Issues Symposium: Educational Issues that Need Attention
A Report on the CoSN Meeting at NECC

By Janet Meizel

Recently, more than thirteen thousand teachers and other educational personnel gathered in Atlanta, Georgia to explore the promise and problems of educational technology.

In one small corner of the conference, CoSN (the Consortium for School Networking) held a symposium of education and industry leaders to address "educational issues that need attention."

Issues ranged widely. Topics included the fact that we have worked hard to expand capacity, but that digital content does not enjoy the confidence or acceptance of parents and other members of the educational community, the importance of individualized learning plans for students, that parents still expect textbooks and that the legislature of the State of Illinois has a bill "in waiting" which would ban online learning.

The lack of credibility around digital content was the first theme. One participant stated "while parents want tech in the classroom, we have done an inadequate job with parents changing their mindset about what their expectations are in the classroom. It is no longer a requirement that every student have a textbook in every subject but parents still say, "Where is your math book?" Although funding is being shifted to digital content, the effort is stymied from going to the next level because of the parents' demand. If digital content went through the same review process as textbooks, would parent perception change? The group thought "No. There is an expectation that books come home."

Publishers don't object to online or open source material, but remind us that none of the standards to which they must adhere are currently necessary for this material. How do we evaluate the tools that are out there? Are they stable? What are the policies? People have to know how to evaluate those tools. Then perhaps they will meet greater acceptance.

Parents do not appear to be alone in their lack of support for educational technology. Administrators and school Boards are not yet on board. Technology in-service and development opportunities for them are few. Many simply feel that they "have someone who takes care of that" so they need not be directly concerned even though Administrative support (and this requires knowledge) is a key ingredient in successful educational technology implementations.

They must deal with the dramatic changes happening in school technology right now, and deal with the many constraints imposed upon technology use. Added to this, students lack the framework for what they can do with all this innovation. One participant mentioned what a student had done for some companies overseas. Students began to learn in class, but then went home and "did it as a hobby." "What a shame," she said, "that she could not move ahead within the context of an innovative individual learning plan as she didn’t have time to take an advanced class."

Compounding the administrative and scheduling problems, a lack of emphasis on creative thinking is also a problem. Associated with the fact that we do assessment the way we do—assessment (enhanced by NCLB) requires less creative thinking and problem-solving skills. Computer Science and use of computers in the classroom are two ways of increasing creativity and problem-solving skills.

Charter schools and commercially- supported schools do not have the same restrictions as standard public schools. This raises the question: Are these the only institutions which will be able to foster creativity in the future or can we recover the creativity which is the hallmark of American industry and spearhead the American economy?

One speaker noted that countries that have the best math and science education now are beginning to emphasize creativity (China and Asia). We have been the home of creative enterprise, but in 5 years, we may not be. "Our students are complacent and our educators are complacent. The world has changed-fast-but it may be a rabbit punch to our country."

In Silicon Valley, 1/3 of companies were started by immigrants. Are our students ready for globalization? Are our schools ready to absorb immigrants? "You will pay for what you value," "There is a lot of lip service to valuing public education, but it is often empty rhetoric. Where is the creative intellect to see the implication of the lack of support of public education?" were some of the questions asked. "Where are the leaders to publicize education and economics together to see the future?"

Educators are not known as marketers. One speaker suggested that computer makers can help deliver the message through mass communication.

All participants were concerned about the lack of financial support for education. "We used to have a middle class. What we are seeing now is that there is a gap—higher income is doing very well, but there is a greater separation among economic groups. Our kids will be competing with a new group. We need to keep the competitive edge, and 2% of the budget is not enough."

"Education is power" is happening in many places. We are not changing in terms of 21st century skills. The consensus was that we must use the available resources to change. If we don't want to change, we fall behind.

It may have been a small gathering, but the problems they discussed are real and important. We need to continue the discussion—with a great many more people joining in and taking action to give a boost to one of our greatest resources for the future.

About the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN)

CoSN is the country's premier voice in education technology leadership, serving K-12 technology leaders who through their strategic use of technology, improve teaching and learning. CoSN provides products and services to support and nurture leadership development, advocacy, coalition building, and awareness of emerging technologies.

CoSN leadership initiatives include: Using Technology to Raise the Achievement of ALL Students; Cyber Security for the Digital District; Data-Driven Decision-Making; K-12 Open Technologies; Taking Total Cost of Ownership to the Classroom; Value of Investment and the development of the Council of School District Chief Technology Officers (CTO Council).

CoSN's membership includes a unique blend of education and technology leaders, policy makers, and influencers from the public and private sectors. Our audience includes key technology leaders (often called Chief Technology Officers - CTOs) in leading-edge states and districts, policy makers, private sector leaders, as well as those technology leaders who wish to accelerate their districts' or states' systemic technology use. Visit www.cosn.org or phone 866.267.8747 to find out more about CoSN's programs and activities supporting leadership development to ensure that information technology has a direct and positive impact on student learning in elementary and secondary schools.