On Jan. 13, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy posted a Request for Information (RFI) on advancing learning technology through “pull” mechanisms.
Traditionally, the federal government has favored “push” mechanisms, such as grants, contracts, or tax incentives, which pay for inputs; a problem must be solved and an organization is paid to try a particular approach, regardless of whether that approach is successful in solving the problem. “Pull” mechanisms, however, pay for outcomes, without specifying a course of action. Established pull mechanisms have been used in government and in other sectors; these include prizes; pay-for-success strategies, such as social impact bonds; and advance market commitments.
OII’s mission is to “accelerate the pace at which the U.S. identifies, develops, and scales solutions to education’s most important and persistent challenges.” An integral part of this work is serving as thought partners and collaborators in considering new and innovative structural solutions. A number of pull strategies are promising and could have strong applicability to learning technologies and our students’ future.
For more information, check out the White House’s blog post on the RFI.
Salutation to all:
As the Principal of a New Specialized Intermediate School here in Caguas, Puerto Rico, our main goal is to establish the correct educational approach to our systematic learning environment. By using the correct technological tools, our students are stimulated an enjoy being in school, they have reinvented their interest in learning by demonstrating that their school is a unified environment, due to the instrument used; such as: iPODS, Computer Labs, Mobile Labs, Skype and Teleconferencing, etc.
We are trying to expand with the help of our Caguas Municipality and our community and our wish is to reach out and demonstrate, how our school functions and what our students are learning as well as how much they have learned with the use of technology as a tool to bridge the deficit that learning without a goal has coursed; since, they do not have a vision as to what technology could offer them in their future perspective.
Tomorrows students at an early age level, need to be given the tool so they would have an out-look for tomorrow future.
We are looking for funds to expand our learning environment and grow as the first Technological Public School here in Puerto Rico.
Please feel free to write to us a the following School address
Escuela Especializada en Tecnologia Gerardo Selles Sola
Prof.Encarnacion
School Principal
Is the Department seeking information “pull” mechanisms and technologies for special education? Is this request strictly for regular k-12 settings and students?
It would seem that the vast amount of mandates and record keeping for special education only goal is to insulate schools and educators from law suits and not to increase the quantity and intensity of services. IDEA is a very “Push” oriented act that does not clearly associate those push mechanism with positive outputs for students with disabilities. Compliance for the sake of compliance is not improvement.
Thank you.