Cator Previews National Ed Tech Plan

As America's brand-new director of education technology, career educator Karen Cator underscores the determination of President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan to develop "a transformative agenda" for the nation's schools and colleges. She said the Department of Education will unveil the first draft of the administration's National Education Technology Plan next month. The plan will seek to bring to fruition the President's vow to make the United States first in the world in the number of college graduates by 2020 and to give every willing student at least one year of postsecondary education. The plan will address the imperatives of global competition, Cator said, but also will stress the importance of global interdependence. It will focus on ensuring effective teachers are present "in every zip code," on seamlessly bridging the gap between the wide array of technology students use outside of school and the more limited technology available to them in the classroom. She said America's ed-tech plan will promote careers in science, technology, engineering, and math--but now will add an emphasis on the arts, because, as Cator explained, creativity is essential to lifelong success in the age of technology.