1998 EdTech Update Report
Dear Educator:
This summer, I attended a conference in Los Angeles sponsored by the Milken Family Education Foundation. At that annual conference, award-winning teachers and principals from across America were brought together for a series of workshops and ceremonies. The conference had a profound impact on the way I think about educational technology.
As Deputy Commissioner of Education, I work closely with Greg Nadeau, Connie Louie and the rest of the staff who make up the Department's EdTech Group. While I have always been impressed with the quality of their work, the Milken conference confirmed that what this Department and State are doing has national significance.
To amplify and update the basic message from last year's EdTech Update:
Technology WILL provide improved learning opportunities for students.
Technology IS providing powerful new tools to enhance the professional capabilities of teachers.
Technology IS increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of our administrative systems.
The emphasis is added to make clear where we, as a State, stand today. We know by experience how much technology can improve teacher professionalism and the administrative efficiency of schools and districts, and our efforts have focused on those two areas. Proving how technology improves learning is more difficult. However, significant evidence is mounting. A recent Milken Foundation study (summarized in this report) is among the first national studies to provide quantitative evidence of what we've long suspected. Having made significant headway with the second two goals, we are just beginning to undertake the more difficult task of discovering ways in which technology can measurably improve learning. To be clear, the quality of instructional technology is extremely varied. While our Lighthouse Sites provide examples of effective technology use, there are at least as many classrooms in which computers are underutilized or even misused.
Despite our enthusiasm about technology and learning outcomes, we also know that computers are not a panacea. As with other teaching innovations, the key to improving student learning is always the quality of the teacher. Teachers have to learn how to use technology effectively before they can integrate it into their work.
This fall, over $20 million of new grants will go out to schools to assist them in providing technology training and professional development. These grants, in concert with the $75 per pupil of state aid for professional development, should guarantee every educator in the state access to training opportunities.
Over the last two years, the Department's annual technology spending has grown from $3m to $40m. Like all of you, we are grappling with determining appropriate spending levels, attracting talented people, and using technology to improve our work. These challenges have underscored our need for effective planning, which has become a central role for my office. This document constitutes the formal, mandated, update to the Massachusetts Statewide Educational Technology Plan. We will submit it to the U.S. Department of Education on behalf of the Commonwealth.
Like the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, every district will be required to update its own technology plan. Districts will also complete an on-line survey this spring to remain eligible for the grants we administer.
Finally, all of these articles, and additional information, will be available through a redesigned web site at www.doe.mass.edu/edtech. I wish you the best of luck with your 1998-99 technology implementation efforts and pledge the continued support and leadership of the Department and our staff.
David P. Driscoll
Commissioner of Education
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last updated: January 1, 1998
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