Some states are embracing technology and work to incorporate it in all aspects of education. From the information posted on the Department of Education website, Virginia schools seem to be ahead of the curve in this aspect. This is certainly something I will bring up during my interviews in Virginia, but I found a wealth of information on website alone. They have an entire section called the Division of Technology that offers information and resources. What I particularly liked was the plan they have in place to integrate technology into instruction. It’s nice to know they aren’t just promoting the idea, but have a concrete plan in place to make it a reality. And, halfway through their plan (which was projected from 2003 to 2009), they have already accomplished more than I’ve seen here in New York (granted, my scope of knowledge is based on working in a lower economic level school district, so I’m sure there’s more going on in NY than I’m aware of with tech integration – I’ll be looking into this as well). There is a section on the site called Virtual Virginia which details their virtual classroom programs, webcasts, and tutorials that are available for students, parents and teachers. I’m finding all of this incredible considering my district barely has working computers for the students and teachers to use.
Virginia claims to be at the forefront of technology intergration and I am glad for that. It is the future and the more positive experiences our children have with it the better prepared they will be for interacting in the digital world. I’m surprised whenever I attempt to use a webquest in class and my students seem stumped as to how to go about it. For the amount of time they spend on the internet, they seem to have gotten very little in the way of valuable tools out of it.
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