Challenges & Technology Issues in K-12 Schools

What is your perspective of the systemic change model described in chapter 21? Will such model work in the school district you work or you know?

Both the Guidance System for Transforming Education (page 211) or the Step-Up-To-Excellence model (page 213) do seem like a plans that could work effectively to redesign a school or school system. Both plans offer opportunities for stakeholder involvement, support for innovative ideas, identification of needs, and defined roles for involved parties, all within a defined, but workable framework.

This system could in fact be beneficial in some of the school districts and schools that have been identified as needing improvement. Either plan could be applied to a school or a district. I have served on several SACS Quality Assurance Review Teams and find the SACS (or similar self-study) programs help to serve the school in a similar fashion. The schools have to identify strengths and weaknesses and then create actionable items to combat the weaknesses. These 2 plans provide a similar (yet more complex) framework for this type of evaluation and redesign process.

In your opinion what should be the role of educational technology in k-12 systemic reform?

Often educational technology seems to come as an afterthought when planning curriculum and schools in general. This seems to be the case more often than not in schools. In my other classes we have looked at school technology plans and find that many of them are poorly written and do not really support educational technology in classrooms/whole schools. Why even have a separate plan? Educational technology should be part of the school-wide improvement plan! Students are demanding more and more technology and schools need to have a usable, efficient plan in place to meet those needs!