Headed to Costco on a Saturday afternoon, you pull your car up to a gas pump, slide your credit card through the reader, select the appropriate grade of fuel and begin pumping. Then you head into the big box store, gather the items on your list, and line them up on a conveyor belt for the clerk to scan and input into the warehouse computer system.
On Monday, you head to the doctor for your annual physical. While he’s talking to you, the doctor pulls up your digital medical file online and reviews your medical history; Then he opens your lab results from an email and shows them to you on the computer screen.
On Thursday, you head to the airport, but before you board your plane to New York, you use the automated self-check-in machine to avoid the lines at the counter. Then you board the plane and the pilot boots up the plane’s computer systems to navigate you to your destination.
Computer technology is a seamless part of our lives, and an increasing number of jobs that previously did not rely on computers – like auto mechanic, teacher, doctor, police officer – now require an extensive knowledge of computer software and hardware.
In order to meet these demands, the U.S. Department of Education released a National Education Technology Plan. It is called Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology. This plan outlines strategic goals for the implementation of technology in classrooms across the United States.
So, we have a plan. But the question that teachers continue to ask DataWORKS when we visit their classrooms is simply, where do we start?
Many schools, districts, and county offices of education have developed plans or rubrics for the mastery of technology in the classroom. The rubric below shows at which grade each computer skill should be introduced, reinforced, or mastered.
