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T.H.E. Journal Presents "The Congress on the Future of Content"April 1, 2008—Rapidly changing technologies and the many demands on educators deeply affect what and how educational content is delivered in today’s classroom. In order to ensure all students receive high quality instructional content in this fluid environment, T.H.E. Journal organized The Congress on the Future of Content with the support of a consortium of leading education and publishing groups including AEP. T.H.E. Journal recognized this time as an opportunity for publishers, school officials, and policy makers to engage in a dialogue to answer these three basic questions: What is the vision for content in education over the next five years?; how might that content be delivered?; and what barriers do you see in implementing that vision? The Congress looks to make recommendations and create action steps to address the barriers, and, as a living ongoing initiative, it hopes to become an annual event. The Congress itself takes place May 8 and 9 at the Gaylord Convention Center in Washington, DC. In preparation, two field hearings were held to get input from superintendents, technology coordinators, curriculum supervisors, textbook officials, and other state education officials on the above questions. Those hearings were held earlier this year in Austin, Texas, and Orlando, Fla. The states were chosen because they represent two of the three largest student body populations, and their adoptions influence the content and form of many instructional materials. Many of the panelists discussed access to digital and electronic content as a major part of their vision for the future. Most agreed that access to high quality content for all students was just as important as hardware and Internet access. Many examples of innovative curriculum projects were cited. These included projects in Arizona and Florida. An Arizona math pilot for 10,000 middle school students includes a 1:1 computing environment with access to a complete digital curriculum with formative and summative assessments. In this case the software developer also serves as the prime vendor. This is a new model that may change the way that business is done in that state, according to Cathy Poplin of the Arizona Department of Education. And in Florida an instructional method called Glides is currently in use, according to Jeanine Gendron of Broward County. The strategies include using the Internet for project-based learning where content is co-created, shared, and delivered by the students. The larger vision is that all materials should eventually be available online with publishers submitting instructional materials in lesson plan form online. Other major components of the vision include an emphasis on strong professional development, flexibility of content to meet different learning needs, and a central dashboard or other interface where educators can organize their lesson plans, track attendance and formative assessment information, and anything else they need to get their complicated jobs done. When states were asked, "What are the barriers to your implementation of this vision?" the primary answer was funds. Recently released information estimating that almost half of the states will be facing a budget deficit this year is putting a damper on implementing plans to upgrade existing technology, purchase new curriculums, or even make textbook adoption purchases. Florida cut $300 million from its education budget, and the state will not have the funds to make the recommended $300 million instructional materials purchase as recommended by the Florida Association of District Instructional Materials Administrators. Other barriers cited were: the adoption process itself, the lack of understanding in legislative bodies about the impact of adoptions, and the need for digital rights management and the design of materials. The culmination of the hearings is the Congress in Washington, DC. Policymakers from the US Department of Education, legislative representatives, and other national policy stakeholders will be informed of the hearing testimony. The Congress will conclude with the recommendations and action steps to set a course for the development of content over the next five years. The initiative is led by Dr. Geoffrey H. Fletcher, Editorial Director of T.H.E. Journal. Before joining T.H.E. Journal, Fletcher was an assistant commissioner at the Texas Education Agency (TEA) where he had responsibility for curriculum, assessment, textbooks, technology, and professional development. During Fletcher’s tenure at TEA, Texas created the first, state-wide, long-range plan for technology, enacted a $100 million annual technology allotment, and passed the first "electronic instructional media system" funded by state textbook funds. For more information: | ||||
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The Association of Educational Publishers | ||||
