Maya Prabhu

More students should have access to online learning, and the federal e-Rate program should be more widely deployed and should embrace and encourage innovation, according to the National Broadband Plan.

Just days before the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released applications for the $650 million Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund on March 8, education technology researchers and developers expressed some concerns about the i3 program's procedures and requirements.

While most American schools employ an education-technology leader either full or part time, 17 percent of districts surveyed in fall 2008 reported having no one in place to oversee the use of technology in schools.

To reform the American education system, states and districts need more flexibility, better accountability, more capacity, and a stronger reform environment.

Controlling what children see on TV, online, and in other electronic media requires a delicate balancing act between the First Amendment rights of content providers and the desire to protect kids from inappropriate material.

Karen Cator, former director of education leadership and advocacy for Apple and a long-time education technology leader, will serve as the new director of the Office of Educational Technology for the Department of Education.

Educators need to embrace Web 2.0 technologies in schools, but they should be given adequate professional development to ensure they learn the proper ways to engage their students through digital media.

Education experts are split after a recent proposal published by some influential members of the Democratic Party suggested the government provide electronic reading devices to every student in the US.

States offering students curriculum options that integrate key 21st-century skills would receive matching federal funds through an incentive bill introduced in the Senate May 13 by Sen John D. Rockefeller (D-WV).

In what could be a first-of-its-kind statewide initiative, California education leaders are working together to compile a list of free, open digital textbooks that meet state-approved standards and will be available to high school math and science classes this fall.