eSchool News has an interesting article today: “Public wants more tech in classrooms”
Poll: Americans understand technology’s importance in schools, but disagree on approaches
By Meris Stansbury, Assistant Editor, eSchool News

The information in the article stems from a survey done in May of 7,000 Americans. The findings are good news if you support technology integration in schools.

Among the findings:

… Americans also believe that the U.S. education system should take a more global approach to its curriculum, the poll suggests. Fifty-four percent of Americans said schools should place a greater emphasis on teaching a global perspective.

… 59 percent of Americans agree that “information technology is a vital tool that can help educate our students by providing access to video and other dynamic content” and that more should be done to incorporate technology into the learning process.

The majority of respondents said technology is an important factor in connecting schools to their communities, as well as in leveling the playing field among more and less affluent schools by providing equal access to educational content.

On the downside they reported: … the poll also asked if “standardized testing is contrary to our education objectives, by placing too much emphasis on individualized testing and incentives to achieve test results that may not reflect knowledge.” While 45 percent of respondents said “yes,” 46 percent said “no.”

Read the article yourself – they also cite experts like Keith Krueger, chief executive of the Consortium for School Networking and Don Knezek, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education.

The links they provide include video of a panel discussion about the findings:

Video of panel discussion
http://www.463.com/Clients/Cisco/

Cisco Education
http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/education/index.html

Consortium for School Networking
http://www.cosn.org

International Society for Technology in Education
http://www.iste.org

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