Technology is very important to me, however educational technology holds a completely different standard. I am a father, so it is very crucial that my children are in a school district that holds technology at a high importance. Recently, I have noticed more and more school districts cutting costs on this tool, better yet, this need; simply because their view on technology is that it is a cost and not an educational tool.
Social media is a great "free technology" resource for schools to get involved with. Twitter is an excellent asset that can serve many purposes for a district, including; text alerts for students, parents and patrons. Facebook is Facebook - everyone is on it, and it serves as a wonderful tool for sharing articles about student and district highlights, as well as, pictures of events and sharing events. Facebook makes its settings very friendly for education, and it is simple to incorporate in daily communication. Finally, is LinkedIn. What a great way to connect your district with its employees. It can serve as a line of communication, as well as, a great collaboration tool for teachers to share ideas and gain new ones.
School districts need to stop playing the "funds game" and start embracing technology and its capabilities. Students are advancing far ahead of their teachers because school administrators will not spend the money for educators to get the technology-professional development that they need. To wrap things up, here is a great post from the International Society for Technology in Education's LinkedIn Group Page:
I think most people agree technology is not being used in our schools at the level we now expect it to be. There are numerous reasons/theories as to why we are not using what schools already have in terms of technology. Yes, money is always a valid argument, and so is the lack of training for our teachers. In the end, another year will pass and sadly another generation until some "formal" action is taken to resolve this issue. Mandate the use of technology in our curriculum? Require technology certification(s) from our teachers? Require a standard 20 hours of professional development annually?