As quoted in:
Dobo, Nichole. “How will the presidential election results influence education technology in schools?” The Hechinger Report. 16 November 2016.
Will schools continue to accelerate the pace of blended learning – which incorporates technology into classes along with in-person instruction? Will states enable schools to pursue personalized learning strategies, which make use of technology to create custom-fit lessons for students?
No one knows.
Doug Levin, president of the consulting firm EdTech Strategies, is worried. “Federal support, affiliation with ConnectEd, Future Ready, Go Open, and the threat of [Office of Civil Rights] action for unequal access, the convenings, speeches, reports and toolkits – all of it, including the personnel – it could get halted, shifted or eliminated on the first day of a Trump administration,” he wrote in a series of Twitter posts.
Fair warning: incoming /rant on #edtech under a Trump Admin /1
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
For all those prognosticating about the future of #edtech under a Trump Administration, here’s the deal: nobody knows /2
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
That doesn’t mean we can’t speculate on what might possibly change – what is immediately at play and what isn’t /3
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
We basically are working with 3 facts that are pertinent to federal #edtech policy and programs /4
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
Fact 1: the SSAEG program is a disaster for #edtech, so there is basically no legislative authority for Fed work in ESSA /5
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
And FWIW, it seems even less likely now that SSAEG will get fully funded than under an Obama Admin /6
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
Fact 2: E-rate is overseen by FCC (which will flip to R leadership) & the issue will likely be overall spending on universal service /7
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
This will put pressure on overall E-rate funding levels; I’d also expect self-provisioning to get revisited /8
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
Fact 3: The rest of the federal #edtech portfolio is all done out of WH & ED discretionary funds under direction of WH/ Secretary /9
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
Everything else that the Obama Admin has done and is doing on #edtech – all the initiatives it has championed /10
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
Everything else including the national edtech plans, all content at @OfficeofEdTech site /11
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
Federal support/affiliation w/ ConnectED, Future Ready, GoOpen; the threat of OCR action for unequal access /12
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
The convenings, speeches, the reports and toolkits – all of it including all the personnel /13
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
It could get halted, shifted, or eliminated on the first day of the Trump Administration /14
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
The innovation and nimbleness of the team at @OfficeofEdTech (and WH) has been – by and large – beneficial /15
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
Although completely insufficient to the broader need for leadership on the issue in the federal, state, and local levels /16
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
Yet, because this authority is not institutionalized in legislation or regulation it is at risk /17
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
This is why a specific, significant #edtech authority mattered and still matters in federal law /18
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
Does this mean that a Trump Admin won’t have an @OfficeofEdTech or use the bully pulpit on #edtech, not necessarily /19
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
Every Admin I have worked with has come around to the fact that #edtech can be a lever to advance THEIR policy goals /20
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
So, this means that IF the @OfficeofEdTech continues to exist, what & how the issue gets talked about shifts, potentially dramatically /21
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
What to make of this then? What do you do if you care about the future of #edtech policy? /22
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
Assemble and champion specific, evidence-based examples of policies and practices that improve outcomes and save money /23
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
Provide policy & personnel recommendations to the Trump transition team ASAP; build allies in Congress and on Committees /24
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
Increase advocacy focus on states: governors, state legislators, state boards of education and state chiefs /25
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
And – above all – be specific: simplistic requests for more #edtech money are guaranteed to fall on deaf ears /26
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
If there is a PD need, e.g., for what specifically, how would it be delivered, w/ what quality assurance, what outcomes to expect /27
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
Oh, and for those working hard on some of those Admin-affiliated #edtech initiatives as I write this, keep up the good work /28
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
But I’d also be thinking of rebranding it ASAP /end rant
— Doug Levin (@douglevin) November 11, 2016
