DOCUMENT RESUME ED 398 899 IR 018 080 TITLE Getting America's Students Ready for the 21st Century: Meeting the Technology Literacy Challenge. A Report to the Nation on Technology and Education. INSTITUTION Department of Education, Washington, DC. PUB DATE Jun 96 NOTE 72p. PUB TYPE Guides Non-Classroom Use (055) Reports Descriptive (141) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Access to Information; Computer Assisted Instruction; Computer Networks; *Computer Uses in Education; Cooperative Planning; Educational Cooperation; Educational Objectives; *Government Role; Information Literacy; Information Retrieval; *Internet; Multimedia Materials; Online Systems; *Partnerships in Education; School Community Relationship; Science and Society; *Technological Literacy IDENTIFIERS *Action Plans; Technology Integration; *Technology Plans ABSTRACT Technological literacy--computer skills and the ability to use computers and other technology to improve learning, productivity, and performance--has become as fundamental to a person's ability to navigate through society as traditional skills like reading, writing, and arithmetic. The Technology Literacy Challenge, envisioning a 21st century where all students are technologically literate, requires the fulfillment of four main goals:(1) all teachers in the nation will have the training and support necessary to help students learn to use computers and the information superhighway;(2) all teachers and students will have modern multimedia computers in their classrooms; (3) every classroom will be connected to the information superhighway; and (4) effective software and on-line learning resources will be an integral part of every school's curriculum. A partnership between the private sector, state government, local communities, and the federal government is necessary to achieve these goals. This report presents a framework that states and local communities can use in developing local plans of action that will support the use of technology in achieving high standards of teaching and learning in all classrooms for all students. The report includes sections on: Technology Literacy: A National Priority; Benefits of Technology Use; Reaching the Technology Goals; and Roles Supporting Local Action Plans. Appendices include: background information on how this plan was developed; a list of sources of federal support for technology in education, a state-by-state breakdown of state support for technology in education; and a list of sources for further information. (Contains 106 references.) (SWC) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** I U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION I Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. ns -Pevoluflor tucf..ent BEST C s PY AVAILABLIFA U.S. Department of Education Letter from the Secretary 3 Role of States and Local Communities 44 Executive Summary 5 Leadership and Planning 45 Technology Literacy: A National Priority 9 Ongoing Support for Teachers 45 Background 9 Modern Multimedia Computers in the The Technology Literacy Challenge 10 Classroom 47 The Technology Goals 10 Effective Educational Software and An Investment in the Future 11 On-Line Learning Resources 47 Benefits of Technology Use 15 Adequate Financial Support and Enhanced Student Achievement 16 Equitable Access 47 Basic Skills Instruction 16 Role of Higher Education and Private and Advanced Skills Instruction 18 Nonprofit Sectors 48 Assessment of Student Progress 19 Supporting Professional Development 48 Student Motivation 20 Instructional Materials 48 Increased Family Involvement 20 Collaboration With Elementary and Improved Teachers' Skills 21 Secondary Schools 49 Improved School Administration and Management 22 Research on the Use of Technology Characteristics of Successful Technology-Rich Schools 22 in Education 49 Conclusion 25 From Vision to Reality 50 Reaching the Technology Goals 27 En d n otes 51 Progress Report 27 Bibliography 53 Cost of Meeting the Four Goals 32 Appendices 57 Types of Costs 32 A. How This Plan Was Developed 58 Cost Estimates 33 B. Federal Support for Technology in Education 59 Funding Challenges 34 C. State Support for Technology in Education 6o No Community Left Behind 36 D. Sources of Further Information 69 Roles Supporting Local Action Plans 39 Role of the Federal Government 39 Technology Literacy Challenge Fund 40 Affordable Connections 40 Improved Professional Development 40 Improved Educational Software 41 Continued Investment in Educational Technology 43 Effective Use of Technology by Major Education Programs 43 Clearinghouse for Good Ideas 43 State-of-the-Art Tools 44 Closing the Divide Between Technology "Haves" and "Have-Nots" 44 Monitoring Progress Towards Technology Goals 44 GETTING AMERICA'S STUDENTS READY FOR THE 21.s.r CENTURY Meeting the Technology Literacy Challenge A Report to the Nation on Technology and Education United States Department of Education Richard W. Riley Secretary Madeleine M. Kunin Deputy Secretary Marshall S. Smith Under Secretary Linda G. Roberts Director, Office of Educational Technology 4 June 1996 Members of Congress: Over the last decade, the use of technology in American life has exploded. Yet most schools are still unable to provide the powerful learning opportunities afforded by technology, placing our children at a competitive dis- advantage in the new, international marketplace of jobs, commerce, and trade. Computers are the "new basic" of American education, and the Internet is the blackboard of the future. But the future is here and now, and we cannot miss this opportunity to help all of our young people grow and thrive. I strongly believe that if we help all of our children to become technologically literate, we will give a generation of young people the skills they need to enter this new knowledge- and information-driven economy. To achieve this end, and in response to the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-382), I have prepared a national, long-range technology plan. At the heart of this plan is the President's Technology Literacy Challenge, which urges that the nation's students be technologically literate by early in the 21st century. Because of the vital significance of the technology challenge to America's future, we sought advice from many different parties: teachers, students, parents, administrators, employers, and experts on the cutting edge of the technology revolution. The accompanying plan distills and builds upon this advice, proposing actions for meet- ing the Technology Literacy Challenge. Although the federal government has an important role in helping to galvanize efforts, the challenge is a clarion call to local communities and states and to the private and non- profit sectors from which leadership and initiative must come. I invite Congress to join in this undertaking by initiating a five-year, $2-billion commitment to a Technology Literacy Challenge Fund. The fund will be aimed at helping states and local communities to create and imple- ment their own plans for integrating technology into teaching and learning for the purpose of achieving excel- lence among our students. I look forward to working with you to make this outcome a reality. Sincerely, L.3 Richard W. Riley Secretary of Education 3 5 "We know, purely and simply, that ?very single child must have access to a computerlmust understand it, must haveaccess to good softwareand good teachers and to the nternet, so that every person will have the opportunity to make the most of hisorhei awn life." President Clinton BEST COPYAVAILABLE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BACKGROUND All teachers in the nation will have the training and support they need to help students learn using Technological literacy meaning computer skills computers and the information superhighway. and the ability to use computers and other technology to improve learning, productivity, and performance Upgrading teacher training is key to integrating tech- has become as fundamental to a person's ability to nav- nology into the classroom and to increasing student igate through society as traditional skills like reading, learning. writing, and arithmetic. Yet, for the most part, these All teachers and students will have modern multi- new technologies are not to be found in the nation's media computers in their classrooms. schools. Students make minimal use of new technolo- Computers become effective instructional tools only if gies for learning, typically employing them for only a they are readily accessible by students and teachers. few minutes a day. Indeed, the hard realities are that Every classroom will be connected to the informa- only 4 percent of schools have a computer for every five students (a ratio deemed adequate to allow regular tion superhighway. use) and only 9 percent of classrooms are connected to Connections to networks, especially the Internet, mul- the Internet. In schools with large concentrations of tiply the power and usefulness of computers as learning low-income students, the numbers are often even tools by putting the best libraries, museums, and other lower. Research