National Educational Technology Plan

The Obama administration has two clear goals outlined in the National Educational Technology Plan draft. One is to raise the percentage of college graduates with an associates or bachelors degree fro 39% to at least 60% by the year 2020. The other is to close the achievement gap regardless of race, income or neighborhood so that students can graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and careers by the same year mentioned above. The report states that teachers will be supported by technology that connects them to data, resources, expertise, and learning experiences that can empower and inspire them to provide more effective teaching for all learners. Teaching needs to be connected and teachers need to be using 21st century technology to achieve their goals. The report states that all teacher preparation programs need to use the latest technology and make sure their graduates use them also. It is important to make sure our teachers are tech savy and ready to use this tool in educating our 21st century students. Young teachers coming out of college are more advanced in technology than most experienced teachers. The plan states that we must through professional development get the experienced teachers up to speed with technology. Through online training and collaborative effort with education service centers me must stay up with cutting edge technology to become more effective teachers. With all of this said, the recent anticipation of budget cuts in our state is causing a concern on my part of how we will advance technology in our school. Technology cost money and that is what the state is cutting. Technology is the key to our educational future and we need to do whatever it takes to ensure to future of our students.