The federal government announced its revised education technology plan last month, signaling its hopes for a future that provides effective education to students.
The plan was first announced in 1994 to implement the Improving America's Schools Act and was last revised in 2016. The January update was released with guidance on using technology to assist students with disabilities. Some observers believe the report signals thoughtful steps to ensure digital equity.
For some people, an update is overdue.
Lindsay Jones, chief executive of CAST, a nonprofit that advocates for equitable learning conditions, says this is one of the first documents to really provide a roadmap for looking at a school's technology system as a whole.
This reinforced our long-standing desire to provide a truly inclusive education system. But will those hopes be dashed or delayed as funds evaporate?
‘Island of Innovation’
Observers say that in some ways the updates are a response to the booster shot the pandemic has given school technology. Advocates say the emergency shift to remote learning has caused students to fall behind in their learning (regular assessments have shown a decline in test scores, especially in math), but it has also significantly accelerated the adoption of digital devices and increased the importance of technology to districts. It left a deep impression.
The U.S. Department of Education's 2024 National Education Technology Plan presents an aspirational vision of how technology can transform learning in practice, said Keith Krueger, CEO of the nonprofit Consortium for School Networking. said. The plan separates technological gaps – barriers that prevent some students from fully participating – into access, design, and use.
The latest version focuses more on use and design, highlighting how these technologies are used within schools. In addition to highlighting what officials see as effective programs, the report suggests that the state appoint an educational technology director, create a digital equity plan and evaluate how technology is currently being used in schools.
Unlike this one, previous versions of the plan seemed to isolate technology as a component of the education system rather than a pervasive part of students' lives, says CAST's Jones.
“What education needs right now is a change in mindset,” says Jones.
In some ways, this is a shift that recognizes another aspect of America's digital divide. The quality gap associated with educational technology implementation occurs because all of these new technologies are not necessarily best utilized in the classroom.
Ultimately, some hope this plan will move the conversation beyond students' access to technology to a discussion of how effective that technology actually is for learning. After all, schools have seen a proliferation of new devices and tools over the past few years. Especially since the pandemic has forced so much remote learning. But getting devices into students' hands is only the first step in improving education in the digital age.
Nonetheless, there is a risk that schools will fall back due to lack of funding.
Despite significant gains across the country by putting a device in the hands of every student and providing reliable internet to schools and homes, not everyone has access. And this gap is getting bigger. According to Krueger, families who can't get online to learn don't have the connectivity to find telehealth services or jobs.
What's worse is the lack of funds.
The Federal Communications Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program, which connects low-income families to the internet, is underfunded. The program stopped accepting new applicants earlier this month. And without additional funding from Congress, the program could lose internet access to millions of households in April, he warned.
There are attempts to plug the cavernous hole in funding broadband development. For example, the FCC is exploring, on a smaller scale, allowing schools to purchase hotspots and devices using the E-rate program, Krueger says. But there is no magic bullet, he added. The more schools work within their communities, the more they will have access to numerous programs to connect families to reliable internet.
There are other issues too. For example, schools purchased many devices with temporary funds during the pandemic, but now many officials are unsure whether they have the cash to replace them.
Another challenge is teacher support. It's important, Krueger says, for teachers to have enough professional development to understand how to powerfully use technology in ways that are creative and encourage student collaboration.
Krueger added that there is no shortage of individual teachers doing great work using technology. What's lacking is a system where it doesn't matter what classes you're taking, what teacher you're getting, or what school you go to. He adds: “We need to move beyond the islands of innovation to where the systems are. This is innovative and we look forward to it for every student.”
Educators may not have learned in their teacher preparation programs how to use technology to engage the curriculum and enhance student learning. “And we need to solve this as a real problem,” says CAST’s Jones.
The focus on designing instruction for all students in the classroom and real-world examples of technology use in the report are important to meeting this challenge, Jones says.
‘Last 10 miles’
Despite these challenges, some advocates remain optimistic.
“It feels like we’re all running this marathon,” says Anmi Jeong, director of teaching, learning and skills at New America and strategic advisor for the organization’s education policy program. She said broadband and device access has increased in the country, although some sectors, such as low-income families and rural, mountainous and tribal areas, continue to struggle. But the steps are stacking up, putting universal broadband access within reach, she added. She said, “If we were running a marathon, we'd say we're in the last 10 miles.”
Professor Jeong argues that if educational technology is used and supported correctly, it can increase the number of students receiving truly high-quality education.
Ultimately, Chung says this will require schools to work more collaboratively with their communities. For example, the pandemic has strengthened relationships between schools and libraries, forcing them to work together to provide devices and hotspots to students or to enhance education when schools are closed. Other digital equity activists have pointed out that providing reliable access to the internet means schools working closely with community programs to enable connections both inside and outside school walls.
According to Chung, these kinds of broad systemic changes can be slow and gradual.
COSN's Krueger says the challenge is to ensure technology doesn't become just another divide that separates students.
“We are at a really critical moment,” he says. “Are we going to slip back?”