The Vermont educational community, in order to survive and prosper in the future, must implement significant fundamental change. Educators must adapt to an evolving global community and corresponding technological advancements and applications.
The Vermont State Technology Council believes that educators must utilize modern information technology tools in the effort to reinvent Vermont schools. With this in mind, VSTC has prepared this document. Its goal is to provide direction and a framework for Vermont Educational leaders and stakeholders in the implementation of a joint new vision.
This document is divided into three sections.
Section 1 describes the "present state" of information technology tools in Vermont's educational community. This section presents a "picture" comprised from many sources including VSTC member comments, personal experiences of VSTC board members, and from data collected at recent conferences.
Section 2 describes the "desired state." In this section, the Council outlines what role information technology should play in the future educational environment.
Section 3 contains a series of "action steps" to attain the vision put forth in the "desired state." In this section, specific recommendations are listed to help Vermont move toward its goals.
This document is about information technology. Yet, as you read it, keep in mind that VSTC strongly believes that technology by itself will do little to transform our educational system. Only when these tools are combined with new models of learning will they contribute significantly to the attainment of systemic change that will advance Vermont's stated goals.
The Present State: Information Technology in Education
Vermont is recognized nationally as a leader in the support of educational restructuring and reform. The State Board of Education has worked diligently in recent years to establish goals and initiatives that will guarantee achievement of higher performance for all Vermont students. Vermont is further recognized for promoting portfolio assessment to evaluate more accurately students' strengths and areas of need. Vermont has called upon all of its schools to redesign their educational delivery systems so that these goals and initiatives can be achieved.
In the drive to rebuild its schools, Vermont has fallen short in its implementation of information-age technologies as tools to support restructuring. A recent report from Market Data Retrieval of Shelton, Connecticut was published in the September, 1992 edition of MacWorld. In this report, Vermont ranked 41st in the United States in maintaining its ratio of computers to students. In 1986, Vermont's ranking was 47th. While Vermont may boast a slight improvement in the number of computers in its classrooms, it is equally important to note that the distribution of computer hardware has not been equitable from school to school. While equity is by far the most serious issue confronting Vermont educators, other broad areas of concern arise. Awareness, funding, support, professional development, and planning all contribute to the current state of information technology in Vermont. The following paragraphs describe these conditions as they exist in Vermont today.
Equity
Recent data indicate that Vermont has vast and spotted differences in the way schools are integrating information technology. Some have highly organized technology plans, computer labs, networked stations using CD-ROM and laserdiscs with science probes and programmable calculators. Others have outdated models of computers with little software and limited student access. Some schools have no modem or dedicated line to enable telecommunication contacts, while other schools have numerous network connections, multimedia stations and desktop publishing centers. The vast majority of schools reveal unequal use of information technology within the school from department to department and teacher to teacher. Many of today's educators have received little or no formal instruction in information technology integration. Students therefore have sporadic and inconsistent exposure and instruction in learning with information technology tools. Depending on the "luck of the draw," a student may or may not have teachers who use information technology tools. Within the same school, one student may graduate with comprehension of such technologies and another student may have never been exposed to them.
Awareness
The general public, the State Department of Education, state government, school boards, administrators, and to a large extent, teachers have not realized the potential of information technology tools to support systemic change. While most people outwardly agree that computers and information technology tools are desirable in schools, the current trend to cut these items from school budget signifies that the inclusion of such items is not viewed as essential in the learning environment.
Equipment
The existing hardware and software in schools throughout Vermont is inadequate, and in many cases, outdated. Most schools have insufficient telephone lines and lack cables or satellite dishes to support telecommunications or distance learning opportunities.
Professional Development
Even though information technology professional development efforts are underway in Vermont, preservice and inservice teachers lack adequate staff development programs to integrate information technology tools in the classroom. The State Department of Education does not provide leadership in developing professional development programs in information technology usage and/or integration and does not set a standard to which Vermont educators can aspire.
Support
The nature of computers and related peripherals requires technical support. In most instances, technical support does not exist for Vermont teachers. Where such support does exist, school administrators who recognize the importance of information technology can also be found. Beyond this, an ongoing commitment to information technology acquisitions is absent in the community at large. Information technology tools require a sustained level of support with continued funding allocations in state and local budgets.
