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A Call For A National Research Agenda
Federal, state and local spending for educational technology is expected to top $5 billion
dollars this year with increases forecast for 1998. This level of spending is fueled by
the promise of educational technology. The public expects today's schools to prepare
students for tomorrow's workplace and this demands technological fluency and information
literacy. The Milken Exchange on Education Technology's recent national public opinion poll
Preparing our Young People for a Changing World
clearly indicates that the American people understand the new basics in education.
In the information age schools must teach students to effectively and efficiently search, access, sort, analyze, evaluate, synthesize and communicate knowledge. Ultimately, educators, policy makers and the public expect their technology investment to pay off in increased student achievement, workforce readiness, and overall increased national economic strength based on an information-literate citizenry. These optimistic expectations rest on a conventional wisdom that suggests that education can mimic the success and profitability experienced by business and science through technology's integration into many aspects of these endeavors. Yet the outcome for education is by no means certain. To secure the fulfillment of these expectations the nation must set and implement a comprehensive education technology research agenda.
When policy makers allocate resources, when school districts create technology plans, and when teachers attempt to understand and integrate technology resources into instructional practices, solid research-based information should be the guide for these decisions. Most often it is not. What has happened to date is that theories regarding the educational efficacy of technology have been allied with compelling anecdotal accounts of classroom or schoolwide technology successes. Stories of third graders using the Internet, or high school science classes partnering with museums to create compelling virtual exhibits, are plentiful. Hard scientific data guiding technology applications and affirming technology's effects are more rare.
For example, many researchers believe recent advances in cognitive science can best be made to serve education through technology, and continued exponential increases in technology's power will ensure such an outcome. But the fact is we don't know as much as is needed to turn belief into educational gains. Cognitive science tells us that learning is an active process during which children continually create their own mental models as they encounter new material, and that increased learning comes from grappling with complex problems using multiple approaches. Software productively tools, simulations, multimedia and virtual communities, to name a few technologies, are said to assist students in these cognitive processes. However, educators have little systematic guidance to bridge these two domains in instructionally effective ways. Moreover, if we continue with the current system of specifying and funding educational technology research, better guidance is unlikely to become available in the foreseeable future.
Educational technology research is currently fragmented. While outstanding researchers
are investigating significant questions regarding education and technology,
and while some answers are emerging,
these individual efforts will not add up to a coherent national road map
for the effective use of education technology in our schools.
The $5 billion a year we are spending on hardware, software, telecommunications
and training is in danger of being wasted. A systematic plan for creating research-based
guidance on fundamental issues of technology and education is mandatory.
The Milken Exchange is committed to supporting the development of a national research agenda on educational technology. Implementation of this agenda will do much to secure the benefits of technology for American classrooms. As we see it, the creation of a national agenda involves four major tasks that must embrace both public and private forces. These are:
- Catalogue what is known, and identify significant gaps in knowledge
Formulate and prioritize the appropriate research questionsMobilize necessary resourcesDisseminate the results
Accomplishing these tasks depends on multiple stakeholder participation, commitment, and tenacity as well as considerable organization and funding.
The Milken Exchange views this National Research Agenda as a top priority. The real value in such an Agenda will be the learning benefits to students as educators systematically implement the best models to evolve from the research. This systematic approach will maximize the return on the public investment in education technology.
The Exchange will be working with key stake holders from across the nation in establishing, implementing and disseminating this national research agenda. As results are forthcoming, the Exchange will work with decision-makers to translate research findings sound strategic policy agendas.
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