5 Areas of Study

1. Scaling Up Success: State leaders focused on identifying and expanding "innovative" programs that seemed to have a positive impact on education.

2. Enhancing Teacher Effectiveness: Professional development has become a major focus for making effective use of federal technology funding, with 62 percent of state education agencies saying they awarded EETT grants to local education agencies "based on criteria that included the quality of the LEA's proposed professional development plan."

3. Using Data to Inform Learning, Teaching, and Leadership: There was an increased emphasis on the use of data in grant awards in 2008, according to the report, with funds used to support "both formative and summative uses of data in the classroom."

4. Increasing Academic Achievement: According to the report, EETT funds are being used to drive increases in student achievement and to develop 21st century skills in students through "differentiation, personalization, and real-world applications for learning."

5. Driving Innovation and New Educational Models: Finally, the report said that in order to achieve EETT goals, states are developing "comprehensive models to launch schools successfully into technology-rich learning environments" and are producing "increased numbers of schools that offer technology-rich, Internet-ready learning environments staffed by teachers who are ready to translate those opportunities into deeper, more authentic academic learning."

The Future of Education

About a month ago, I came across this youtube video. This is a young man explaining that he dropped out of school because traditional, institutionalized education was getting in the way of his learning.

eTech

Today, we are not just about LITERACY...but, "Learning Literacy,"
Not just about LITERACY SKILLS...but, "Literacy Habits,"
Not just about LIFELONG LEARNING...but it is a "Learning Lifestyle."
~David Warlick

Reading - Think About This

Much of what students read in school should be interesting, global, provocative, critical, relevant, diverse, creative, emotional, and imaginative. Those are hardly the adjectives students use to describe most of what they read for school. Ask a kid to list the “bold” and “fascinating” readings they have done in school. That is, texts that have encouraged them to question their assumptions and opened their minds to stimulating ideas. That will be a very
short list indeed.

What Should Students Read?
Steven Wolk
April 2010 issue of Kappan