Obama to push for new ed-tech agency
Education Department documents say officials hope to create a 'quantum leap' in educational technology; educators say they're skeptical
By Dennis Carter, Assistant Editor
Read more by Denny Carter
Congress will consider Obama's request for a new ed-tech agency.
President Obama will request fiscal 2012 funding for an educational technology agency within the U.S. Department of Education (ED) that would bring resources and funding to schools and colleges, while some ed-tech advocates warn that the government’s support might not reach teachers and professors.
The White House announced Feb. 7 that its requests for the 2012 federal budget would include an agency called Advanced Research Projects Agency – Education, which would “support research on breakthrough technologies to enhance learning.”
The White House’s announcement was short on specifics, but it said the new agency would advocate for technology such as “software that is as effective as a personal tutor.”
The educational technology push comes three weeks after Obama said in his State of the Union address that America would “need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world” to keep pace with the global economy.
The effort to create the ed-tech agency, along with a $2 billion grant program funding sharable web-based educational tools, has grabbed the attention of online education advocates.
But there remains skepticism that funding provided by a new ED agency would find its way to educators who can design workable ways to make high-quality educational technology available for students.
“Any time there is a lot of money with the intent to go in a new direction, far too often, the only experts available are the old guard,” said Charles Severance, a faculty member at the University of Michigan’s School of Information and a developer network coordinator for the IMS Global Learning Consortium, which produces technology standards for education. “And they quickly line up to gain control of the new funds before innovators even know that there is an opportunity.”
dkendall626
February 9, 2011 at 3:39 pm
When electricity arrived on the scene in the very early 20th century, companies had vice presidents whose job it was to integrate electricity in how a company operated. In educational technology we used to have computer resource specialists or “the computer teacher” in the schools who were supposed to do much the same thing with mixed results. Isn’t it time for the Department of Education to figure out how to help teachers integrate technology — we don’t need another bureaucratic barrier to helping teachers integrate technology into what they do every day. Frankly, I think most good teachers already know what they would like to have technology-wise– they just don’t have access.
dkendall626
February 9, 2011 at 3:39 pm
When electricity arrived on the scene in the very early 20th century, companies had vice presidents whose job it was to integrate electricity in how a company operated. In educational technology we used to have computer resource specialists or “the computer teacher” in the schools who were supposed to do much the same thing with mixed results. Isn’t it time for the Department of Education to figure out how to help teachers integrate technology — we don’t need another bureaucratic barrier to helping teachers integrate technology into what they do every day. Frankly, I think most good teachers already know what they would like to have technology-wise– they just don’t have access.
gene8155
February 11, 2011 at 3:56 pm
Develop software!! My gosh, there is tutorial software galore out there now and we can save the $2Billion.
gene8155
February 11, 2011 at 3:56 pm
Develop software!! My gosh, there is tutorial software galore out there now and we can save the $2Billion.
jonesl402
February 14, 2011 at 3:24 pm
If we had the funding to install presentation devices, iPads, etc. in the classroom, then we can figure out how to integrate it. We need funding for that and also we need greater Internet Bandwidth than what we currently have in rural Missouri.
jonesl402
February 14, 2011 at 3:24 pm
If we had the funding to install presentation devices, iPads, etc. in the classroom, then we can figure out how to integrate it. We need funding for that and also we need greater Internet Bandwidth than what we currently have in rural Missouri.
ozman
February 14, 2011 at 3:36 pm
I like the idea for an organization to focus on out-there technologies that may not be practical right now – sort of like DARPA is for the military. This could help with long-term innovation. I agree with others in not being sure how practical this will be in the near term, whether the government is the right place for it, and whether it is worth the money.
ozman
February 14, 2011 at 3:36 pm
I like the idea for an organization to focus on out-there technologies that may not be practical right now – sort of like DARPA is for the military. This could help with long-term innovation. I agree with others in not being sure how practical this will be in the near term, whether the government is the right place for it, and whether it is worth the money.
oekosjoe
February 14, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Many decades ago I knew a then Board member of the Ford Foundation who, as an undergraduate, scored a big, competitive grant from the Foundation that – when they discovered he was a kid – put him on their board. It is so refreshing to read Severance does not intend to capture a large portion of a new funding source, and, instead would support small, new, and innovative options. But…somehow…that’s not what I think he meant.
