Issue: Funding for Educational Technology
Funding for educational technology is a big issue for the world of education. Most of the people that are connected to education have worries about all students having access to technology and learning how to use these tools. Finding the funding to pay for these ever changing technologies is also a major concern. While it is very important to provide educational technology to all students sometimes it is very hard to find the money to keep all the schools up to date. For most teachers and parents technology in the classroom sets the stage for a quality education. “Integrating instructional technology into all classrooms has the potential to transform modern education and student learning. However, access to technology is not equally available to all districts or schools. Decreased funding and budgetary restraints have had a direct impact on technology acquisition in many rural school districts” (Sundeen & Sundeen, 2013). There are so many schools that do not have the funding or support from the local area and community to purchase and keep up the demands of educational technology. Many of the rural or poverty level schools students also face not having access to technology at home and this furthers the funding problem for these school districts. At this point in the game it becomes more about finding the most affordable technology and less about the quality of education the students are receiving from the technology. This can lead to a whole new set of issues for education these lower cost forms of technology may be out of date or incompatible with other technologies that are already available to that school or district.
The biggest point in this issue is where the money is going to come from for education. The funding for education seems to become lower every year while the price for technology rises. This leaves many policy makers asking “How can we justify spending scarce education dollars on technology” (Roblyer & Doering, 2010)? Some wish to make the parents foot the bill while others are looking to higher branches of government for the monetary support. “In June 2013, President Obama announced the ConnectED initiative, designed to enrich K-12 education for every student in America. The President’s ConnectED Initiative aims to connect 99% of students across the country to broadband in 5 years. ConnectED empowers teachers with the best technology and the training to make the most of it, and empowers students through individualized learning and rich, digital content” (Office of Educational Technology, 2015). Between this program and grants much of the educational technology can be paid for with out tapping into school or district funding.
It is very important to have technology in the classroom and the government is working to see that this is a standard in every school across the country regardless of district, poverty level, or ethic attendance. Technology companies are also answering the cry in regards to funding by finding ways to make the needed technology more cost efficient.
For more information the following sites have many great readings on this issue:
Education Week, 2011. Technology in Education. Retrieved from: http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/technology-in-education/
Education Technology Grants. Retrieved from: http://www.technologygrantnews.com/grant-index-by-type/educational-technology-grants.html
Office of Educational Technology. Retrieved from: http://tech.ed.gov/
References:
Department of Education (ED), O. S. (2003). Federal Funding for Educational Technology and How It Is Used in the Classroom: A Summary of Findings from the Integrated Studies of Educational Technology. US Department Of Education,
Office of Educational Technology, 2015. http://tech.ed.gov/connected/
Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2010, July 20). Top ten issues shaping today's technology uses in education. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/ten-issues-shaping-today-technology
Sundeen, T. H., & Sundeen, D. M. (2013). Instructional Technology for Rural Schools: Access and Acquisition. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 32(2), 8-14.
Funding for educational technology is a big issue for the world of education. Most of the people that are connected to education have worries about all students having access to technology and learning how to use these tools. Finding the funding to pay for these ever changing technologies is also a major concern. While it is very important to provide educational technology to all students sometimes it is very hard to find the money to keep all the schools up to date. For most teachers and parents technology in the classroom sets the stage for a quality education. “Integrating instructional technology into all classrooms has the potential to transform modern education and student learning. However, access to technology is not equally available to all districts or schools. Decreased funding and budgetary restraints have had a direct impact on technology acquisition in many rural school districts” (Sundeen & Sundeen, 2013). There are so many schools that do not have the funding or support from the local area and community to purchase and keep up the demands of educational technology. Many of the rural or poverty level schools students also face not having access to technology at home and this furthers the funding problem for these school districts. At this point in the game it becomes more about finding the most affordable technology and less about the quality of education the students are receiving from the technology. This can lead to a whole new set of issues for education these lower cost forms of technology may be out of date or incompatible with other technologies that are already available to that school or district.
The biggest point in this issue is where the money is going to come from for education. The funding for education seems to become lower every year while the price for technology rises. This leaves many policy makers asking “How can we justify spending scarce education dollars on technology” (Roblyer & Doering, 2010)? Some wish to make the parents foot the bill while others are looking to higher branches of government for the monetary support. “In June 2013, President Obama announced the ConnectED initiative, designed to enrich K-12 education for every student in America. The President’s ConnectED Initiative aims to connect 99% of students across the country to broadband in 5 years. ConnectED empowers teachers with the best technology and the training to make the most of it, and empowers students through individualized learning and rich, digital content” (Office of Educational Technology, 2015). Between this program and grants much of the educational technology can be paid for with out tapping into school or district funding.
It is very important to have technology in the classroom and the government is working to see that this is a standard in every school across the country regardless of district, poverty level, or ethic attendance. Technology companies are also answering the cry in regards to funding by finding ways to make the needed technology more cost efficient.
For more information the following sites have many great readings on this issue:
Education Week, 2011. Technology in Education. Retrieved from: http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/technology-in-education/
Education Technology Grants. Retrieved from: http://www.technologygrantnews.com/grant-index-by-type/educational-technology-grants.html
Office of Educational Technology. Retrieved from: http://tech.ed.gov/
References:
Department of Education (ED), O. S. (2003). Federal Funding for Educational Technology and How It Is Used in the Classroom: A Summary of Findings from the Integrated Studies of Educational Technology. US Department Of Education,
Office of Educational Technology, 2015. http://tech.ed.gov/connected/
Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2010, July 20). Top ten issues shaping today's technology uses in education. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/ten-issues-shaping-today-technology
Sundeen, T. H., & Sundeen, D. M. (2013). Instructional Technology for Rural Schools: Access and Acquisition. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 32(2), 8-14.