The National Education Technology Plan (NETP) was developed to achieve the goal of having the U.S., again, leading the world in college graduates. By leveraging technology and fostering a community of life-long learners, this goal is attainable. The plan is broken up into five categories: Learning, Assessment, Teaching, Infrastructure and Productivity.
For learning, the NETP expects all students to have a "engaging and empowering learning experiences" (National Education Technology Plan [NETP], 2010). There should be a core set of standards that form the basis of what should be learn. And from those standards, students and educators should have the option to design whatever type of engaging instruction needed to accomplish this goal.
For assessment, the NETP expects the education system to develop more authentic and timely ways to measure a student’s success and adjust as needed. This includes the use of data to drive decisions and continually improve learning.
For teaching, the NETP expects all educators to leverage technology to improve learning and assessment and connect students to 24/7 resources. The NETP addresses the technology gap between educators and the 21st century professionals, and expects the education system to develop programs to teach educators how to incorporate relevant technology and integrate connected learning environments.
For infrastructure, the NETP expects all students and educators to have access to a robust and diverse set of technology and access to the various networks needed for successful connected learning environments.
For productivity, the NETP expects the education system to redesign the processes and structures, at all levels, to leverage the power of technology to transform the learning environment to meet the needs of a new generation of learners.
The NETP is a very well defined plan to increase the use of technology to improve the overall learning environment for all stakeholders. One limiting factor that I do not see addressed and is a problem I experience in my own teaching career deals with access in low income populations. My students all have laptop computers provided by the school and have full access to the internet and outside communities while at school. But many of my student's families cannot afford broadband internet access at home and this limits the 24/7 connected learning environments these students can be involved in. I understand that students' home lives may lie outside the purview of the NETP, but until this aspect is addressed, the success of many of the initiatives may be limited. One solution to this problem has worked in my community. The school district has partnered with many local businesses to provide free Wi-Fi access to the students. So, the students may not have broadband at home, but they can visit many businesses around the community to maintain access to their 24/7 connected learning environments.
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