Indiana's K-12
Plan for Technology
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Serving Indiana's
Students, Families, and Communities
INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Dr. Suellen Reed
Superintendent of Public Instruction
December 1998
The well-being of Indiana's citizens will be determined, in large part, by the state's ability to remain competitive in a world marketplace. To do this, our educational systems must ensure that students can read, write, compute, and perform other basic and higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills as well as manage, use, and communicate with the technologies they will encounter as lifelong learners. Failure to succeed in this endeavor could dim the bright hopes and dreams of Indiana's students and future leaders.
The purpose of Indiana's K-12 Plan for Technology: On LineOn TargetOn Demand Learning Systems is to lay a foundation of leadership and direction to support and strengthen learning environments by working with educators, state agencies, legislators, parents and families, communities, and members of business and industry to promote effective uses of technology for teaching and learning.
VISION
Communities of learners are engaged in lifelong learning and are contributing members of the global and digital information world--learners who have problem-solving and higher-order critical thinking skills, information and communication skills, access to current and real-world information and tools, and mastery of core basic skills.
For students to live this vision:
They must have on-demand access to appropriate technologies (including
hardware and connections), content standards, and teachers who
are highly skilled in the uses of technology.
Families, communities, and other partners must provide support
and active involvement in the learning process.
Legislators, policymakers, and others must understand and act on well-defined plans and requests for funding and policies that remove red-tape and empower school districts to ensure that all Indiana learners are active, engaged, and lifelong learners.
GOALS
- To enhance and improve student learning in and out of school
- To use technologies as tools to help teachers improve their teaching
- To enhance the learning environments, both within and beyond the classroom, in order to engage all members of the community in successful pursuit of lifelong learning opportunities
BENEFITS
- Students will achieve real-world and educational benefits.
- Educators will be better leaders and facilitators.
- Families, communities, and other partners will support and become actively involved in student learning.
- Indiana will remain competitive in the marketplace.
SEVEN KEY STRATEGIES
To realize the vision and achieve the goals, Indiana must:
I. Provide ongoing professional development.
An effective professional workforce will be continually aware of the ways technology can be used most effectively for enriching and enhancing learning, for exploring new approaches to teaching and learning, and for using it to meet their teaching goals.
II. Ensure hardware access for all learners.
Indiana students will have equitable access to up-to-date, appropriate, interactive technologies, including connectivity technologies.
III. Ensure connectivity for all learners.
Students will have access to educational multimedia resources for classrooms, libraries, and other instructional and administrative centers via voice, video, and data connections; extended learning activities, opportunities, and general information will be available to the public, including parents and families.
IV. Provide high quality content and teaching resources.
Students will have appropriate content standards and instructional approaches and enhanced educational growth opportunities through technology on line and on demand.
V. Plan for technology.
Schools will have three-year technology plans that are part of, or guided by, the collective school improvement plans of the corporation or the strategic plan of the school corporation.
VI. Evaluate plans, measure progress, and report.
Accountability and data collection efforts will measure the progress toward fulfilling the purposes, goals, and strategies of this plan.
VII. Coordinate programs, ensure funding, and involve partners.
Coordinated deployment of services and technologies, efficient utilization of funding resources, and the synergy of partnerships will accelerate the development of technology-rich learning environments for students and communities in the State.
The Indiana Department of Education and its partners recognize that important elements of lifelong learning are motivation, relevancy, high content standards and proficiencies, and aligned curriculum. These elements, combined with the seven key strategies--professional development, hardware, connectivity, content, planning, evaluation, and partnerships--create and support strong learning communities of students, educators, families, and their communities.
Commitment to implementation of Indiana's technology plan in partnership and collaboration with other entities will help achieve greater improvements in student learning for the benefit of all Hoosiers.