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October 1, 2002
New Emphases in Federal Technology Funding: Factors for Success
By Joanne Striley
In March 2002, the Department of Education announced its new Enhancing Education Through Technology (ED Tech) Program. Part of the No Child Left Behind Act, ED Tech represents an integrated, across-the-board effort to use technology to support preK-12 literacy and achievement. The emphasis in this approach is on the ED, rather than on the Tech. In this new vision technology becomes not an end in itself, but a tool to call upon in the effort to improve the quality of education for all students. And, because of this change in emphasis, projects seeking funding will need to consider the ED Tech goals. Some hallmarks of this new approach are:
Single Block Grants to States
The multiple, overlapping technology grant programs of the past (for example, Technology Challenge Grants, Star Schools, etc.) have been replaced by ED Tech. States have started applying for block grants to support technology efforts. The program allows states the flexibility to fund technology under other programs such as Reading First or Title 1. This flexibility underscores the goal of technology integration.
Example
In the past...
Proposals were made to a single-purpose technology grant program.
More successful now...
Proposals show how technology can be used to achieve the goals of a Reading Program or Title 1 Program.
Example: We will apply technology to our Learning Centers to increase strategic reading skills.
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Emphasis on Integration, not Infrastructure
Technology initiatives have long focused on infrastructure to provide technology to schools and students. Although it recognizes that sound infrastructure is an important basis for learning with technology, ED Tech shifts the focus to learning outcomes. As Education Secretary Rod Paige put it, "It is not enough to have a computer and an Internet connection in the classroom if they are not turned on. It's not enough to turn them on if they are not integrated into the curriculum. And it's pointless to integrate them into the curriculum if they don't add value to student performance." Under ED Tech, projects must propose more than putting boxes in buildings; they must plan to demonstrate curricular applications aligned with Academic Standards and improvement in student achievement.
Example
In the past...
Proposals focused on supplying more computers to labs and classrooms. Student benefits were assumed to follow almost automatically from access to computers: "If we build it, they will come" strategy.
More successful now...
Proposals fill in the missing steps and outlines specific plans for curricular integration. In order to make changes in student learning, which classes need to be involved? How will they have access? (First-come first-served sign-up for computer use is not usually the best model.)
Example: All Learning Center classes will have three days a week of computer time to follow a program of literacy enhancement.
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Reading First
Technology projects traditionally aimed their efforts at increasing technology skills such as keyboarding and word processing; it was reasoned that these skills would enable students and teachers to use computers and applications. ED Tech is part of the No Child Left Behind Initiative, where the focus is firmly on literacy, on strategic reading, writing, and thinking in curricular contexts. Too many researchers have noticed students cutting and pasting elements into whiz-bang presentations, resulting in lots of form but little or no content. It's time to use technology to emphasize the deeper interactions with content, for this fosters understanding.
Example
In the past...
Proposals included plans to train teachers and students in the "basic skills" of computing: keyboarding, using email, using application software such as Microsoft Office.
More successful now...
Proposals take the next step and show explicitly how computer skills and application software will be integrated into coursework to improve student learning.
Example: Learning Center students will increase strategic reading skills through a careful introduction to Internet research in the content areas.
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Building on a Research Base
When technology was young, many programs sponsored experimental, "cutting-edge" projects that were exploratory in nature, designed to map new territory. Like early North American explorers, these projects surveyed the terrain and were not charged with producing particular results. ED Tech calls for using the maps we have, approaches validated by research, to raise expectations for all learners. Successful projects must incorporate research that applies current learning theory to technology. One example would be the Big6ý model, which links technology skills to higher-order literacy and problem solving.
Example
In the past...
Exploratory programs proposed to uncover new dimensions of the uncharted world of educational computer use, and did not reference established, research-based models.
More successful now...
Proposals build explicitly on a research base, and design activities in accordance with a research model.
Example: Our Learning Center literacy activities will promote the Big6ý model for successful Internet research projects: define task, select information seeking strategy, evaluate the product and process.
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Integrating Technology into Staff Development
Traditional teacher workshops are often one-shot training sessions, often in a computer lab, designed to introduce teachers to a particular technology skill, such as using a spreadsheet. ED Tech broadens the use of technology to include electronic and distance learning approaches to professional development. These have the promise of being more flexibly integrated into teaching schedules and of constituting and sustaining inquiry communities around the challenges of technology integration. Teachers are the key to producing classroom learning with technology. An integrated approach taps the power of technology for teacher learning as well as for student learning.
Example
In the past...
Proposals included staff development as teacher training workshops in computer skills (use of specific programs and applications).
More successful now...
Involve teachers and administrators in coherent professional development that empowers them to design programs of curricular integration. Support this professional development with technology tools, such as distance learning.
Example: Our Learning Center faculty will participate in faculty teams to develop content-based reading and writing experiences in real-world contexts to promote authentic, engaged learning with technology. These teams will be sustained by on-line resources and will collaborate through distance learning.
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Demonstrating Results
When the emphasis was on building infrastructure, projects could report success by counting additional computer labs installed or numbers of teachers attending workshops. Since the goal of using technology in ED Tech is increasing student achievement, projects must plan for rigorous evaluation that captures classroom learning. This is a difficult and worthwhile standard, and efforts to demonstrate improvement in student learning must be built into the project from day one. It is critical that project goals be specifically aligned with activities that are likely to promote learning gains.
Example
In the past...
Reported outcomes of technology projects were confined to numbers of schools/teachers/students "served". The service enumerated was technology access.
More successful now...
Projects become accountable for student and teacher learning goals. These outcomes must be built in to the project and specifically supported by activities. Look for learning achievement that closely matches the outcomes of project activities.
Example: On the basis of Learning Center activities to increase strategic reading skills, we will measure comprehension and task completion of student research reports.
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To Learn More
Paige Introduces New Enhancing Education Through Technology Program
No Child Left Behind
The Big6ý: Information Literacy for the Information Age
Email: Joanne Striley or jstriley@mac.com
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