Group Task: Chapter Four ---IT and Educational Policy-making

Country: U.S
Value given to education and IT:
American education is bolstered by IT education.
IT exposes students to a variety of perspectives and enhance students’ overall learning experience and their partnership.
At the same time, teachers, principals and administrators are able to better track student achievement and adjust instruction more effectively to individual needs.
Curricula can be individualized and adapted to students' specific learning styles.
Instructional technology has the power to enhance overall knowledge accumulation, instead of just focusing on content mastery.
Computer-aided learning is a lifelong learning procedure. It is expected to create the conditions for a creative and knowledge-based society.
Roles of teachers:
Facilitators or coaches // Translators and interpreters of policy
Resource manager // Editor
Planner // Guide
Organizer // Task-setter
Supervisor
Roles of students:
Learners // explorers
Active participants
Life-long learner
Open-minded learner
Collaborator
Creator
Developers in meeting the challenges of increasingly globalised markets
Roles of language and language learning:
Media of communication

Sources of information:
http://www.funderstanding.com/instructional_technology.cfm
http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml

Posted by cheng yanping; liu ran; shao juan; tan dinghua