First Hand?? Politics

      Unfortunately, I was not able to meet Sue Errington because I came down with a horrible case of Strep Throat, which is no fun, especially for a student teacher. I was able to get notes from a fellow classmate and do a little research online to find out some information about her, but it's just not the same. Sue Errington is a State Representative for Indiana and is also a member of the House Educational Committee. According to classmates she discussed the some of the legislation that she had been a vital part of and the group learned about how specific legislation works. After the discussion the class was well aware that most legislation is time sensitive and that politicians are constantly feeling pressure to discuss certain matters and varied times. I was able to participate in the Sarah O'Brien  interview and I was very impressed.

     Sarah O'Brien is a member of the Indiana State Board of Education and an elementary school teacher, so she knows her stuff. The most important piece of information from her interview was the fact that the newest draft of the College and Career Ready Standards, which will be the third draft, should be ready by April 16th. Guess what? Today is April 16th! A quick search online led me right to the website. So click here to check them out!

After what I have learned from these two women in the political world I understand that the educational world is changing and emerging standards are going to affect us all. However, I am still a firm believer in the fact that even policy changes will not make a difference without the aid of PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT!! I wish I knew how to make that flash because that is how important it is for us to teach teachers how to teach. You would think that would make sense, but unfortunately everyone gets distracted by the "big issues" and they forget about how much improvement can come from something as simple as professional development. Why would people think that once a person gets a teaching job they automatically know everything they would ever need to know? Is that even possible?

Indiana's impact on technology education

     I was curious as to how the Indiana State Government has been impacting educational technology and after a quick search I found an article that answered some of my questions while giving me many more to search for answers to. This article is a brief overview on how Indiana officials are taking smart risks with technology and innovative classrooms. Mr. Stokes even goes so far to state in his article that what the state government is doing is making Indiana into an "education technology incubator," which is actually kind of risky.

So instead of changing eggs into chicks..... we will change a failing education system to a successful one?

     In 2011 Indiana gave $4.3 million in grants to schools in the form of Classroom Innovation Funds, encouraging schools to purchase iPads, SMART tables, and other forms of innovative technology (Stokes). It's basically like the government was one of those dads who just gives his kid some money and says go buy something educational. This can be an amazing opportunity for growth or a slippery slope into disaster.

Is this what our future holds?

Even state officials working in the Indiana Department of Education realize that they are walking a tightrope. Stoke's article even mentioned that John Keller, the Indiana Department of Education’s assistant superintendent for technology felt like they were possibly turning students into guinea pigs (Stokes). 

      Here's my opinions on the whole idea. Yes, the state government should be offering grants to support technology in education, but they also need to make sure that the spending can be validated in some way. Let's go back to that analogy I mentioned earlier. If the child came home with a video game... let's say Grand Theft Auto, the Dad could yell and scream at his child for buying such a horrible game or ask the kid why. The child could possibly validate the educational qualities of a seemingly wasteful purchase by highlighting the games entrepreneurial nature, which could encourage the player to improve math and business skills. This could be valid, but if the father realizes that the child is just playing the game to create violence in a non-existent world, perhaps the purchase is not a valid educational choice.

   The problem with education is that every school, every teacher, every administration, and every student is different, but we try to use "Standards" to make everyone exactly the same.

 Standards are not helping anyone!!

Yes, it is nice for teachers to have an idea of what other teachers around the nation or state are teaching, but all in all standards are not the magical solution to the problem. In all reality standards should be used as more of a rough guideline to sketch out possible directions the class could take, but all of this is kind of getting off topic.

I think technology is a great way to improve the educational system, and yes I think governments should assist in funding technology. However, I am also of the opinion that since every child is unique and has a different learning style even technology is not the panacea. Many many ideas and solutions will have to be tested and properly utilized in order to fix our failing system and even then it is probably impossible to completely fix it all. 

Maybe we don't know what successful education really is...

Citation

Stokes, K. (2013, 10 13). Retrieved from http://indianapublicmedia.org/stateimpact/2011/10/13/is-there-

        any-educational-technology-indiana-wont-try-in-a-classroom/

The Fed Government and ed tech policy

What role should the Fed Government play in the ed tech policy process?



