South Carolina K-12 Technology Initiative
Introduction
Today’s world is one of incredible innovation and change. It is a world where information and technology change dynamically. Technology has become the global medium for a connected world. South Carolina’s citizens, business leaders and legislators must be proactive and work together to prepare our students for successful, productive futures in the 21st century.
A part of the General Assembly’s proactive approach to addressing technology infrastructure, connectivity and education in the schools was the establishment of the K-12 School Technology Initiative which is guided by a unique public/private partnership. This partnership, which includes the South Carolina Department of Education, South Carolina Educational Television, the South Carolina Budget and Control Board, the South Carolina State Library and AT&T, guides the distribution of funds appropriated by the Governor and General Assembly that collectively meet the state’s needs for software, hardware, connectivity, digital content, instructional technologies and professional development. Listed in this report are many of the major accomplishments of the partnership in actively and effectively addressing the areas above.
In the 1990s, South Carolina took the lead in the nation for supporting educational technology by wiring all schools for Internet access. The state also implemented an enterprise-wide data collection system (SASI) and was only one of a few states to adopt teacher and student technology standards as part of the curriculum. During the ‘90s, South Carolina was referenced as a model and leader in technology implementation by periodicals such as Education Week and professional organizations such as the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) as well as the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).
However, the past few years have seen South Carolina’s early lead diminish with decreased funding for information infrastructure and information equality that made the state a model in the early 1990s. In fact, the costs for technology have continued to rise while funding has decreased to the point where the expenses incurred by the K-12 Technology Partnership in trying to support school districts has now exceeded the total revenue allocated.
An ever-increasing portion of current state funding is required to cover the cost of maintaining schools’ Internet connectivity. This decreased funding will be highly detrimental to the state’s progress especially when considering the growth in bandwidth demand for schools as illustrated in the chart below:
Without adequate bandwidth, schools will not be able to leverage critical programs that have proven value to learning and digital equity such as StreamlineSC, Knowitall.org, Schoolrooms Portal, Digital Information for South Carolina Users (DISCUS), eLearningSC and the South Carolina Virtual School program. Substantial research, such as a study conducted by SREB, portrays business leaders who repeatedly state that the “workforce must be able to use digital information systems and that the key to stimulating economic development is the ability of our K-12 education system to teach 21st century skills – skills that include navigation, the Internet, locating, evaluating, synthesizing and communicating information (Tech Think, 2008).”
The future fiscal stability and growth of our state’s economy depends on South Carolina students’ abilities to use computers and digital information systems in an age of information where the world is at one’s fingertips. In order to stimulate economic growth in the state, our K-12 education system must leverage and teach through educational technologies using interactive learning resources over a robust infrastructure. South Carolina’s students should experience and learn in school how to adapt and operate in the business world that will face them after graduation.
The K-12 School Technology Initiative is extremely proud of its progress in the development and implementation of educational technology as well as the strides that have been made in providing infrastructure initiatives designed to produce more successful students in South Carolina. It is our hope that the leaders of the Palmetto State will continue their history of using the K-12 School Technology Initiative to guide the provision of high-quality, information-rich education for all students.
Read the 2008 Progress Report of the South Carolina K-12 Technology Initiative. (You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the report. If you do not have it, click here to download it for free.)
