A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Reflections on KY's Technology Initiatives

The Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) of 1990 established a Council for Education Technology which was charged with developing a five year "master plan" for Kentucky's technology initiatives. Don Coffman, Associate Commissioner of Education, reflects on Kentucky's progress over the last several years and offers these insights to states and districts who are starting or extending technology programs:

• Plan and insist on planning. "Planning needs to be holistic and integrated in school-level change and district planning." Coffman cautions against over planning to the point where people may begin to lose faith if they don't see progress in implementation.
• Bring diverse constituencies into planning processes. In addition to education administrators, this means business representatives, legislators, and parents. In Kentucky, a Technology Advisory Committee of CEOs from 17 corporations advise the Board of Education about technology matters and provide input regarding "architectural" standards (e.g. wiring standards, hardware specifications), funding for technology programs, and strategic objectives. Parents serve on school-level technology committees and are also members of the Student Technology Leadership Program, another statewide advisory council.
• Set sound, open architecture standards, so that districts and schools can make good judgements and decisions when it comes to purchasing equipment, hardware, and software. "Choosing appropriate equipment, services, and software can be a struggle," Coffman said. "You have a significant number of vendors out there who have THE solution. As we know, there is no ONE solution."
• Realize that technology tends to lead to a wider distribution of power in a system. "Technology opens up communication channels and breaks down barriers and walls, bringing with it profound change," Coffman said. "There will be tremendous changes in the organizational structure and the administration of schools that will threaten some and empower others," he added.
• Support continuous professional development. In Kentucky, a technology coordinator serves each of eight state regions, and each district and school also has a technology coordinator. Coordinators are trained by Kentucky's Instructional Technology Trainers (KITTs-- a cadre of educators from LEAs, K-12 schools, and higher education) and specialists from Partnership for Reform Initiatives in Science and Math (PRISM). Superintendents, principals, and media specialists also participate in technology-related professional development activities. "It has been important for us to remember that not all individuals adapt to change at the same rate," Coffman said. "Significant progress was made after we initiated our professional development activities for district and school technology coordinators and for teaching cadres."

"The Implementation of Kentucky's Technology Program," a report that describes the status of Kentucky's technology implementation, will be published by the Kentucky Institute for Education Research after the first of October. This report includes patterns of implementation in Kentucky's schools as well as teachers' and principals' perceptions of implementation efforts. For a copy of the report, contact The Kentucky Institute for Education Research at (502)227-9014.

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CONFERENCES...CONFERENCES...

10/31-11/3 EDUCOM Conference, "Leading the Way: Technology and Beyond," in Portland, OR. This conference addresses computer and information technology and is directed towards policy makers, administrators, principals, and information specialists. Registration: members $395, nonmembers $650. For information, contact Sue Ellen Anderson at (202)872-4200.

11/30-12/3 The 4th International Conference on Telecommunications in Education, "Tel Ed '95," in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. For conference information and registration fees, call (503)346-2411.

6/9-13 The 17th Annual National Educational Computer Conference, "NECC '96," in Minneapolis, MN. For conference information and registration fees, call (503)346-2834.

Don't Miss the Region B/2 Schoolwide Programs Conference

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How much of a difference can computers make?

Just as likely, the problem is related to how we have used, or failed to use, the technology. It has been pointed out that the primary reason technology has failed to live up to its promise is that educators have viewed it as an answer to the wrong question. Instead of asking how we can use technology to improve the effectiveness of what we are already doing, we should be asking how to use technology to transform what schools do.

In the past, equipment purchased with Title I funds were used primarily for "drill and kill" rather than as a tool for constructivist learning. Linda Roberts, Director of Instructional Technology at the U.S. Department of Education, agrees: "The biggest challenge for Title I programs is to get beyond the computer as a resource for primarily drill and practice for helping students learn the most basic of skills. We have a vast new set of resources that can offer much more than that."

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Special FOCUS Insert: Resources That Work

On-line Resources for K-12 Educators

Education Policy Digest (EdPOL-D) - A moderated discussion list from Scholastic Incorporated. This discussion group is targeted to teachers, parents, administrators, researchers, policy makers, and anyone else interested in K-12 networking and technology. To subscribe, send an e-mail to edpol-d-request@scholastic.com. The editor will send instructions for participating in discussions.

