National Education Technology Plan

The plan calls for revolutionary transformation rather than evolutionary tinkering. It urges our education system at all levels to: 1) Be clear about the outcomes we seek, 2) Collaborate to redesign structures and processes for effectiveness, efficiency, and flexibility, 3) Continually monitor and measure our performance, and 4) Hold ourselves accountable for progress and results every step of the way.

Just as technology is at the core of virtually every aspect of our daily lives and work, we must leverage it to provide engaging and powerful learning experiences, content, and resources and assessments that measure student achievement in more complete, authentic, and meaningful ways. Technology-based learning and assessment systems will be pivotal in improving student learning and generating data that can be used to continuously improve the education system at all levels. Technology will help us execute collaborative teaching strategies combined with professional learning that better prepare and enhance educators' competencies and expertise over the course of their careers. To shorten our learning curve, we can learn from other kinds of enterprises that have used technology to improve outcomes while increasing productivity.

Julie Evans, CEO of the nonprofit organization Project Tomorrow, said the plan provides some "long-overdue recommendations" for how technology can enhance education. "The plan accurately sums up that hard realization that today's classroom environment for most students does not mirror they way they are living their lives outside of school or what they need to be prepared for future jobs, and that this disconnect is actually creating a relevancy crisis in American education," Evans said.