Technology Policies and Planning
National Educators Association
The National Educators' Association, sometimes at odds with school boards, has elected to offer a variety of resources about technology as well as other topics like "Health, Safety of Gay Students" and "Modern Schools - Better Learning". Their Parents section offers topics of interest to parents of school aged children.
Pew Charitable Trusts
The Pew Charitable Trusts issue focused reports about Internet usage, such as the changes after the September 11, 2001 tragic bombings as well as school-specific topics. The data would be credible and compelling for school decision-makers.
Scholastic Administr@tor
Scholastic Administr@tor magazine contains articles about instructional technology as well as educational leadership in general.
At one point, the online education discussion groups were abuzz with a story about some dedicated teachers whose well-conceived technology plan was rejected outright by the local board.
As the saga unfolded, it turns out that the staff had not conveyed their vision to any policy-makers prior to the meeting. If the groundwork had been laid, doubtlessly the staff would have been successful in gaining approval. Instead, the meeting degenerated into a discussion of inappropriate uses of the Internet, clearly gleaned from the media, and costs versus benefits.
