Introduction
E-learning policy has been in America for several decades to improve teacher and student experience in the classroom. Education stakeholders have different perceptions of e-learning policy, arguing that it has little impact on students' performance. E-learning policy is a technology determinism process where teachers and students use technology intending to improve the learning outcome. E-learning indicates that there is a need for encouraging the continuous application of internet, television, video streaming, and multimedia approaches to facilitate the teaching process. The integration of the e-learning approach in the United States started in the year 1983 through the New Five basics that required computer science to be included in the basic subjects. The commitment to improving the level of technology started in 1996 when Congress intended to allocate resources capable of equipping teachers and students with digital learning skills.
NPBEA Standards Associated with the US E-learning Policy
Professional Standards for Educational Leaders requite educational leaders to operate with a very high rate of professionalism to acquire a particular goal (National Policy Board for Educational Administration, 2015). As a result, every education program should have a well-outlined approach that defines the professional code of conduct for leaders. In the US e-learning approach, education leaders focused on ensuring that education leaders act ethically to promote academic success for all students. For instance, policy formulators required all students and teachers to have universal access to computers and technology in classrooms as a way of achieving improved academic performance and outcomes for teachers. Universal access to computers and technology in the school will help education stakeholders to promote fairness and thus making education more accountable for teachers, parents, and the community. Effective leadership also requires educational leaders to exercise professional norms to ensure that there is the development of students’ academic success and well-being. In the e-learning instructional strategy, technology was designed as the priority for teachers to ensure high academic performance among the students.
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Professional Standards for Educational Leaders required education leaders under the e-learning policy to ensure that there is an establishment of resources to facilitate student academic well-being. Under this professional code of conduct, educational leaders were required to allocate resources for acquiring computers for teachers and students. Students should also administer a training program for teachers to apply the skills necessary for improving education performance for students (Roumell, Erichsen & Salajan, 2013). The implementation of e-learning indicates that all students and teachers will have the ability for equipping students with all the skills and expertise required to receive e-learning goals. In an attempt to achieve these operational set standards, the department of education allocated resources capable of creating improvement in the learning approach to improve the outcomes of knowledge in the community and future generation. The education leaders facilitated this strategy through the creation of mechanisms for removing barriers that could prevent students and teachers from purchasing digital and technological devices.
Importance of E-learning Policy to Schools
E-learning policy was selected as an appropriate approach for preparing the future generation in the United States to be more educated and committed to improving technological skills. In the 1990s, the world was marked by tremendous changes facilitated by the rate of technological innovations. These changes drew the attention of many education leaders leading to the formulation of the first plan in the year 1996 to improve teacher and student experience in the classroom (Roumell & Salajan, 2016). Innovations and changes in the American economy facilitated the interest of e-learning approaches in elementary and secondary schools as an appropriate way of producing children that can better fit in the needs of the economy. Computer technology started taking roots in the United States in the 1990s. However, elementary and secondary teaching approaches never emphasized the importance of using technology as a teaching approach. In effect, the US Congress implemented e-learning as the first approach for increasing the level of economic for the United States with other countries. The effectiveness of the e-learning policy in improving education is attributable to the enhancement of ways for giving instructions in the classroom.
E-learning program has a significant impact on general public schools and professional working environment. For instance, there is a possibility that public schools that implement technology in teaching and learning have record positive results in education performance. Technological teaching approaches such as the internet, technical support, and online materials have played a significant role in helping teachers and students to reap all the benefits associated teaching and learning process (Roumell Erichsen & Salajan, 2013). Currently, the current program focused on implementing technology only in teaching and learning activities. The benefits accrued from the implementation of this approach indicate that expansion of the application of technology in schools will result in the improvement of education of a future generation. In the education profession, e-learning will be a viable approach for ensuring that teachers facilitate learning even without physical interaction with the learners. Consequently, technology will increase the level of flexibility, thus increasing the level of creativity in the teaching profession.
Impact of Historical Educational Leadership Theories and Ideas from the Past on E-Learning
Historical education leadership theories played an essential role in creating a starting point for developing the policy and convincing people to support the program. Ancient leadership ideas provide a basis for analyzing the concepts and ideas that have been implemented in the education sector, thus identifying the strengths and weaknesses for future changes. For example, the historical context for curriculum reform is that education stakeholders willing to create a difference in the education system should play an essential in identifying the source of the problem and formulating ways for solving such issues (Roumell Erichsen, & Salajan, 2013). This principle may have played a critical role in implementing e-learning policy by creating awareness for all education stakeholders such as the federal government, local government, teachers, parents, and students. This process may have increased awareness and collect views that would impact the performance of the program.
Historical leadership theories and ideas also played a role in convincing people in different leadership stages to evaluate and give contributions to the US e-learning policy. For instance, the concept of a technological education plan originated from the US secretary for education in the year 1996. However, educational leadership has different departments and stakeholders who had to be involved in the education reform approach (Bush, Bell, & Middlewood, 2019). Therefore, success for this policy required transformational leadership theories to facilitate the sharing of ideas and views of the issue before implementation. The education reformation program also needed to be presented to all the leaders convincingly to address issues such as resistance to change and budget allocation by the Congress. People usually have different perceptions regarding the effectiveness of a particular policy. As a result, the success of the strategy required analysis of facts from the previous reforms and citing of evidence of the consequences to win the national and local government loyalty for fund allocation.
