National Educational Technology Plan: Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology

The National Educational Technology Plan: Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology Draft provides a comprehensive plan to meet the instructional needs of the 21st century learner. Here are key highlights of this draft.

• To be successful 21st Century learners, technology must become the vehicle that must have a comprehensive infrastructure to allow access to learning 24/7.

• Learning can no longer be one size fits all. While all students should be exposed to key academic content and skills, the methodology can be personalized to hone into student's individual interests. At the same time, we as educators are challenged and must redefine what are the essential skills are 21st century learners need.

• Think outside the box! All learners will have learning experiences not only in school, but outside of school, as well. We can no longer expect our students to leave technology at the door. The following is a prime example how a principal integrated the use of cell phones in his school.


EX. "After letting two students use the calculator functions on their cell phones to solve the crisis of being two calculators short for a school-wide math exam, the principal at Passage Middle School, Virginia, decided that he might be on to something. Hoping to capitalize on the excitement expressed by students allowed to use their cell phones, he instituted Phone Fridays in math class and challenged students to come up with ways to use their phones to enhance learning. Students started using the phones’ calendar function to keep track of homework schedules and the camera function to take pictures of the notes on the classroom’s whiteboards. They created blogs and podcasts related to their homework and supported their math work both with the phone’s calculator and by using the stopwatch function to time their speed at doing calculations." (pg. 54)

• Classroom pencil/paper assessments will decrease because online assessment data will be ongoing and will be able to measure skills for individual students and groups. A primary concern will be to ensure that the infrastructure will meet the online demands for these assessments.


• Shift to a model of connected teaching. No longer will teachers "fly solo" but will perform as teams of connected educators. Instruction will take place in social networking communities.

• Skills and competencies such as critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity must be a part of all instruction. Students today will be solving problems that don't exist today! I thought it was an interesting point that today's learners are self-directed and self-taught.

In summary, this model calls for engaging learning experience to empower students. This requires a paradigm shift to focus on gearing instruction based on the individual needs of the learner. Furthermore, it brings "state of the art" technology to motivate students with and without disabilities to achieve.

Educational Technology Plan: Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology. Retrieved March 6, 2011, from http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/NETP-2010-final-report.pdf