Planning
The State of Vermont has no plan to support information technologies and has no initiative that calls for the use of these tools for the reinvention of Vermont schools. This lack of direction has resulted in the creation of small, professional groups that attempt to address issues surrounding information technology in Vermont schools. These groups are usually formed by full-time, Vermont teachers who are able to devote only a limited amount of time, energy and resources. Duplication of effort often occurs between the groups, and there is general confusion about who is providing leadership and vision for Vermont. A few, isolated schools have adopted long-range technology plans, but generally most schools in Vermont do not plan for information technology acquisitions as part of a larger plan to restructure schools. It is difficult to point to model schools in Vermont that have the foresight to include information technology tools into a new pedagogy. There is a difference between automating the past and inventing the future.
Conclusions
Public education is the last major labor intensive industry to employ information technology in its day-to-day business. Most of the information technology available to business and government is unknown in administrative offices or classrooms. If knowledge is truly the major industry of tomorrow, the business of education must be equipped with the necessary tools and the workforce to meet the challenges that lie ahead.
The Desired State: Information Technology in Education
In the desired state of education, the presence and use of information technologies would be transparent to the educational environment. All Vermont schools would be equipped with state-of-the-art technologies that enable educators to provide the diverse and rich learning environments that all students require. All students would receive equal access to such technologies while they develop the skills and knowledge they need to become satisfied, productive and contributing members of society.
With the support of information technology, learning experiences would promote collaborative, interactive tasks that promote active engagement by the individual. Information would be used to encourage thinking rather than reciting, analyzing rather than memorizing, evaluating rather than responding. All students would be literate and competent in using a variety of resources to support a diversity of learning styles. Learning would not be bound by the physical structure and geographical location of "school." Learning would be shared with others around the world through cooperative and collaborative experiences.
Equity
All learners and educators would have equal and easy access to opportunities in a wide range of information resources and educational technologies, regardless of economic status, special needs, gender, ethnicity or geographic location to enable them to acquire the skills that valued citizenry of an information age require.
Awareness
School boards, administrators, teachers, students and community members at large would recognize, appreciate and actively support the impact information technologies have on learning. Information technology centers would be open to the community to serve as educationally rich settings to promote active participation of community members in their local schools. Communication between educational institutions and private and corporate sectors, governmental agencies, and cultural and human service providers would be ongoing to assure that learning is relevant to society's needs. Each group would work cooperatively to coordinate and share existing resources, building a learning network of people and ideas.
Equipment
Every school would provide the infrastructure that allows equal and easy access to current information. Every educator would have access to a multimedia workstation that enables employment of the very best educational materials to promote learning. Students would have immediate access to information technology tools in all learning environments. In the desired state, the student to computer ratio would be at least three to one, and the teacher to computer ratio, one to one.
The State Department of Education and appropriate agencies would insure that a quality, affordable statewide telecommunications network exists and that links with national and international networks are established. To tap the resources such a network offers, all schools and classrooms would provide the infrastructure to utilize such systems.
Professional Development
Professional development programs would be available to all educators to model the seamless use of information technology in learning. Resource centers would be distributed throughout Vermont to provide support to educators and exemplify further restructuring strategies. Teams of "experts" would be created to help teachers gain the proficiencies required to advance new environments for learning.
Teachers would be given more professional development opportunities to allow for ongoing adaptation to an increasing array of knowledge, skills and technology. Institutes of higher learning in teacher preparation would incorporate information technologies in routine coursework so that new teachers are prepared to facilitate learning using these tools.
Support
All educators would receive sustained support to incorporate information technology tools into the learning environment. With increased awareness, school budgets would reflect support for these programs in areas of continued equipment acquisitions, professional development programs, and maintenance of successful programs.
Planning
To achieve the desired state of information technology integration in Vermont, the State Board of Education would support and maintain a state technology plan that is linked to statewide initiatives for systemic educational change. This plan would infuse information technology into the K-16 educational forum and would incorporate specific action steps and assign responsibility for implementation. The State, in support of this plan, would work diligently with hardware and software suppliers to make educational tools available to Vermont schools at an affordable cost. This plan would create alliances with telecommunications companies, cable television suppliers, television broadcasters, publishers and other producers of educational media. The plan would further require that all new construction of school facilities include the infrastructure to support computer networks, telecommunications, cable television and other information technologies.
