Stakeholders advise on national ed-tech plan

Train every pre-service teacher to teach online in teacher-education programs at colleges and universities; invest in the development of open courseware with federal and state funding; encourage the use of technology to create new forms of assessment that better measure student learning gains; provide national standards for school IT support, with recommendations for optimal staffing levels and required skill sets: These are some of the many recommendations the Department of Education (ED) has received so far as officials prepare a new National Education Technology Plan. ED is accepting public feedback as it develops the new plan. A department spokesman did not know how long the public comment period would remain open, saying only that ED hopes to release the new plan in early 2010. As of press time, more than 200 comments had been submitted to EdTechFuture.org, the new plan's web site. Many posts simply describe a particular education technology product, resource, or initiative that school stakeholders should know about. But some posts offer specific suggestions for federal officials to consider as they draft the new plan.