The National Educational Technology Plan

The National Educational Technology plan is a federal blueprint in which educational goals are set in the areas of technology and digital learning to further develop the country’s students into 21^st century learners. The plan is set up in a similar fashion to the Texas Long Range Plan. It is broken down into six clear sections: Learning, which lays out the model for 21^st century instruction, Assessment, which describes how we can actually measure progress using technology, Teaching, which focuses on Improving learning through connected teaching, Infrastructure, which discusses the people, processes, and technologies needed for great 21^st century learning, Productivity, which works to improve learning outcomes while managing costs, and finally Research & Development (R&D), which illustrates the work towards solving challenging issues facing this initiative. Overall, the plan reads much like the Texas Long Range Plan (or perhaps the Texas Plan reads a lot like the national plan). This plan also discusses who needs to learn. There should be a universal design for learning, but this plan should be broken down to individualized and differentiated instruction. In this plan, the underserved are represented, including low-income and minority learners, English language learners, learners with disabilities, Pre-K, and the adult workforce. It also discusses how to improve secondary and postsecondary graduation rates by supporting at-risk students and looking at the long-term impact of using 21^st century learning as a model form of instruction. One of the most constructive parts of the national plan is the recommendation segments included throughout the reading. Once the plan has introduced a new idea or strategy, it sets a recommendation about how to fully reach that goal. The national plan is a good goal, and with the proper guidance along the way, perhaps we can reach it.