The is a what I remember from The 2010 Michigan Educational Technology Plan:
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Educational Technology Advisory Group (ETAG), Michigan Department of Education (MDE), Michigan Educational Technology Standards for Students (METS-S) , Consortium of Outstanding Achievement in Teaching with Technology (COATT), Michigan Curriculum Framework (MCF), High School Content Expectations and Grade Level Content Expectations (HSCEs/GLCEs), Regional Educational Media Centers (REMCs), Local Education Agencies (LEAs), Public School Academies (PSAs), Gigabyte per second (Gbps), Megabytes per second (Mbps), Michigan Online Resources for Educators (MORE), National Educational Technology Standards for Administrators (NETS-T/A), Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Continuing Education Units (CEUs), Center for Educational Performance and Information (CEPI), Michigan Student Data System (MSDS), Longitudinal Data System (LDS), Registry of Educational Personnel (REP), Unique Identification Codes (UICs).
Having a Technology Plan is absolutely essential. It must be clear and concise. It should be simple, concrete, credible, easy to understand, and most important, memorable!
The NETP has absolutely none of the above. The METP has fleeting moments of being memorable but falls short soon there after leaving the reader in a state of reading toxemia. Why can’t it simply state what we want people to do? Instead there are goals, goals with strategies, and goals with strategies and action steps.
I ask all of you. Who has ever read this on their own? And assuming none of the teachers have read it, why not? Is it not an important document related to the administration of technology to our children? Is it or is it not crucial to know what is contained therein? If it is so important why do most if not all teachers know nothing about it?
So the question is, exactly who are these monstrosities written for. Who was the intended audience? I assumed Mr.Umpstead had to have some involvement in the METP. In fact Mr.Umpstead was on the review team. Was the METP written for him to review? He is the State Director for the program. Did he fall asleep when he read the METP? He had to when he read the NETP!
I have learned one thing. If its not readily accessible, quickly read, easy to digest, and completely applicable to your job, it either goes unnoticed or gets filed in the circular file can in the corner.
The city that I work for does not have a Technology Plan. They have a Standard Practice Guide. Section 2.02 and 2.05 deal with use of electronic media and social media sites. It is direct and to the point. There is no doubt in your mind what they are talking about and what will happen in you violate the policy. http://www.ci.farmington-hills.mi.us/Intranet/HRReferenceDesk/PDF/StandardPracticeGuide.pdf
If you want someone to listen. You have to get their attention, keep it, and make your idea stick! Some ideas survive and others die. Need I say more….
Picture Source:
2010 National Educational Technology Plan, page 21
Picture Source:
2010 National Educational Technology Plan, page 21
So the question is, exactly who are these monstrosities written for.
ReplyDeleteI love that question!! I completely agree. As I am looking through the resources for these blog posts I am seeing a lot of good information.
Your question about why nobody has read them comes down to a few simple reasons. I in the process of completing my 4th year of teaching at Grand Ledge. I have taught nearly every math course offered. I have to grade about 500 homework assignments every week. I have to grade over 100 tests every week. Each test has a minimum of 15 questions. That is 1500 questions that I have to get graded in a timely manner. I have to attend IEP, 504, and staff meetings. I have to plan with other teachers so that we are teaching the same content. I have to get to school early and stay late to offer extra help and for students to make up work. I coach basketball and I am married with 3 children. And oh yeah. I just started grad school.
Don't get me wrong I am not complaining. I love my job. I love getting up and going to school. I don't feel like I work, I feel like I get to go hang out with kids and we get to learn math together. My point is this, it is hard and very time consuming to start digging through the thousands of resources available on the Internet. I have always said if I become complacent with my performance it is time for me to leave the profession because it is not fair to kids. I love teaching and I can't imagine myself doing anything else with my life.