Linda Roberts
U.S. Department of Education
The explosive growth of the Internet and the World Wide Web, coupled with networked technology, digitized materials, and video, creates a new and exciting learning environment for students and teachers as they move into the 21st century. These opportunities are particularly challenging for those who teach children in their earliest years when their minds and futures are first being shaped.
This exciting new learning environment offers significant opportunities for teachers to meld technology and learning in a way that develops new and enhanced teaching skills and offers children boundless opportunities to explore new worlds of learning and creativity. It is estimated that soon almost 60 percent of all jobs will require computer literacy. This need has catapulted education technology to the forefront of the national agenda.
In his 1996 Technology Literacy Challenge speech, President Clinton articulated four national education and technology goals. These "Four Pillars" of technology provide a foundation for creating an innovative learning environment where students and teachers may reach beyond a school building's confines for information and interaction. These pillars are hardware, connectivity, digital content, and professional development. These four pillars will help enhance student achievement; improve teachers' skills and knowledge; improve school administration and management; bring new resources into the classroom; and connect schools, families, and communities globally.
Federal agencies, especially the U.S. Department of Education, responded to the President's challenge with a number of initiatives to help bridge the digital divide and provide equal access to all students. Funds under most of these initiatives can be used by recipients to carry out activities that, among other things, facilitate education in the early grades. These include:
Education Discount Rate (E-Rate)Though not a government funded initiative, the E-Rate was created by national policy in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. It provides for over $1.9 billion in discounts for schools and libraries to buy high-speed Internet access, Internal wiring, and telecommunications services. The investment comes from telecommunications companies, but is administered by the Federal Communications Commission. By giving the deepest discounts to the poor and rural schools that need it most, this will help bridge the digital divide between schools with the most and least technological resources. The Technology Literacy Challenge Fund (TLCF)The Technology Literacy Challenge Fund supplements state, local, and school level efforts to fully integrate technology into teaching and learning so that all students are technologically literate. State departments of education receive competitive grants targeting local school districts with the highest number or percentage of children in poverty and the greatest need for technology. Federal funding for the TLCF is expected to total $2 billion over 5 years and will encourage state, local, and private sector investment in technology for improving education. It will expand teacher development and student learning opportunities and assist students in achieving high academic standards. The Technology Innovation Challenge Grant Program (TICG)The Technology Innovation Challenge Grant Program serves as a catalyst for positive technology change for schools and develops models of effective practice for use by other schools. TICG supports educators, industry partners, communities, parents, and others who are using new technologies to help bring high quality education to every classroom and neighborhood. "School districts are forming partnerships with businesses and community organizations across the country to meet the challenge of bringing their schools and communities into the information age," said President Clinton. "These Challenge grants will help schools put computers in classrooms and provide more training for teachers to use technology to improve their lesson plans. These grants are among the many efforts needed to ensure that our students are prepared for the challenges of the 21st century." In 1998, these grants focused on professional development to enhance teachers' skills and use of computers and advanced learning technologies in their classrooms. Students will benefit from teachers who are familiar with these rapidly changing technologies and are able to integrate them effectively into their teaching curriculum. This use will, in turn, contribute to improved student achievement in reading, writing, science, mathematics, and history, the arts and other disciplines. Each project will support effective training for teachers and promote greater parent and community involvement in education. The projects funded by TICG also will help smooth the transition from school to careers and college by engaging students in real-life learning experiences through which they can develop the lifelong learning skills necessary to navigate the changing economy. From 1995 through 1998, TICG has brought education, industry, and other partners together on 82 different projects that involve:
Business and community partners will generate matching federal investment commitments at over $1 billion. Regional Technology in Education Consortia (RTEC)The Regional Technology in Education Consortia (RTEC) was established in 1995 to help states, districts, schools, adult literacy centers, and other educational institutions effectively use advanced technologies to support improved teaching and student achievement. Six regional consortia were funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, at the inception of the RTEC program as the first step toward forming a national system of service provider related to technology in education. These consortia provide assistance with integrating technology into all areas of the curriculum; and they emphasize professional development (pre-service and in-service), cutting edge use of technology, identifying best practices, and key policy issues. Their focus is to provide support on a regional level, and the breadth of their reach cuts across all levels of the education community. Star Schools ProgramThe purpose of the Star Schools Program is to encourage improved instruction in mathematics, science, and foreign languages as well as other subjects, such as literacy skills and vocational education, and to serve underserved populations, including the disadvantaged, illiterate, limited-English proficient, and individuals with disabilities through the use of telecommunications. The program, currently funded at $45 million, issued awards for a 5-year period for statewide projects, local projects, and for leadership, dissemination and evaluation activities. The Department has awarded more than $125 million to telecommunications partnerships since the program's inception in 1988. The Star Schools program has provided services to more than 6,000 schools across the nation including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Marinas Islands. Approximately 1,600,000 learners have participated in the student, staff development, parental, and community-based activities produced under the program. The number of individuals who actually benefit from this program is difficult to enumerate since programming is distributed via cable and other services for which no formal registration is required. Technology Teacher TrainingTechnology Teacher Training is a $75 million program designed to help ensure that tomorrow's teachers integrate technology effectively into the curriculum, and implement new teaching and learning approaches enhanced by technology. These grants will be awarded for up to 2 years on a competitive basis. They are expected to promote improved teacher education preparation within established institutions, and will foster more collaboration across disciplines, and among higher education, schools and the private sector. Community Based Technology CentersCommunity Based Technology Centers received $10 million in 1999—funding to provide before- and after-school initiatives in safe, drug-free environments for approximately 250,000 additional school age children. Activities include tutoring, homework centers, computer classes, arts, music and cultural initiatives, supervised recreation, and community service opportunities. Learning Anytime Anywhere Partnerships (LAAP)Learning Anytime Anywhere Partnerships (LAAP) is a new grant competition to promote student access to high quality technology-mediated learning opportunities that are not limited by the constraints of time and place. Congress appropriated $10 million to fund partnerships among colleges, industry, community organizations, and others, whose projects will have a national or regional impact and will encourage innovative solutions to the biggest challenges facing technology-mediated learning. |
These initiatives will help ensure that test scores in math will increase, attendance and writing will improve, teachers will have better training, and parents will become more involved in their child's education. Most importantly, they provide an effective tool for teaching and learning at all stages. With these outstanding initiatives and the administration's effort to ensure equal access to everyone in the country, not only children but adult learners in the United States will have a tremendous opportunity to propel themselves into the digital age.
Listed below are sources for more information about the initiatives mentioned above or other U.S. Department of Education technology literature.
The Guide is an excellent resource to help educators tailor evaluations to the needs of their schools and districts—www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/ORAD/kadeval.html
Publications: edpubs@inet.ed.gov or www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html
Grant Information: www.ed.gov/Technology/TOCedgrant.html
