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Last updated on 6/25/09
House Education and Labor Committee Holds Hearing on The Future
of Learning
Chairman George Miller (D-CA), House Education
and Labor Committee, held the first in a planned series of hearings
on the Future of Learning, on Tuesday, June 16, 2009. He set the
stage for the series:
In this economy, it is more important than
ever to ensure that every student in every classroom has the opportunity
to grow, thrive and achieve to their fullest potential. This is
becoming increasingly important as our competitiveness abroad has
shifted
. Discovery and innovation are really the only sustainable
sources of economic growth in the world today
.
companies want workers who can work
across companies, countries, and continents. They want the most
diverse workforce in history, to assemble solutions to emerging
problems stemming from the most diverse client base in history.
Unfortunately
That is not todays education system
in America.
Aneesh Chopra, Chief Technology Officer for the
White House Office for Science and Technology, carried President
Obamas message to the Committee. He said:
President Obama is committed to ensuring
all students are trained to use technology to research, analyze
and communicate in any discipline. However, we must integrate technology
into the classroom in ways that research demonstrates truly help
students learn.
Promising approaches include:
- facilitating public-private partnerships in the evelopment of
new curriculum incorporating emerging technologies;
- integrating technology throughout the classroom to transform
the method by which we teach; deploying collaboration tools to
support teachers in sharing best practices; and
- developing better student assessments to allow teachers and
parents to make data-driven decisions on how to improve
performance.
Each of the other witnesses presented his or her
own examples of how technology in classrooms and schools works well
to develop positive results for teaching and learning and, in many
cases, on a cost-effective basis that engages students and educators.
Chairman Miller closed the hearing with comments that we are in
a race to embed technology into education every day so that todays
students have opportunities to develop their skills, talents, and
abilities, and educators are provided the resources necessary to
understand the real time needs of students, bringing out their potential
and excitement of learning. More Future of Learning hearings are
expected in the House education committee.
Read
the testimony from the hearing and view the webcast.
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