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National Education Technology Plan Unveiled

Education Secretary Arne Duncan released this week the Department’s plan for transforming American education through technology, a process that would create an engaging, state-of-the-art, cradle-to-college school system nationwide. The National Education Technology Plan was written and refined over a year and a half by leading education researchers, with input from the public, industry officials, and educators and students from across the country. It is a crucial component of the Obama Administration’s efforts to have America lead the world in college completion by 2020 and help close the academic achievement gap so that all students graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and careers.

“We’re at an important transition point…we need to leverage technology’s promise to improve learning” the Secretary expressed in remarks. The plan, “Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology,” presents a model with key goals in five areas: learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity. Each section outlines concepts for using technology to holistically transform education, with the aim to achieve each goal by 2015. Overall, the plan addresses trends that could transform education, such as accessibility and mobility, the rise of digital content, and the rise of online social networks for information, collaboration, and learning. Also, it stresses that technology in the classroom only works when paired with effective teaching.

More information can be found here