in order to obtain a job. There are many things that the NETP want students to develop to help them in the future. The introduction says they want students to become leaders, problems solvers, thinkers, and things like that. Overall, the NETP wants to help people understand how to use technology to benefit them in the future because technology isn’t going away.

2.       As you read the Introduction to the National Education Technology Plan (NETP), what were the main assumptions under which the plan was developed?  (you may copy and paste the main assumptions, and then answer the question below in your own words). What are some concerns administrators, educators, or even students might have with these assumptions?

There are many assumptions under which this plan was developed. One of them being that they believe that the reason why some students fail is because the educators aren’t engaging students in a way they are interested it. They believe if they use technology, something students enjoy, the students will want to focus more. Some problems with this assumption are some educators will have to learn to use this new technology and it might also just distract students. Another assumption is that students learn differently than they used to when technology wasn’t around. Before technology students learned using books, overheads, and things like that but know that we have all this new technology students are bored with the old style of learning. Some problems with this assumption are the same as the other assumption; teachers need to learn new technology and students might get distracted. These are only two of the many assumption under which the plan was developed.

3.       As you read the Executive Summary, the NETP presents a model of learning powered by technology, with goals and recommendations in five essential areas. ( You may copy and paste the areas directly from the document and then answer the question below in your own words). What are the “21st century competencies” - see the section titled “what and how people need to learn”- listed in the summary? How will technology support the growth of these competencies?

The 21^st century competencies listed in this section is critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and multimedia communication. Technology can support all of these competencies. It can help critical thinking because students will have to use this to do their school work and also to just use the technology. It will help with problem solving because if technology isn’t working they will have to solve that problem. Also it can put them in many situations where they will have to use problem solving. It can help with collaboration because students might want to work more together through technology. It can be tough to do school work when you have to meet with someone in person because they both have different schedules, but with technology it’d be easier because they don’t have to meet in person.  Finally, it can help multimedia communication because all multimedia is on the internet. You don’t have to watch the news or read the paper. You can get all the information right on your phone or whatever technology you are using.

4.       As you read The State of Ohio's Educational Technology Plan's "purpose and mission" (page 6), how do you believe it aligns with the National Education Technology Plan? In which respects are the two plans perhaps not aligned?  Why?

One way these two plans are aligned is that they both focus on brining technology into schools in order to help students in the future. They both want to help students ease into the real world. The real world uses technology and these plans want students to know how technology works before they have to go into the real world. It will benefit them with work and their social life. One way these two plans may not be aligned is that this plan wants to start the technology in pre k and the NETP didn’t specify the age group for where it will start the technology. Also, NETP seemed to want to help with school, the real world, and other behaviors whereas this plan seems to just focus on school and the real world.

5.       As you read Ohio’n w s State Educational Technology Plan outlined on page 8, how do you believe this outline aligns with the "model of learning powered by technology, with goals and recommendations in five essential areas" proposed by the National Education Technology Plan?  In which areas are the two plans perhaps not aligned?  Why?

They align because they are both focusing on the same main topic, getting technology more involved in the classroom. They both want students to use more technology, have more online classes, make technology more accessible for students, and much more. They both also focus on, not just the present but also the, future. They both are looking down the road to see how they can involve technology more. The way these two may not be aligned is that the NETP wants to get technology in school and help the students learn whereas this plan is looking to just get technology in the schools.

6.       As you read Ohio’s State Educational Technology Plan's "measurements of success" (page 16), what barriers do you see to fulfilling this plan? Provide four reasons why it may not be possible to reach these "measurements of success" in the state of Ohio.

One of the measurements for success is the ability of students to access technology. A possible reason this couldn’t be reached is because not all students are able to have technology. Some students are from poorer families and can’t afford these technologies. It’s not always easy to get their hands on technology. Another measurement for success is number of online courses from P-20. This might not be reached because, like I stated before, some students might not have access to technology. Also younger students might not be able to use technology as efficiently as older students, so they might struggle more. A third measurement for success is number of students taking online course. Once again the ability to access technology could cause a factor.  Also, some students might struggle with an online course because they can’t ask a question face to face with the teacher. Many student prefer an actually class because it’s easier to learn with a teacher next to them. One final measurement for success is the number of teacher preparation programs so they can learn the new technology. This might not be reached because learning new technology can be hard for some teachers. I’ve heard of teachers quitting because they can’t keep up with the new technology. Some teachers like to use old styles of teaching but that wouldn’t help them in this technology age and they might lose their job because of it.