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Every bit more schools move to incorporate technology into classrooms, local leaders often confront tough questions virtually how to make it effective.

Over the next half dozen months, national experts will hop-scotch to a dozen cities to collaborate with schoolhouse leaders in workshops on those questions. If all goes as planned, the superintendents who attend will walk away with solid technology plans that fit their communities' needs.

"What we are trying to practise is help those districts who are really on the leading edge," said Richard Culatta, manager of the Office of Educational Engineering science at the U.Due south. Department of Education.

Duprey shows daughter Allison how to play a game on her tablet. (Photos by Jennifer Dev)
Photo by Jennifer Dev

These workshops are the adjacent step in a national attempt to encourage more than schools to infuse technology into the classroom. This initiative, Time to come Ready Schools, is organized through a partnership between the U.South. Department of Pedagogy and the Brotherhood for Splendid Education, Washington, D.C., policy and advancement organisation.

The conversations are expected to tackle issues such as teacher preparation, student data privacy, instruction and budgets. The organizers say they desire to encourage school leaders to focus on creating educational goals. Schools need to make clear plans for how technology will improve outcomes for students, officials said.

"We accept put upwardly a big stop sign," said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Instruction and a quondam governor of West Virginia. "Plan before you purchase. Don't buy and plan."

Related: A quest for a dissimilar learning model: Playing games in school

The consequences of a failed applied science plan are illustrated in the Los Angeles Unified Schoolhouse District's promise to give every educatee an iPad; the $ane.3 billion try is widely viewed equally a case study in what not to do, and it led to the resignation of the district'due south superintendent. School officials at that place are still debating what to do next. In a report released publicly terminal calendar week, the U.S. Section of Instruction cited lack of planning and poor communication among the reasons why the loftier-profile effort flopped.

"We've put upwardly a large terminate sign: Plan before you purchase. Don't purchase and plan."

"If y'all do stuff wrong, information technology tin be a huge distraction from learning," said Culatta, who added that he believes the success stories outnumber the failures.

So far, about ane,600 school leaders take signed a Future Ready pledge to betoken they are committed to the goals of this program. The regional summits are open to local leaders who accept signed the pledge and concord to some homework in accelerate. The must consummate an assessment at www.futurereadyschools.org, designed as a pre-workshop planning tool that volition assist schoolhouse leaders call back most what they want to accomplish in the classroom.

"This is not about how many computers they accept or the broadband speed," Wise said. "It's more about the culture of the commune."

Related: After xx years, a teacher reinvents her classroom using technology

Bart Rocco, the superintendent of the Elizabeth Forwards School District about Pittsburgh, Pa., is ane of the local leaders helping program a regional top. His district was recognized for its innovative use of engineering science past Digital Promise, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit that spotlights schools with promising ideas for using technology to ameliorate learning. The commune has worked with Carnegie Mellon University to craft lessons that use games in the classroom, for example. Students flourish when given the adventure to learn in ways that make use of technology, he said.

"That's the way they ringlet. That'southward the world they are in," Rocco said. "Nosotros need to brand certain schools are preparing them. And we need to make certain our teachers are prepared for it."

Participants in these summits will non sit through presentations. They volition work together on their plans. The national experts are available to answer questions. These events are being planned with the aid of more than thirty private organizations and dozens of local schoolhouse officials.

"We really tried hard to build a coalition who have really proven themselves in the field over fourth dimension," Culatta said.

The cities in which summit meetings will be held, in chronological club starting Feb. eleven, 2015, are Raleigh, N.C., Vancouver, Launder., Baltimore, Atlanta, Phoenix, Providence. R.I., St. Louis, Mo., San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Dallas.

This story was written pastThe Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, contained news website focused on inequality and innovation in teaching. Read more about digital learning .

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Nichole Dobo is a national writer for The Hechinger Report and she manages audition date strategy. She has more than 15 years of experience writing well-nigh teaching and learning. Her piece of work has been...