Article link: “Will Arizona lead the nation in K-12 education?”

Francis Hardaway argues in an article published by AlwaysOn that a bill proposed in the Arizona state legistature could improve the state’s educational position by implementing a statewide “eLearning” system. She writes, “Arizona?s eSATS initiative is the first to be designed to transform an entire statewide school system. Its major components include teacher education and development, digital curriculum, well-supported computers and connectivity systems and assessment of student work to state standards in real time. Annual student, teacher and school performance assessments are easily derived from the data system. The two year bridging from legacy education followed by a six year build out is based on best practice innovation diffusion for long-term, systemic transformation. This approach will provide orderly and cost effective eLearning adoption. Under the plan, major K-12 support roles are funded for Arizona?s Universities and for the Arizona Department of Education.“

Outgoing Education Secretary Rod Paige likes this as it is closely aligned with the No Child Left Behind Act, but one has to ask, is the purpose of the implementation of this technology to create tech-savvy or test-savvy kids?

Further reading: eSATS eLearning system for Arizona teachers and students