Policy
Once again invoking the mantra of school reform, President Obama this weekend released his new "Blueprint" for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), calling for the transformation of American K-12 education into a "world-class" system that will "ensure that every student graduates from high school well prepared for college and a career." But even before its presentation to Congress Monday, the Blueprint received scathing criticism from one major education group--the National Education Association (NEA), which has 3.2 million-members.
Policy
In a presentation to stakeholders Wednesday, FCC Director of Education Steve Midgley provided a preview of the forthcoming National Broadband Plan, which will be formally released next week. The plan, as it pertains to education, calls for an expansion of E-Rate and new federal supports for the promotion and delivery of online learning.
Funding
The United States Department of Education has released final priorities and opened the application process for the Investing in Innovation Fund, also known as "i3," a $650 million grant program that's designed to fund "the development of path-breaking new ideas, the validation of approaches that have demonstrated promise, and the scale-up of the nation's most successful and proven education innovations."
Policy
If there were any doubts about the Obama administration's intentions toward education technology, the United States Department of Education settled them Friday with the release of the first public draft of the National Education Technology Plan (NETP). The 114-page document reveals an intent not only to infuse technology throughout the curriculum (and beyond), but to implement some major--sometimes radical--changes to education itself.
Federal Funding
The United States Department of Education Thursday announced finalists in the first phase of the Race to the Top competition.
Q&A
Innovation is an abstraction to many of us, a word vaguely hinting at something new and good arising through inspired creativity, some invention born of "outside the box" thinking. But that perception--and the approach to innovation that it implies--is just one of the many reasons most of us fail at it.
Policy & Advocacy Viewpoint
With his defunding of EETT, the new boss seems to many ed tech advocates to be just like the old boss.
- By Geoffrey H. Fletcher
- 03/01/10
Closing the Achievement Gap
Univision Communications has launched a national campaign to promote academic achievement and college readiness among Hispanic K-12 students in the United States. "Es El Momento" ("The Moment Is Now") is a Spanish-language initiative that will focus on high school graduation, college readiness and completion, and parental and community involvement in reaching these goals.
- By Scott Aronowitz
- 02/26/10
Policy & Funding Issues
Education technology policy and advocacy groups have a lot to deal with these days. There's the new proposal to expand the federal E-Rate program. There are the National Broadband Plan and the new National Educational Technology Plan, both of which are on the verge of being revealed. And there's EETT, the sole source of funding specifically earmarked for educational technology, which is currently in danger of zero-funding.
Policy & Funding
The federal E-Rate program could be in for some major changes as it heads toward "version 2.0." A bill introduced in the House Tuesday, known as the E-Rate 2.0 Act of 2010, would amend the school technology program by adding a $2.5 billion residential broadband voucher pilot program for students; a $200 million e-book pilot program; and refinements to program administration designed to ease the application process.