Under the Obama administration, education has become an urgent priority driven by two clear goals: One is to increase our population of citizens who hold a 2 or 4 year degree and to close the achievement gap so that all students – regardless of race, income, or neighborhood – graduates from high school ready to succeed in college and careers. (NETP, 2010).
In a race to achieve these goals our education system must collaborate to redesign structures and processes for effectiveness, efficiency, and flexibility. Monitor and measure our performance and hold ourselves accountable for progress and results every step of the way. Technology-based learning and assessment systems will be vital in improving student learning and generating data that can be used to continuously improve the education system at all levels (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). In fact the technology we need to move education into the 21st Century is available now but our existing educators do not have the same understanding or ease of using technology on a daily bases. Actually I have seen evidence of this reality in this course as we reflect on the discussion boards about the uncertainties of being able to keep up with how quickly technology changes. There are times when we are learning the software in the classroom along with our students. In some cases they may actually be teaching us.
In this new plan having the capability of providing an infrastructure for learning that is always-on and available to students, educators, and administrators regardless of their location or the time of day is an aggressive goal. But one that is necessary to free learning from the rigid information transfer model that has been used for centuries, where information moves from books to the teacher, then from the teacher to students. In this model most of the information is outdated by the time it gets to print and actual in the hands of the students.
In order for this country to accomplish the goal of having every student complete at least a year of higher education or postsecondary career training, we will have to figure out a way to prevent our students from leaving school without getting a diploma. There has never been a more pressing need to transform the American education there will never be a better time to act (U.S. Department of Education, 2010).
