THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

 

TO:	The Honorable the Members of the Board of Regents
FROM:	Theresa E. Savo
SUBJECT:	USNY Technology Policy and Practices Council:  Activities to date and schedule for further action
DATE:	June 6, 2006
STRATEGIC GOAL:	1, 2, 5
AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

Executive Summary

 

Issue for Discussion

 

          The USNY Technology Policy and Practices Council (TPPC) is identifying the use of technology as it is applied to teaching and learning.  The Council has engaged subject matter expertise to assist in identifying technology-related policy issues that require Regents review and action.

 

Reason(s) for Consideration

 

          Board of Regents request for updates on Council activities.   

         

Proposed Handling

 

          The co-chairs of TPPC and David Walsh, Chief Information Officer, will discuss their activities to date with the full Board at its June 2006 meeting.

 

Background Information

 

          The USNY Technology Policy and Practices Council was established in March 2004.  The Council was created to advise the Regents on effective use of technology in achieving Regents goals, particularly in closing the performance gaps in K-12 education; advise on potential policy issues that related to technology; report on the use of technology to improve student performance, train teachers and professionals, provide educational and cultural content, and assist those with disabilities; and map the current technology capacity of USNY institutions.

 

 

The Council is comprised of 28 members from public and private K-16 institutions, BOCES, libraries, museums, public television, teachers’ unions, and community-based organizations.  These representatives were identified and endorsed by the Regents Quality Committee.

 

Recommendation

 

          The Board of Regents will continue to support the work of the USNY Technology Policy and Practices Council.

 

Timetable for Implementation

 

          With Regents support, the activities described in the attached report will continue to move forward.

USNY Technology Policy and Practices Council

Report to the Board on Actions and Initiatives

 

Meetings to Date

 

          The full Council has generally met quarterly.  Agenda items have included:

 

• Presentations and reports from State Education Department Deputy Commissioners on the use of technology to achieve Regents goals, and their vision for how technology can be used to further our aims.
• A series of presentations from Council members on the impact of technology within their USNY institution. Our first presentation on higher education technology use was delivered at our last meeting.
• Identification of a focused framework for study of technology use within USNY. This served as the core document used in the Council’s RFP for the technology study.
• A demonstration of the Virtual Learning System (VLS) and discussion of its implementation.
• A presentation by SED staff on the State Technology Plan submitted to the federal Department of Education in 2005 in order to meet requirements for distribution of federal technology grants.
• Presentation and discussion with Commissioner Mills on “SED of the Future” and the importance of technology in that vision.

 

          The Council is expanding its own use of technology to enhance its work.  We have used videoconferencing to increase attendance and communication at our meetings.  We have also set up an online secure web site to share documents and exchange materials.

 

Technology Study

 

The Council has hired the Metiri Group to study the use of technology within USNY.  The final report from Metiri is due in March 2007.  Specifically, Metiri has been asked to identify methods and approaches in three areas:

 

Digital Capacity - Assess and analyze current digital educational network capacity across New York State, and describe alternative models for building capacity, infrastructure, and access;

 

Digital Content - Assess and analyze current digital educational content across New York State and across USNY, and identify approaches to coordinate and distribute digital content to classrooms and homes in New York State; and

 

Digital Use - Assess and analyze current uses of technologies in teaching and learning across New York State and across USNY, and identify methods to  increase effective use of technologies and digital content in teaching and learning.

 

          The purpose of this process is to provide enough substantive detail in the investigations to develop a statewide vision for technologies in education.

 

Identification of issues

 

          The Council has identified a few clear issues that require monitoring and potential action.  In some cases, we are sharing information and monitoring the issues; in other cases, we have created a committee and assigned an issue for review and action.

 

• Federal and State funding - The Council created a Legislative Advocacy committee to monitor and share information about technology funding issues, particularly at the federal level.  Both the eRate program and TitleIID (technology grants) funding stream have been under review the past two years, and may face substantial cuts.  We have engaged with the SED legislative office to express our concerns in writing.

 

• Broadband connectivity - As more and more educational content is available in digital form, it requires higher bandwidth connections to schools, libraries, museums, and other institutions to provide access.  SED and TPPC representatives held a one-day symposium in March 2006 that brought together USNY representatives to review the current state of network connectivity within and between USNY institutions.  The goal will be to work with Metiri in identifying the broadband gap.  This is also part of a larger question revolving around equity and barriers to success:  what hurdles exist in meeting our joint goals, and how can technology assist in overcoming those barriers?  Where is lack of access to technology creating its own barrier to success?

 

• Emerging technologies - Technology changes.  How do we identify and evaluate emerging trends in technology tools for educational settings?  How do we identify the tools that will be used in educational settings five years from now?  We have created a committee to not only identify best practices, but to collect studies and research on future visions of technology in education.

 

• Mission and vision - What is our vision for technology in USNY?  The Council has already begun to draft a document, but believes that this vision will be enhanced based upon the findings of the Metiri study in early 2007.

 

Deliverables and Timetable

 

·       October 2006.  Metiri makes a preliminary report to the TPPC of its findings.

 

·       February 2007.  Metiri presents its final report to the TPPC.

·       June 2007.  Preliminary report on findings to the Board of Regents.

 

·       November 2007. TPPC submits recommendations for actions to Board of Regents.  Build a timeline for working with various USNY sectors to weave technology policies into legislative priorities, SED policy and recommendations for local USNY policies.

 

·       Ongoing.  Report to Regents regularly to create an ongoing dialogue about technology policy in the service of closing the gap and raising standards for teaching and learning in New York.