     I may have this a bit off, but I feel like right now the Federal Government is playing the role of both the stick and the carrot. Every policy that is in place right now has schools struggling to meet the demands of the policy in order to get certain funding and without this federal funding these schools risk loss of funds... or worse.

My mental picture of the education system with the carrot symbolizing extra monies.

Or maybe its more like this... because funding is both the carrot and the stick and our poor education system has no option but to run.

NCLB, ATTAIN, ARRA, and all of the other policies that I have been looking into may be important to the success of education in a technologically advancing society, but I believe the most important Federal policy is being overlooked...

PTDAL 

Preparing Teachers for Digital Age Learners

Okay, so technically PTDAL is just a program that is part of the Higher Education Act, but still it needs to be addressed on a much larger scale.  I mean for pete's sake if you read through the Higher Education Act you can barely find any mention of PTDAL, which is probably why it is so overlooked. Teachers need to actually learn how to teach and in all reality the Federal Government needs to implement policies that will do just that, because the ones we are trying now are just not working.

 PTDAL is not being accomplished, even though it was established in 1998! According to ISTE this program is supposed to "arm new teachers with the knowledge and skills to infuse modern digital tools and resources into the learning environment." But new teachers are still joining the workforce "unarmed." If PTDAL was reauthorized in 2006 and is supposed to be a strong compliment to NCLB then how is it that in 2014 there are still teachers, both new and experienced, who do not have the knowledge they need to teach digital age learners? 

When reading up on all of these policies and programs I stumbled upon another blog that I found extremely informational. This blog discusses some of the politics of educational technology and the problems that the education system is facing. It is almost an overwhelming amount of information but one piece struck me more than anything... the video. The school system is failing these students! As a whole students want to learn, but many teachers are blaming the students and falling into bad habits. 

If the Federal Government wants to "fix" our education system we have some serious changes we need to make in the teachers and the way teachers are treated.

Career AND College Preparation in School

When Dr. Oliver began discussing his displeasure in the push for all children to go to college a spark ignited my attention. He said that he wanted to prepare all students for their own paths, whether that be college after high school or going straight into a career after graduation. Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) courses are listed as a Career and Technical Education courses. They are listed as such because a huge part of FCS is exploring careers and colleges that fit with the students. Even Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) encourages professional development for both students and teachers through FCS. If policy makers could understand all that FCS courses provide to students maybe they would put into effect a policy that requires all high school students to take at least a few of them. If nothing else the Career Exploration course should be required for all freshmen or sophomores. That one course alone has students explore careers and colleges in order to plan a pathway to their future. Isn't that exactly what Dr. Oliver said he wanted? Students who are planning and preparing for their future should be the entire goal of the education system. Teachers in all subjects claim that their classes are important, but if we truly want students to be prepared for adulthood wouldn't it make sense that we encourage courses that teach life skills? How many young adults go to college without knowing how to even do their laundry or cook for themselves? How many adults live off of fast food and "Hamburger Helper" style meals? It is almost comical that we wonder why childhood obesity is at an all-time high and self-esteem is at record lows. The education system has practically suffocated children with the pressure to be a "good student," encouraging higher math and reading scores on standardized tests it is no wonder so many children are cracking under the pressure. Even teachers are cracking under the pressure. Courses and programs are being cut from schools all across the nation and they are not college prep courses. All kinds of arts programs and practical courses are being removed from our schools. Even programs that teach computer skills are being cut in some states. Colleen Flaherty's article focuses mainly on the cutting of music and other arts programs, but many of her statements ring true for the protection of all school programs. Throughout the article many teachers are quoted as stating how important a well-rounded education is for all students, and budget cuts threaten any chance of quality, well-rounded education.




Most of what I know about our country's education system has been gathered throughout my time at Ball State University, but the following video does such a great job at summing everything up and explaining it in a common sense manner. Basically, the education system in our country needs to be altered or our students will never be able to succeed.

 Please take some time to watch this presentation about the education system.

After watching the video of Sir Ken Roberts views of the education system my belief in the importance of FCS has increased ten-fold. Yes, some FCS courses can be delivered in a way that students would consider boring, but most of the time students in these courses come alive and experience such opportunities that they are learning and developing in ways that amaze even the students themselves.

Welcome

Welcome to my first ever blog. This blog is for my EDTE 470 class at Ball State University, which is a Policy and Ethics in Educational Technology class.