Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

How corporations can really support U.S. public education

"I have a bold suggestion of my own for how businesses can help improve education," writes Editor Dennis Pierce: "Pay their fair share of taxes."

(Editor’s note: In honor of National Tax Day, we’re rerunning an article that originally appeared last May 31 under the headline “Editorial: God bless taxes.”)

Default Lines column, June 2011 edition of eSchool News—The Institute for a Competitive Workforce, an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has issued a new report calling for urgent action to improve U.S. math and science instruction.

Called “The Case for Being Bold: A New Agenda for Business in Improving STEM Education,” the report makes a series of common-sense recommendations that reformers have heard before: rethink teacher hiring and training practices, redesign schools for the 21st century, use technology to personalize instruction, create opportunities for local professionals to help teach students part time … and so on.…Read More

Editorial: God bless taxes

"I have a bold suggestion of my own for how businesses can help improve education," writes Editor Dennis Pierce: "Pay their fair share of taxes."

Default Lines column, June 2011 edition of eSchool News—The Institute for a Competitive Workforce, an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has issued a new report calling for urgent action to improve U.S. math and science instruction.

Called “The Case for Being Bold: A New Agenda for Business in Improving STEM Education,” the report makes a series of common-sense recommendations that reformers have heard before: rethink teacher hiring and training practices, redesign schools for the 21st century, use technology to personalize instruction, create opportunities for local professionals to help teach students part time … and so on.

Those are laudable goals. But I have a bold suggestion of my own for how businesses can help improve education: Pay their fair share of taxes.…Read More

Stakeholders decry EETT elimination

Funding that helps students access technology has been slashed from the FY11 budget compromise.

After narrowly avoiding a government shutdown, Congress has approved legislation that would cut $38 billion from the Fy11 budget–including the complete elimination of the federal Enhancing Education Through Technology program, which educational technology advocates say will devastate state technology programs in schools.

President Obama is expected to sign the bill on April 15.

While programs such as Race to the Top and Investing In Innovation received funding, a host of ed-tech leaders and stakeholders say they are upset with the elimination of a dedicated educational technology funding program.…Read More

Ed-tech stakeholders protest budget cuts

Successful ed-tech programs might dwindle if EETT funding disappears, stakeholders fear.

Educational technology stakeholders are speaking out against federal efforts to eliminate the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program by releasing state profiles and information showing how important the program is for ed-tech implementation.

On April 13, the National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training (NCTET) released “Profiles in Innovation: How the Enhancing Education Through Technology Program is Improving Teaching and Learning in America’s Schools.” The profiles of 10 schools illustrate how instrumental EETT funds have been in helping to create successful educational technology programs.

“For kids in America today, technology isn’t something separate from their day-to-day lives—it is their day-to-day lives,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who delivered remarks at the release of the NCTET report. “They wake up, they reach for their smart phone, and they start tweeting. They text their friends while they walk to school. They update their Facebook status on the bus.”…Read More

Stakeholders fight for ed-tech funds

Education leaders worry that programs like Alabama's ACCESS Distance Learning will struggle without federal funding from EETT.
Education leaders worry that programs like Alabama's ACCESS Distance Learning will struggle without federal funding from EETT.

Computer-based testing, online high school courses, instructional data systems, and a dropout reengagement program that uses a blended model of instruction are just some of the uses of federal education technology funding that are occurring in states, a group of state leaders told Congress in lobbying for further ed-tech support.

Education leaders gathered on Capitol Hill May 17 to share stories about successful federally funded programs in an effort to urge lawmakers to continue to fund the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program in FY2011.

President Obama’s budget proposal would fold EETT—the largest single source of federal funding for school technology equipment, support, and professional development—into a new competitive grant program that aims to promote effective teaching and learning by making technology an integral part of education. But many advocates of education technology are wary of this approach.…Read More

Education groups rally support for EETT

Many say Congress should continue funding ed-tech through its own dedicated funding stream.
Many say Congress should continue funding ed-tech through its own dedicated funding stream.

Alarmed at what they see as a potential setback in federal support for education technology, several dozen state and national education groups and high-tech companies have sent letters to House and Senate lawmakers, urging them to continue funding the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) block-grant program in fiscal 2011.

The letters expressed concerns about President Obama’s budget proposal, which would fold EETT—the largest single source of federal funding for school technology equipment, support, and professional development—into a new competitive grant program that aims to promote effective teaching and learning.

According to federal officials, this new initiative would “include a focus on integrating technology into instruction and using technology to drive improvements in teaching and learning” throughout all subject areas. (Read “Nation’s ed-tech chief reacts to budget concerns”)…Read More

Arkansas TIEs into technology training

Arkansas teacher-educators learn new ed-tech skills to pass on to their colleagues.
Arkansas teacher-educators learn new technology integration skills to pass on to their colleagues.

How do you get a whole state integrating technology effectively into teaching and learning? How do you get teachers excited about using new technology and saying things like, “This training gave me the shot in the arm I needed and truly stirred my soul”? Believe it or not, it’s happening in Arkansas.

Southwest Arkansas Education Cooperative (SWAEC) has been receiving a federal Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) grant since the 2006-07 school year. Lindy Franks, director of the co-op, and I wrote the grant to fund a statewide cadre of expert practitioners who can provide high-quality technology professional development. This group is called the Technology Infused Education (TIE) Cadre and is currently composed of four teacher-trainers from each of the 15 education service centers in the state. The cadre trains teachers how to integrate instructional technology into their classroom, and it trains administrators on what instructional technology should look like when used effectively.

“The TIE program in Arkansas exemplifies how the appropriate use of educational technology can improve academic achievement by supporting teachers in their continuing quest to identify ways of focusing instruction on students’ individual learning styles,” says James Boardman, director of education technology for Arkansas.…Read More

Nation’s ed-tech chief reacts to budget concerns

Cator talks budget, EETT with eSchool News.
Cator discusses the president's proposed ed-tech budget with eSchool News.

Karen Cator, director of education technology for the U.S. Department of Education (ED), has heard the concerns from ed-tech groups about President Obama’s 2011 budget proposal, which would fold the largest single source of federal funding for school technology equipment, software, training, and support into a larger grant program that aims to promote effective teaching and learning.

The concerns about the lack of a dedicated funding stream for education technology in the 2011 budget are “valid,” Cator said. But she defended the administration’s approach by noting that it encourages the integration of technology throughout all content areas.

“Every pot of money is really an opportunity to purchase technology, or to engage with technologies, to reach the goals of the program,” she said.…Read More

FY11 budget plan folds ed tech into new program

EETT experiences some changes under the proposed FY2011 budget.
Education technology no longer would have a separate line item under Obama's proposed FY2011 budget.

President Barack Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2011 calls for sweeping changes to programs within the U.S. Department of Education (ED), including a restructuring of federal education technology grants.

Under Obama’s budget plan, the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program—the largest single source of federal funding for school technology hardware, software, and professional development—would be consolidated along with several other grant programs into a new initiative called Effective Teaching and Learning for a Complete Education.

This new initiative would focus on improving teaching and learning within three areas: Literacy, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), and Well-Rounded Education (arts, foreign languages, civics and government, history, geography, economics, financial literacy, and other subjects).…Read More