4. State boards of education, in collaboration with their state education agency, state chief technology officer, and relevant stakeholders, should create a statement, definition, or visionary document defining what a connected and networked education looks like within the state.
5. State boards and stakeholders should examine what opportunities, incentives, and barriers are in place that inhibit and enhance the ability for districts to partner with each other, or across state lines, to share resources.
6. State boards should examine their policies in place that allow or inhibit the ability for online, virtual, and blended learning opportunities for students and teachers.
7. State boards should reexamine the weekly and yearly school calendar to allow districts and schools autonomy to create a schedule that provides additional flexibility and time for students to learn through alternative means and for educators to connect.
8. State boards, in collaboration with licensing boards and program accreditation committees, should ensure that teacher candidates have fundamental skills and content knowledge to teach students in a 21st-century environment and are able to use student data to personalize instruction.
9. State boards should ensure that teacher candidates have robust clinical experiences where technology and online learning is incorporated into the program.
10. States, districts, and school should expand professional learning experiences to include online and virtual learning.
11. In collaboration with districts and state education agencies, state boards should ensure that teachers are provided with high-quality professional learning and mentorship opportunities embedded throughout the school day through technology.
12. Policy makers should ensure that every student has adequate access to a computing device and the internet at school and home, with sufficient human capital in schools to support their effective use.
13. States and school districts should have an up-to-date technology plan and policy that is reviewed on a pre-determined timeline. A robust ed-tech plan should include everything from instructional practices to teacher preparation and professional development—and how technology can support every aspect of the education system. Because the technology landscape changes rapidly, it’s important that ed-tech plans and policies are flexible and reviewed on a regular basis.
14. States and districts should address the interoperability of devices, software, and data. It’s critical that all devices, regardless of operating system, are able to interact efficiently and effectively and are supported by schools.
Follow Associate Editor Meris Stansbury on Twitter at @eSN_Meris.
- #4: 25 education trends for 2018 - December 26, 2018
- Video of the Week: Dealing with digital distraction in the classroom - February 23, 2018
- Secrets from the library lines: 5 ways schools can boost digital engagement - January 2, 2018