Within each school district, an information technology plan would be adopted to support educational goals and initiatives. All schools in Vermont would recognize the importance of planning for information technology, both in hardware acquisition and in professional development programs, to promote educational outcomes of higher performance.
Conclusions
The desired state of information technology is not about technology itself but about learners. The abilities to process information -- to interpret, synthesize and evaluate information from a vast and ever-increasing array of sources, to work collaboratively and in teams -- are the outcomes that our citizens must possess. In a world where knowledge in specialized fields changes every three years, the ability to locate and process information coupled with the ability to adapt to an ever changing society are the essential skills of lifelong learning. Information technology tools are the appliances which facilitate this transformation and Vermont would ensure that it provides its citizens with the tools they need to become productive, contributing members of society.
Recommendations
Achievement of the desired state of information technology integration can only be accomplished through deliberate steps taken by the Vermont State Board of Education and the Vermont Department of Education in cooperation with the Vermont Legislature, local school boards and administration. Leadership is key to the success of these goals.
In this section, the Council outlines its recommendations to achieve the desired outcomes. These recommendations are organized by topic and include specific action steps, identify leadership responsibilities, and project a timeline for projects to be undertaken.
Equity
All learners will have equal and immediate access to information technology tools in their formal education environment.
Action
Adopt the 1991 Policy Statement entitled "Improving Student Performance Through Learning Technologies," from the Council of Chief State School Officers
- Who
State Board of Education
- When
January, 1994
Action
Develop a state plan for the use of information technology in education.
- Who
Vermont Department of Education, VSTC
Members of Vt. Legislature
Vermont School Board Association
Vermont - NEA
- When
Fall, 1995
Action
Adopt legislation for attainment of state plan
- Who
State Legislature
- When
Spring 1996
All educational institutions would provide equal and affordable access to state, national and worldwide telecommunications networks.
Action
Adopt a policy to ensure equal and affordable access to a state, national and worldwide telecommunications network
- Who
State Board of Education
- When
January, 1994
Action
Create a "task force" to study the structure and cost of a statewide telecommunications network. From this study, prepare legislative proposals to seek funding and request changes in associated laws/regulations to implement such a network.
- Who
The Vermont Education Legislative Committees
Vermont Department of Education
Public Service Board
Vermont Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc.
Vermont State Technology Council, Inc.
Vermont Institute for Science, Math & Technology
Vermont - NEA
- When
Summer, 1994 with proposals to Legislature by Fall 1994 for January, 1995 session.
Awareness
All students, teachers, administrators, and the public at large would recognize the importance of information technology as an integral part of learning activities.
Action
Develop a plan to raise public consciousness concerning information technology in education.
- Who
Vermont Department of Education in cooperation with
Vermont School Board Association,
Vermont Headmasters Association
Vermont Business Roundtable
Vermont Superintendents Association
VSTC
Vermont Regional Collaborative
Vermont Chamber of Commerce Business/Education Partnership
VETC
Vermont - NEA
- When
Spring 1994 and ongoing
Action
Provide continuing demonstrations of integration of information technology tools to the educational community and the general public.
- Who
Vermont Professional Development Organizations
- When
Ongoing
Action
Create a hypermedia or video presentation of use of information technology to present to the public at large at school board meetings and other appropriate forums.
- Who
Vermont State Technology Council
- When
Fall, 1993
Action
Plan and sponsor an annual, statewide technology conference to demonstrate integration of information technology in curricular applications.
- Who
Vermont State Technology Council
Vermont Department of Education
Vermont Institute for Science, Math, and Technology
Vermont - NEA
- When
Fall 1994 and ongoing
Action
Create traveling units that display state of the art technology and hold professional development workshops for school boards, superintendents, and other administrativepersonnel throughout Vermont.
- Who
VISMT
- When
Summer 1993 and ongoing
Equipment
The State of Vermont must ensure that its schools are equipped with state of the art technologies and that the infrastructure to support such technologies is established.
Action
Establish statewide purchasing agreements with hardware and software vendors and other information suppliers that enable large-scale discounts for Vermont schools.
- Who
Vermont Department of Education
- When
January 1995 and ongoing
Action
Create a "state aid for hardware" fund to purchase information technology equipment.