Global SchoolNet Foundation - An organization that seeks to link students and teachers around the world by publishing curriculum-based collaborative learning projects on the net. An "ideas list" connects users to more than 150 electronic bulletin board systems operated by universities, district and county education agencies, and local schools. Request participation in Global SchoolNet by e-mailing fred@acme.fred.org and ask about the ideas list and Global SchoolNet templates, or contact Al Rogers at arogers@bonita.cerf.fred.org or (619)475-4852.

Online Math Courses for K-8 Teachers - Bank Street College, in collaboration with the Education Development Center, offers 12 on-line mathematics forums to support classroom teachers in grades K-8 who are learning new teaching strategies. Courses are offered for graduate credit, inservice credit, or personal enrichment. The forums can be accessed through the Internet via Telnet. Contact Nancy Ross at nross@confer.edc.org or (212)807-4207.

International Education and Resource Network (I*EARN) - A nonprofit network composed of more than 400 schools in 21 countries, I*EARN aims to empower teachers and K-12 students to work together in different parts of the world using video-speaker telephones, e-mail, and online conferencing. Recent student projects include: The Contemporary, a news magazine; A Vision, an award-winning literary journal; and Liberty Bound, a human rights newsletter. To participate, e-mail Ed Gragert at iearn@copenfund.igc.apc.org, call (914)962-5864, or fax (914)962-6472.

AskERIC - Offers a bundle of resources useful to K-12 audience, including the AskERIC Virtual Library which contains more than 700 lesson plans, ready-to-use ERIC searches, and recommendations for other useful Internet services. WWW address: http://ericir.syr.edu

Janice's K-12 Cyberspace Outpost - Has reliable examples of how the WWW medium can be used in K-12 education. WWW address: http://k12.cnidr.org/janice_k12/k12menu.html

The EdWeb Project - Sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, offers access to educational resources from around the world, covers trends in education reform, and includes success stories about computer use in education. WWW address: http://edweb.gsn.org/

National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) Education Program - Serving as a resource for science teachers and students, aims to equip K-12 classrooms with the tools for computational science by showing users how to access appropriate net resources and navigate the Web. Look for the NCSA superquest where high school students use supercomputers to enhance research for class projects. WWW address: http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Edu/EduHome.html

U.S. Department of Education - Find guides to department staff, information about department-wide initiatives, newsletters, press releases, funding opportunities, ED-Online, and more. WWW address: http://www.ed.gov

The Chapter 1/Title I Bulletin Board System - More than 1500 program descriptions, reports, and lesson plans on the topic of effective practices. See Quick Byte Insert. You do not need to access the Net to use this free electronic database.

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Our Favorite Books and Journals for K-12 Educators

Educational Technology: Best Practices from America's Schools William C. Bozeman & Donna J. Baumbach, Princeton Junction, NJ: Eye on Education, 1995

Educational Technology in the Classroom Patricia Ann Brock, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications, 1994

Multimedia and Learning: A School Leader's Guide Anne W. Ward, ed., Alexandria, VA: National School Boards Association, 1994

Only the Best: The Annual Guide to the Highest-Rated Educational Software and Multimedia Education & Technology Resources Center, Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1995

Plans & Policies for Technology in Education: A Compendium Anne W. Ward, ed., Alexandria, VA: National School Boards Association, 1995

The Computer in the Classroom, 2nd ed. Edward L. Vockell & Eileen M. Schwartz, Watsonville, CA: Mitchell McGraw-Hill, 1992

Works About the Impact of Computer Technology...

Computers in the Human Context: Information Technology, Productivity, and People Tom Forester, ed., Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1991

Tools for Change-- Restructuring Technology in Our Schools-- A Guide for the Educational Decision Maker Len Scrogan, Boulder, CO: Institute for Effective Educational Practice, 1993

Future Shock Alvin Toffler, New York: Bantam Books, 1970 (Yes...It's still useful!)

Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas Seymour Papert, New York: Basic Books, 1980

Powershift Alvin Toffler, New York: Bantam Books, 1994

Technology and Education Reform Barbara Means, ed., San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994

The Children's Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer Seymour Papert, New York: Basic Books, 1993

Using Technology to Support Education Reform U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1993

Journals...

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Next Issue: Professional Development

• Job-Embedded Professional Development
• More Approaches to Integrating Technology

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