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

Achieving the Goals--Goal 5 - First in the World in Math and Science Technology Resources - November 1996

Introduction

Our country was built on a simple value that we have an obligation to pass better lives and better opportunities on to the next generation. Education is the way we make that promise real. Today, at the dawn of a new century, in the midst of an information and communications revolution, education depends upon computers. If we make an opportunity for every student a fact in the world of modems and megabytes, we can go a long way toward making the American Dream a reality for every student. Not virtual reality -- reality for every student.

President Clinton

Computers and information technology have transformed nearly every aspect of American life, increasing productivity, creating new methods of connecting individuals and organizations, and changing the way people work and play and learn. Every major U.S. industry relies heavily on computers and telecommunications to do its work. But so far, despite compelling evidence that technology has the power to change the nature of education as dramatically as it has changed the workplace, too many American schools have been exceptions to the information revolution.

It is difficult to conceive of the United States reaching its fifth National Education Goal, which reads, "By the year 2000, United States students will be first in the world in mathematics and science," without technology. Technology has driven the scientific and mathematical revolution of the 20th century. It will continue to do so.

We know that success as a nation will depend substantially on our children's ability to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary for the world of work in a high-tech world. Indeed, one of the basic underpinnings of Goals 2000 is raising the level of achievement in all the basics, but especially in math and science, which is the driving force of industry today. We know that without the opportunities afforded by technology the nation's future will be seriously jeopardized. In recognition of this reality, Secretary of Education Riley has called technology the "new basic," and the U.S. Department of Education, in conjunction with educators and technology experts from around the country, has developed a national technology plan. This plan, Getting America's Students Ready for the 21st Century, sets out four pillars in the quest to strengthen the role of technology in education:

All teachers in the nation will have the training and support they need to help students learn using computers and the information superhighway;

All teachers and students will have modern multimedia computers in their classrooms;

Every classroom will be connected to the information superhighway; and

Effective software and on-line learning resources will be an integral part of every school's curriculum.

Investment in technology for our schools has paid, and will continue to pay, rich dividends. There is little disagreement about this fact. Strong support comes from members of the business and industry communities who have had first-hand experience with the way technology increases efficiency, improves customer relations and boosts profits. Strong support comes from parents who understand the realities of today's world and embrace technological literacy as a core subject as important for their children as reading, writing and arithmetic. Strong support comes from a growing body of research which shows how the use of technology in classrooms results in higher levels of student motivation and performance, lower absenteeism, reduced dropout rates and greater satisfaction with school.

Technology has the power to promote fundamental school reform in ways we could only imagine in the past. By providing easy access to knowledge and knowledge creators, it can level the playing field and dramatically increase opportunities for both teachers and learners to meet higher standards.

For teachers, technology breaks down the isolation that has traditionally plagued their profession by creating new avenues for sharing information, insights and best practices. It encourages them to present more complex material and expect more from students. It provides them with better ways of monitoring individual progress. It allows them to put into practice effective principles of teaching and learning that have been difficult to implement in the past. Specifically, the use of new technologies in the classroom can transform teaching and learning by:

moving the focus of instruction from whole class to small groups;

changing the primary mode of instruction from lecture and recitation to coaching;

requiring students to be explorers, investigators, thinkers and workers rather than passive recipients of pre-digested information;

allowing individual learners to pursue areas of interest in depth rather than requiring all of them to learn the same material on the same day in the same way;

providing teachers with more time to work with students who are most in need while those who are most capable advance at a pace appropriate for them;

creating opportunities for assessment based upon products and real tasks rather than solely upon traditional tests;

promoting cooperation and collaboration rather than competition; and

making it possible for teachers to address diversity more effectively rather than teaching primarily to the mean.

For students, technology provides increased opportunities for involvement with tasks that are complex, authentic and interesting and, at the same time, for assuming greater control of their own learning. They can chat with counterparts across the world through telecommunications, build their own curriculum materials with hypermedia formats, visit far-off places on electronic field trips, experience past and future worlds in virtual reality, enroll in college-credit courses through distance learning. No longer limited to pre-screened and packaged information, they can electronically search libraries and databases worldwide to obtain the information they require or desire. Instead of merely memorizing and recalling information, they can seek it out, assemble it, make judgements about its quality and present their findings to others within the school and beyond it. They can practice using their minds well in settings and situations their parents as students could barely imagine. They can become capable not only of functioning in but of mastering a new world which increasingly demands technological literacy of its citizens.

Transforming schooling through technology will work. We have much evidence that it will, and numerous examples of schools where it already has. While many communities across the country have already responded to the demands of this digital age by making substantial investments in technology for education, the work that remains to be done looms large. Bringing the promise of technology to all of our students in all of our schools will be a massive undertaking. However, it is an undertaking that we can accomplish. Meeting the technology literacy challenge will be expensive. However, it will cost only a fraction of what we are already spending on education as a nation. It will cost only a fraction of the price our children will pay if we do not meet the challenge.

No community, no school, no child can be left behind. We simply cannot afford to let unequal access to technology widen any further the gap between haves and have nots. To meet the technology challenge for every student, states, localities, the federal government and the private sector will all need to play significant roles.

The document that follows provides an overview of grants and funding sources for technology from a wide field. While they are diverse in size and scope, nearly all reflect the need for building strong relationships among committed partners, for bringing together the public and private sectors, and for involving parents and community in the process. The aim of this reference guide is to galvanize educational technology efforts already underway and spur the creation of new programs that will address the four pillars of the national technology plan. The models that emerge as a result will point the way and pave the path for those who follow. They will provide an important piece in assuring equal access to technology and, along with it, equal access to a quality education for every one of America's school children.

Although this document has Goal 5 as its title, it does not provide a comprehensive look at all the resources available in science and mathematics throughout the federal government. It does, however, provide important information about technological resources that will assist teachers, administrators, students, parents and others to achieve that goal. It is our hope to produce a subsequent volume that will provide a more comprehensive look at the resources available for mathematics and science.
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[Letter from Linda Roberts] [Table of Contents] [U.S. Department of Education]