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Tools and Resources

What the Professional Literature Says About Technology and Learning: An Annotated Bibliography

• Professional Literature
• Research Studies

Professional Literature

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2003). Learning for the 21st Century. U.S. Department of Education: Washington, D.C. Available at: http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/downloads/P21_Report.pdf

Learning for the 21st Century articulates a collective vision for learning in the 21st century and makes recommendations on how to define and integrate 21st century skills into K–12 curricula through four sections:

• Defining the Need for Change reflects on what kind of education connects to students' real lives as well as how people best learn.
• The Six Key Elements of 21st Century Learning acknowledges the importance of traditional core subjects but expands them with missing elements that make the core subjects relevant to the world in which students live and eventually may work. These six elements form the "Bridge to 21st Century Learning"—21st Century Tools, Learning Skills, Core Subjects, 21st Century Content, 21st Century Context, and Assessment.
• Implementing 21st Century Skills: Nine Steps to Build Momentum provides the roadmap for implementing this vision of education both locally and nationally and lists the strategic activities that key stakeholders can do to support the effort.
• Milestones for Improving Learning and Education (The "Mile Guide") is a unique self-analysis tool to help schools and districts evaluate where they are on the road to being a 21st century learning environments.

Lemke, C., Vandersall, K., Ravden, D. (2004). National trends: Enhancing education through technology. SEDTA: Washington, D.C. Available at: http://www.setda.org/docs/SETDANatlReport_022704.pdf

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is the principal association representing the state directors for educational technology. SETDA’s national report highlights state trends in implementing Title II, Part D of No Child Left Behind. This report is the synthesis of data collected from 46 states, representing 92% of the federal ed-tech dollars allocated across the United States in 2002–2003, through a comprehensive survey on the impact of the competitive and formula grant processes of Enhancing Education Through Technology. Survey respondents indicated:

• The competitive grant program has much greater potential for advancing Title II D program goals than the formula program does (excepting those LEAs receiving more substantial formula awards).
• Many states are attempting to stretch state administrative and technical support funds to provide guidance and training in program evaluation; most find that such budgets are used up by the administrative requirements.
• Collaboration and cooperation between federal and state programs is on the rise.
• The expectation is that the formula grants would be used to sustain and maintain current programs, while the competitive funds would be used to take education technology to the next level.
• Even though program evaluation is important, research studies are needed to report with confidence that, under the right conditions, specific uses of technology are effective in improving student learning.

CEO Forum on Education and Technology. (2001). Key Building Blocks for Student Achievement in the 21st Century. Available at: http://www.ceoforum.org/downloads/report4.pdf

The CEO Forum on Education and Technology was founded in the fall of 1996 to help ensure that America's schools effectively prepare all students to be contributing citizens and productive workers in the 21st Century. To meet this objective, the Forum issued an annual assessment of the nation's progress toward integrating technology into American classrooms. This report is the fourth and final report issued by the CEO Forum and concludes:

• That effective uses of technology to enhance student achievement are based on four building blocks:
  • Alignment—across curriculum, learning standards, and objectives;
  • Assessment—advocate for changes in outdated assessments and adopting multiple measures to evaluate student learning;
  • Accountability—use information technology to monitoring student progress, generating and analyzing performance data, gather evidences of what works, and information continuous school improvement planning; and
  • Access and Analysis—equalize opportunities for all students and teachers to use technology.
• Student achievement is defined using 21st Century Skills—digital literacy, inventive thinking, effective communication, and high productivity.

Dirr, P. (2004). Measuring the impact of technology on classroom teaching and learning. ATEC: Alexandria, VA. Available at: http://www.the-atec.org/lib-pub.asp

The ATEC is a consortium of public and non-profit private organizations that provide research-based direct assistance and practical solutions to educators striving to integrate technology into the classroom experience. Produced in partnership with the ATEC, Dr. Dirr wrote this report to help states, school districts, and school personnel plan ways to measure the impact that technology is having on classroom practices and academic achievement. The report is also intended to help technology directors conceive comprehensive and systematic evaluations from which they can develop a dynamic body of knowledge that feeds ever-expanding uses of technology to improve student achievement. Major findings from the report include:

• Encourage SEAs and LEAs to set aside 10% to 15% to evaluate their technology grants;
• Provide a model comprehensive plan for states and districts to consider as they design their own evaluation plans that includes a statement of purpose, identifies clear objectives, demonstrates valid approaches to research design, and specifies appropriate time frames for analysis and reporting;
• Support efforts to develop shared instruments and sets of common data elements;
• Develop a database of “best practices” for technology programs and applications that have shown to support student achievement in scientifically based research studies;
• Develop a list of highly qualified researchers and evaluators from whom SEAs and LEAs can obtain guidance; and
• Explore the development of validated instruments that could be shared across states.

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