oekosjoe
February 14, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Many decades ago I knew a then Board member of the Ford Foundation who, as an undergraduate, scored a big, competitive grant from the Foundation that – when they discovered he was a kid – put him on their board. It is so refreshing to read Severance does not intend to capture a large portion of a new funding source, and, instead would support small, new, and innovative options. But…somehow…that’s not what I think he meant.
weeklywriter
February 14, 2011 at 4:23 pm
The private sector and open source solutions are available globally, expanding and energizing collaborative learning—– far beyond government control and red tape. There are so many innovative choices. One more bureaucratic endeavor with invisible cash isn’t the golden ticket to invigorate education, technology, and the economy.
weeklywriter
February 14, 2011 at 4:23 pm
The private sector and open source solutions are available globally, expanding and energizing collaborative learning—– far beyond government control and red tape. There are so many innovative choices. One more bureaucratic endeavor with invisible cash isn’t the golden ticket to invigorate education, technology, and the economy.
jkauppil982
February 14, 2011 at 4:33 pm
The least dynamic structure will show us how to innovate. More tax payer money dumped down a rat hole
jkauppil982
February 14, 2011 at 4:33 pm
The least dynamic structure will show us how to innovate. More tax payer money dumped down a rat hole
saul674
February 14, 2011 at 6:18 pm
This approach is the business-centric approach that the Obama administration has been taking with many educational initiatives. In some ways it is unneeded, given that there are many providers already in the marketplace, that under the leadership of the Gates Fdn. there is support for innovative approaches from and for postsecondary institutions, and that access and adoption are not going to be tackled by these funds. Consider these funds for for-profit providers, should it ever become part of this year’s budget (or next year’s too).
saul674
February 14, 2011 at 6:18 pm
This approach is the business-centric approach that the Obama administration has been taking with many educational initiatives. In some ways it is unneeded, given that there are many providers already in the marketplace, that under the leadership of the Gates Fdn. there is support for innovative approaches from and for postsecondary institutions, and that access and adoption are not going to be tackled by these funds. Consider these funds for for-profit providers, should it ever become part of this year’s budget (or next year’s too).
ray826
February 14, 2011 at 6:27 pm
No, we don’t need a new agency. First, this administration has shown little understanding of innovation (aka “breakthrough technologies to enhance learning.”) But both NSF and ED have had programs in the past that funded true innovations using technology to enhance learning. We don’t need a new agency, we need a different attitude that encourages true innovative thinking and looks at new and different models of education that reflects real 21st Century learning.
ray826
February 14, 2011 at 6:27 pm
No, we don’t need a new agency. First, this administration has shown little understanding of innovation (aka “breakthrough technologies to enhance learning.”) But both NSF and ED have had programs in the past that funded true innovations using technology to enhance learning. We don’t need a new agency, we need a different attitude that encourages true innovative thinking and looks at new and different models of education that reflects real 21st Century learning.
nail it now
February 16, 2011 at 8:07 pm
Money, by itself, is not the answer. To achieve better student outcomes, we have to throw out the old ways of doing things that aren’t working and be open to giving new ideas a “go”. Arne Duncan got it right when he said “If we never try new things, we’ll never find new things that work”.
The Secretary of Education’s Open Innovation Portal is a great start; a Department of Education actually open to listening to the ideas of anyone wishing to participate. How innovative!
Listening is great but action is better; rather than the Portal being just a collaborative community, why can’t the Department allocate funding to “piloting” the top-rated ideas? To date, 336 entrepreneurs and education stakeholders of all types have taken the time to submit their ideas (myself included); Out of 336 ideas, there has to be some real “gems”. Instead of allowing them to languish on the portal, Arne Duncan needs to put his money where his mouth is and give these ideas a “go”
nail it now
February 16, 2011 at 8:07 pm
Money, by itself, is not the answer. To achieve better student outcomes, we have to throw out the old ways of doing things that aren’t working and be open to giving new ideas a “go”. Arne Duncan got it right when he said “If we never try new things, we’ll never find new things that work”.
The Secretary of Education’s Open Innovation Portal is a great start; a Department of Education actually open to listening to the ideas of anyone wishing to participate. How innovative!
Listening is great but action is better; rather than the Portal being just a collaborative community, why can’t the Department allocate funding to “piloting” the top-rated ideas? To date, 336 entrepreneurs and education stakeholders of all types have taken the time to submit their ideas (myself included); Out of 336 ideas, there has to be some real “gems”. Instead of allowing them to languish on the portal, Arne Duncan needs to put his money where his mouth is and give these ideas a “go”