Educational leaders in Michigan recognize that we are at a tipping point. In eleven years since The World is Flat (Friedman, 2005) was published, the Internet, digital explosion, and global interconnectivity have changed the game. Yet education has remained essentially the same as it emerged from the industrial revolution. Preparing students for their future in 2016 and beyond requires a major shift in schooling. The good news: conditions are in place for a breakthrough in educational design in Michigan. The decision to move beyond the tipping point to support this transformation is reflected in the goals and strategies of MI Roadmap: Transforming Education Through Technology (MI Roadmap).
From Commitment to Action
Over the past ten years, Michigan educators and policymakers have charted new paths in infrastructure and system development that now position our state to be able to accelerate efforts to transform learning. Leveraging both state and federal funds, educators have built infrastructure, designed an online assessment system, created professional learning opportunities, and developed instructional resources.
Partners in this work include those within K-12, business, higher education, professional organizations, and community partners. Across organizational boundaries, colleagues are pushing each other to design new learning paths and systems. This collective accountability is sparking new ways of thinking. It is with this level of commitment to the transformation of learning for every child in Michigan that MI Roadmap was created.
Michigan has helped lead the way in many elements required to transform the vision of learning. It was among the first states to launch a virtual university, adopt an online learning requirement for every high school student, support flexible school-day schedules, create nationally-recognized professional learning resources for teaching in the 21st century, design a statewide infrastructure to connect every school building, and successfully launch statewide online testing. Specifics of these elements are described within MI Roadmap. It is upon this foundation that we can successfully move forward.
For more information and to view the MI Roadmap, visit techplan.org.
Source: Michigan Department of Education