SETDA Creates Digital Materials Acquisition Policy Portal
The State Educational Technology Directors
Association (SETDA) has created a free, online portal designed to help
school and district leaders implement digital instructional materials more
effectively and efficiently.
The Digital Instructional Materials
Acquisition Policies for States (DMAPS) portal enables administrators to
access information about each state's education technology standards, plans and
planning requirements, as well as information about each state's policies and
procedures related to the acquisition of digital instructional materials.
SETDA's goal in developing the portal was to help administrators understand the
policies that are in place and identify potential policy changes.
"It is essential that leaders understand all options related to adoption and
implementation of tools and resources to support learning in the digital age,"
said Lan Neugent, interim executive director of SETDA, in a prepared
statement.
Key features of the DMAPS portal include:
- Overviews of state policies and practices;
- Map of state trends;
- Tool to compare up to five states by topic;
- Individual state profiles;
- District exemplars; and
- State educational technology background details.
To create the portal, SETDA worked with "state leaders responsible for
procurement instructional materials and educational technology and in
collaboration with experts in the field," according to a news release from the
organization.
On October 26, at its annual Leadership Summit in Arlington,
VA, SETDA will release a national research report, "Navigating the Shift:
Mapping the Acquisition of Digital Instructional Materials," which includes an
overview of options for purchasing and implementing digital instructional
materials.
Free access to the DMAPS portal is available through SETDA's site.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].