President Barack Obama presented a passionate appeal for education reform during the State of the Union address. This provided education reformers sufficient justification to convince antagonists that outdated methods need to change. These old methods prevent our education system from regaining top status globally.
It seems Idaho’s State Department of Education has capitalized on such momentum. Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna has proposed to provide every ninth-grader with a state-funded laptop starting next year. This is a needed and welcomed idea.
Fortunately for the superintendent, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is an earnest supporter of such innovation.
At last year’s State Educational Technology Directors Association Education Forum, Duncan said, “We're at an important transition point. We're getting ready to move from a predominantly print-based classroom to a digital learning environment.”
The education field is in dire need of transformative change in regard to technology in the classroom. President of Alliance for Excellent Education and former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise addressed these issues with The Washington Post recently. Wise spoke about a Department of Commerce study taken to determine how well different fields in the U.S. “effectively applied technology.” Education finished last of the 55 fields surveyed.
Idaho’s initiative would be the first statewide program to give laptops to all high school students. However, beginning in 2002, Maine put laptops in the hands of every middle school student and teacher in the state.
The program has been far from a complete success. In an analysis pertaining to the Maine program, Idaho’s Times-News reported, “A 2007 study found writing was the only subject with a measurable gain attributed to the new technology.”
Yet, there is much that is encouraging.
Officials at the Arizona Department of Education need to look no further than their own state for methods to implement such change. Empire High School in Vail, Ariz., decided to issue laptops rather than textbooks in 2005 and even has incorporated an “Internet Bus” with free Wi-Fi, according to The New York Times.
Current Arizona Attorney General and former Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne supported the laptop initiative in schools, telling the Arizona Capitol Times, "The laptops give access to much more information than a textbook would … There's a wealth of information on the Internet that's free."
Computers need to be part of the 21st century learning experience. The idea of a teacher lecturing from the pulpit who is uninterrupted by silent students should be a bygone method. But it is still ubiquitous.
Success cannot be measured in a matter of years, as more technology-based systems of learning are in the novice phase.
Until teachers are adequately trained in the new technologies they are using, great progress by pupils cannot be expected. Moreover, curriculums and time schedules must coincide with new technologies, not the other way around.
Those passionate about improving America’s education system will closely follow Idaho’s initiative. It should be vital to all of society, for our success depends on that of our students who will lead us in the future.
Giving kids the tools to prosper in a global economy begins with their opportunity to harness the tools that drive it.
Contact Zach at Zlevinep@asu.edu