- Who
State Legislature
- When
January, 1995 and ongoing
Action
Establish a plan to develop a 3:1 student/computer ratio and a 1:1 teacher/computer ratio.
- Who
Local School Boards
- When
January, 1995 and ongoing
Action
Allocate ongoing budgetary commitments to information technology implementation.
- Who
Local School Boards
- When
January, 1994 and ongoing
Action
Provide technical assistance to school administrators and faculty on planning, design and implementation of computer networks and other information technology purchases.
- Who
Local school districts
VSTC
Business community
Local User/Support Groups
- When
January, 1995 and ongoing
Action
Develop standards and companion legislation which requires the installation of an information technology infrastructure in new building construction to allow for the use of current and developing information technologies.
- Who
Legislature
Vt. Dept. of Education
- When
January, 1995
Professional Development
The State of Vermont must provide educators with ongoing professional development opportunities that support the use of information technology tools in Vermont educational settings.
Action
Formalize relationships among professional organizations involved in staff development, and the State Department of Education.
- Who
Vermont Department of Education
Vermont Professional Organizations
- When
Fall, 1993
Action
Expand the information technology courses being offered by institutions of higher education.
- Who
Vermont Institutions of Higher Education
- When
Fall, 1994 and ongoing
Action
Require all teachers and administrators to demonstrate competency with information technology tools in their professional development relicensing plans.
- Who
Vermont Department of Education
Local Relicensing Boards
Vermont Professional Standards Board
- When
Fall, 1995 and ongoing
Action
Provide a clearinghouse for all school districts wishing to offer professional development programs in the use of information technology
- Who
Vermont State Technology Council
- When
Fall, 1995 and ongoing
Action
Establish regional staff development teams that model the integration of information technology.
- Who
VISMT
VSTC
VETC
- When
Summer 1993 and ongoing
Action
Establish licensure for an "information technology integration specialist" for grades kindergarten through twelfth grade.
- Who
Vermont Department of Education
- When
July 1994
Support
For information technology tools to become an integral part of learning in Vermont schools, the educational and local communities must be nourished and sustained with ongoing support at all levels -- pedagogical, financial, administrative, and technical.
- Action Create a full time position(s) at the state level to help obtain these action steps.
- Who Vermont Department of Education
- When Fall, 1995
- Action Appropriate funds to ensure that Department of Education mandates concerning the implementation of information technology tools are achieved.
- Who Vermont Legislature
- When Fall, 1995 and ongoing
- Action Fund a full time position for Executive Director of VSTC.
- Who Vermont Business Community
- When Fall, 1995 and ongoing
- Action Provide an online telecommunications consultant at Department of Education.
- Who VETC
- When Fall, 1995 and ongoing
- Action Provide technical training for at least one person in each district
- Who Local school districts
- When Fall, 1995 and ongoing
- Action Develop and distribute publications and documents that help teachers plan for, acquire and use information technology.
- Who VSTC
- When Fall, 1995 and ongoing
Planning
Planning is incumbent upon many agencies working cooperatively to develop a statewide plan directly connected to The Green Mountain Challenge.
- Action Adopt and commit to a statewide plan for the implementation of information technology for all Vermont schools.
- Who Vermont State Board of Education
- When Winter 1995
- Action Require local school districts to develop district and building plans which envision the ongoing integration of information technology tools.
- Who Vermont Department of Education
- Local school boards and districts
- When Fall 1995
CONCLUSIONS
The recommendations contained in this technology plan are intended to provide direction to those responsible for the educational enterprise -- the Governor and the Legislature, the State Board/Department of Education and other state agencies, local school districts, teachers and administrators community colleges, four-year colleges and universities, professional associations, business and industry, parents, and students -- in planning for technology initiatives over the next five years. It should be noted that this plan addresses issues concerning all learners, including those receiving services from public and private school districts, teacher preparation and postsecondary institutions, and adult education programs.
Implementation of the recommendations will neccessitate available funds, coordination with other state initiatives, and passage of new legislation. The Department and State Board of Education will work aggressively to secure funding for the implementation of this plan and to promote linkages with the other state agencies, professional organizations, and interested businesses to strengthen the technology initiatives in Vermont. The plan requires a partnership between the Governor, Legislature, State Board of Education, Department of Education, and the state’s educational institutions to improve the quality of education in Vermont and prepare learners for the 21st century.