The National Ed Tech Plan, places educational technology within the proper context of reforming education and better preparing our youth to lead productive and successful lives in the 21st century. It addresses the critical issue of using technology to provide more assessment data to teachers and educational leader. It also focuses on the infrastructure that will be needed to accomplish all of this, including what it calls individual “access devices” for students and teachers. Much attention is also put to preparation of teachers to promote 21st century learning, and the ways that technology can assist this preparation. I believe this has an impact on local boards in that their plans need to foster the development of these goals in helping students to become successful in today’s classrooms.
In the minds of many citizens, school boards have considerable influence over educational decisions and provide a key social and political connection to the schooling process. School boards play a vital role in the governance of local public education. It is the individuals on these school boards who ensure that local schools are held to the highest standards and reflect the community values in the learning and instruction that take place. Therefore these people should be abreast with the latest technology and its impact on 21st century learning. If you are to make meaningful decision about technology you should at least know about it and its impact on teachers and students in the classroom. By state legislative enactment, school boards are delegated power and authority to develop policies, rules, and regulations to control the operation of the schools. My concern is that a lot of these policies or regulations that they put in place are done without proper thought on the underlined impact of such decision. Consequently it is the community, teachers and students who suffer.
At present, my county seems to have a powerful local board. The members are known to be no nonsense “go getters”. A lot of their policies however need to be amended. I strongly believe that the school board should represent a continuing commitment to local citizen as they control decision-making in education. There job is to establish school district goals and advocating on behalf of students and schools. With that said, there job is to help the schools be effective. I look at the whole system as one big chain reaction from the White house all the way down. If the national plan includes the use of technology then the local board needs to include policies that empowers the schools use these technologies in whatever way they think will encourage student development. I find that a lot of the restrictions that are now present in the current system are based on board decision. These decisions are by people who aren’t in the classroom and to my surprise, sometimes people who aren’t even educators. School boards should look out for students. When making decisions about school programs, school boards should incorporate their community’s view of what students should know and be able to do and not just make decisions based on their own beliefs. As the education “watchdog” for their communities, local boards should ensure that students get the best education.
The board is responsible for putting in place the proper keystones for students to learn and achieve at the highest level possible. As such they should be key stakeholders in technology planning and implementation in order to help students reach their fullest potential. Boards should give teachers and administrators the opportunity to recognize what’s developmentally appropriate in terms of technology use; and encourage students exploring and playing in digital sandboxes hence giving them opportunities to become ethical digital citizens.
Schools should definitely educate their boards about the web in schools. I don’t see how we can teach kids 21st-century values if we are not teaching them digital citizenship and appropriate ways of sharing and using everything that’s available on the Web. Who best to educate about these “web tools” than the policy makers themselves? These policy makers need to understand that it is hard to teach students Internet etiquette or rules of how to act and interact online without exposing them to the stuff that is out there; it is hard to teach those things in a vacuum.
