Provinding the Right Tools to Leverage the Power of Technology And Invest in Education

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President-elect Barack Obama is only eight days away of becoming the new President of the United States and it's interesting to see how everyone wants to be in Washington, ones for the need of going with the flow, some others lobbying, and those who want to break the unions to target education.

While the news is pending of what it'll be the first decrees by appointed President, administrators as much as educators should also begin to push hard for education an education agenda, one that includes a significant key as the internet is.

Let's re-read the article published at BusinessWeek. The authors of Why Obama Can't Ignore Education Tech are plain clear of why even with the downturn of our economy, education plays a key role in our economic recovery.

"School technology investments enable 21st-century learning and provide our current and future workforce with the tools they need to compete and succeed in our globally integrated world. To accomplish this goal, Obama's reported $850 billion Economic Recovery Plan should include two critical components:

1. Investments in school technology and broadband; and
2. Investments in home-to-school technology targeted at low-income families.

Specifically, the federal stimulus package should cover expenses for schools to install or upgrade Internet connections to broadband; hire technical and instructional technology support; and purchase or upgrade hardware, software, and services. And, the home-school investment should enable low-income families with one or more students to purchase eligible learning technology devices (computers, laptops, and other new devices) and educational software, as well as broadband Internet connections.

Short-term economic benefits of this strategy include:

1. Creation of jobs in the technology and telecommunications sectors;
2. School districts hiring technical and technology curricular staff (a vastly understaffed function today); and
3. Upgrading and retooling of school facilities and equipment (which is impossible in the current fiscal environment).

This strategy's greatest impact is that our children would receive an education that reflects the wider world, and would emerge from schooling "future ready" for higher education and our global economy."

What are you doing to make of education a generator of economic benefits?