Dept. of Ed.'s Magner: Technology can transform education
New Office of Education Technology also asserts that the federal government has not abandoned edtech even as the administration proposes to eliminate the Enhancing Education Through Technology program.
When discussing his goals for the future of educational technology in the United States, Magner draws parallels to the medical field, where the rapid advancement of technology ha
s dramatically improved the ability of doctors to diagnose and treat complex illnesses.
"Technology is really helping teachers collect, organize, and deliver instruction in all sorts of new and interesting ways," he said.
Much as it has in medicine, Magner said, technology is getting to a point now in schools where its presence is so ubiquitous that educators can begin thinking seriously about how to integrate it into every facet of the school day, whether it's to provide a much-needed boost in the classroom, improve the quality and efficiency of front-office functions, or track and monitor individual student progress in order to differentiate instruction.
"Technology is really becoming a horizontal in schools," he said, "in the sense that it's critical not only in delivering education, but in helping manage education systems" such as data warehouses, complex school transportation and procurement systems, and other back-end processes essential to a school district's day-to-day operations.
As for the budget cuts, his remarks essentially say that the cuts don't really matter because the federal contribution is small in the first place and there are other sources of funding in the budget, although he doesn't specify these in this interview.
"There are resources across the federal government's investment; there are a variety of other programs outside of EETT, for example, where money can be used to support the integration of technology," he said.
Calling federal technology funding for schools "an important part, a critical part" of the budget, Magner also noted that federal dollars make up a very small percentage of the total amount spent on education in the U.S. By and large, he said, the bulk of education funding has come, and will continue to come, from state and local governments.
"When you look at the amount of federal dollars in education versus state and local governments, I think it's somewhat unrealistic to expect that percentage is going to make up the bulk of what schools and districts need in order to educate children," he said. Again, said Magner, it's time to take a more systemic approach. He added: "It's a really a combination of federal, state, and local resources that I think we need to look at as the set of resources that are going to support instruction."
