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1. About SETDA 2. National Leadership Institute 3. SETDA Initiatives 4. Additional State Examples |
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Because of a shortage in revenue in FY03, the Alabama legislature cut many educational programs, one of which was technology. In fact, state funding for technology to the local school districts was cut from $181 per teacher to zero. At the annual Alabama Education Technology Association Symposium, district technology leaders and superintendents met in roundtable discussions concerning the funding crisis.
Their discussions led to the exploration of the question, "Do our leaders really understand what would happen in our schools if the technology was suddenly turned off?" The concept of a "Technology Blackout Day" was conceived. After further discussions it was decided that turning off all of the technology for a day would be unsafe to the school children.
Therefore, a more positive approach was taken to educate key decision makers on the value of technology in our educational system. A position paper was developed to help members of the Alabama Education Technology Association to tell this story. Future plans include the development of a video to illustrate the story.
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It is becoming more and more apparent that funding, in real purchasing dollars, for K-12 educational technology is declining at both the state and federal levels. It also has become evident that the possible reason for the decline in money is directly related to a loss of our credible leaders at the state and federal levels who have educational technology as a high priority on their political and leadership agendas. This being the case, it has caused us to start thinking about what the appropriate strategies would be to reverse this trend.
There are seven states (Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Colorado, North Dakota and Wyoming) in the High Plains Regional Technology Consortium (HPR*TEC) that have begun to take action to develop credible technology champions. This has also occurred in collaboration with the Center for Digital Education, an organization the was at one time associated with Converge Magazine and has now gone online to provide resources to educational technology, both at the K-12 and post-secondary levels.
The first activity that launched this initiative was an Institute for state governors, legislators, chief state school officers and state and local board members. The institute was held in Denver Colorado in October of 2003 and was attended by approximately 100 state leaders. The Institute agenda focused on some computer (tablet) training, information sessions related to the value of technology in our society, how education was losing ground compared to technology use in the private sector, and the need for school reform that would align K-12 education with the demands now placed on our students to function in a technology-rich society. One of the products of the Institute was the development of a guide for policy development at local and state government levels to accommodate technology. Another product will be a recognition program to honor outstanding state and local board members for their work in promoting technology.
This Institute was a major success and plans are now being considered for future activities related to building credible champions for educational technology. When the products from the Denver Institute are completed, they can be found on the Centerfordigitaleducation.com website.
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Ohio's External Communications Guide grew from the recognition that communicating the benefits of educational technology to policymakers and constituents across the state was critical to future success. While Ohio SchoolNet had established communications as a goal and priority, and assigned staff resources to this very important task, we also recognized that school district staff-Superintendents, in particular-were key communicators with their local communities, school boards, parents, and legislators.
While we had been issuing formal project communications-key message statements, frequently asked questions, project briefs and press releases-jointly with school districts statewide, we felt it was important to help prepare school staff to communicate the importance of educational technology with their target audience groups on their own.
Hence, the idea of a day-long communicator's workshop was born, with the communications guide serving as the workshop guidebook for the day. The guidebook was developed by a team of Ohio SchoolNet staff, along with consultants with experience in organizational communications, marketing, and government relations. The workshops included school Superintendents, Public Information Officers, Technology Directors/Coordinators and other administrators. Our goal was for districts to formally plan district communications around their educational technology activities.
Ohio SchoolNet utilizes a "clipping service" which monitors the state's newspapers and other periodicals for articles on educational technology. The amount of press coverage statewide on educational technology programs-whether state programs administered by Ohio SchoolNet or locally administered-has been truly remarkable.
While originally developed in 1995, many of the principles established by the guidebook are still used by Ohio SchoolNet today.
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Members of the Illinois Computing Educators (ICE) believe that equitable, intelligent use of technology is critical to maintaining a high quality of life for Illinois citizens. A 21st Century education system will translate into a higher standard of living for Illinois citizens, higher academic achievement through digital age learning, and workforce readiness for a knowledge economy.
With these beliefs in mind and in the face of a 75% cut of state funds for school technology in the last two years, An Education Summit to Invent Illinois' Future was held during the summer of 2003 in preparation for the upcoming 2004 legislative session where funding for school technology in the state's 4,000 schools would again be under consideration. Participants at the summit included more than one hundred top educators, business representatives, and community leaders. Discussions at the summit centered on the many reasons educational technology is fundamental to the future of both the state of Illinois and the individual students within the state's public schools.
Capturing the discussions at the conference and putting forth three key recommendations participants came up with, the Illinois Computing Educators and Illinois State Board of Education created a policy brief to "make the case" for educational technology to be distributed to state legislators prior to the 2004 legislative session.
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