Pros and Cons for US E-Learning Policy
The US E-learning has various advantages to teachers and students in public schools. For instance, the e-learning approach increases the level of effectiveness, especially in giving instructions. Communication through improved technology avenue has created a chance for teachers to give instructions and receive feedback from a large group of students (Hošková-Mayerová & Rosická, 2015). As a result, the cost of operation is minimized as costs associated with transport and paperwork is reduced. In situations where teachers and students get adequate training, e-learning provides a basic understanding of technical skills needed in the future work environment. For example, the e-learning program ensures that students and teachers use technological devices daily, thus becoming conversant with the required skills.
Despite the benefits associated with the e-learning approach, the program has disadvantages reflected through increased suspicions from different stakeholders. For instance, the sides affected by the e-learning approach may fail to be interested in the application of technology in learning. For example, some students and teachers may prefer using traditional teaching methods to e-learning. Under such circumstances, there may be a creation of resistance to change, thus minimizing the effect of the program. For instance, the implementation of e-learning failed to achieve the set objectives because some of the stakeholders were less supportive of the program. E-learning is also associated with high costs, especially in acquiring resources such as computers and training to acquire the expertise needed to increase the effectiveness in the policy. This issue has been an underling aspect that contributed to the failure of the US e-learning policy to succeed. For example, despite the commitment of federal and local governments in supporting schools to adopt an e-learning program, only 4% of the public schools in the United States had computers for facilitating teaching and learning (Roumell & Salajan, 2016). This score was associated with the absence of adequate funds for purchasing computers and devices for supporting e-learning.
Desired Ramifications for US E-Learning Policy
In an attempt to improve the effectiveness of the e-learning approach, the following recommendations have been put in place. For instance, the federal government has focused on ensuring that there is an allocation of resources needed in improving facility e-learning requirements. The National Center for Education proposed that there is a need for ensuring that the government installs internet hardware and connectivity in schools. Infrastructure covers different changes, such as acquiring computers and access to the internet. For instance, the changes should be laid following the recommendations in the K-12 Schools to the Information Superhighway.
There is also a need for increasing the funding for implementing the e-learning process in the United States. These funds will be directed towards the acquirement of technology and commitments in ensuring schools have the required technology training tools. For instance, there is a recommendation that approximately 5% of the expenditure for college and public secondary schools should go to educational technology. The implementation of the budgetary allocation needs to be accompanied by a cost-effective analysis approach to compare the costs and outcomes associated with the diversion of resources to e-learning tools.
The current e-learning policy includes a focus on the importance of diversity research and evaluation for all education stakeholders. Successful implementation of e-learning policy also requires increased diversity research, evaluation, and assessment for all stakeholders. Investment in education in educational technology in schools has been in place for over the last 20 years. However, the process has not been effective in achieving the desired results on students and adoption by teachers. The state of the education technology indicates that there is a lag in creating receiving support from all educational stakeholders. For example, private and public institutions have been reluctant to allocate funds to support the program. These challenges can be addressed by increasing diversification in the e-learning program.
Action Plan to Change the US E-Learning Policy
In an attempt to ensure improvement in the current state of the e-learning policy, there is a focus on implementing the following changes. All in the United States need to have access to the internet and multimedia resources as essential tools for facilitating the adoption of e-learning approach. This strategy seeks to ensure that there is an increase in the percentage of schools with access to computers from 4% to 100% (Blomeyer, 2002). This process requires equipping all classrooms with the first internet connections.
Increased collaboration from education stakeholders also should be accompanied by connecting all the schools with a research network. This process will enable both teachers and students to have access to e-learning requirements. This process will be accompanied by increasing the ratio of computers to children in all public schools. This approach is designed to ensure that the issue of deficiency in implementing the e-learning policy is handled successfully. This process ensures that there is a ratio of 5:15 students for each multimedia computer.
The plan also seeks to create support services and educational resources such as e-learning platforms for teachers, parents, and students. This policy will focus on ensuring that all the critical stakeholders in the education department have access and see the value of implementing change in the e-learning policy. Support programs also need to change the education policy to meet the current standards-based on information and communication technology.
Collaboration in support of the e-learning policy can also be achieved by extending the training program to all school leavers (Alamin, Shaoqing, & Le, 2015). The objective of this approach is to ensure that people develop a positive attitude towards the e-learning program. This strategy will be implemented after all teachers have been trained to acquire the required skills for the improvement of the program.
Written and Verbal Communication of Policy
Collaborative communication strategy also needs to be allowed to achieve a significant change and improvement in the existing e-learning policy. For instance, there will be a need for holding a meeting with key stakeholders such as teachers, students, government officials, and the education leaders. Physical discussion meetings provide policy drivers with an opportunity for convincing stakeholders to accept the proposed changes (Alamin, Shaoqing, & Le, 2015). Policy developers also get immediate feedback from stakeholders, thus divining a mechanism for addressing the source of issues. However, such communication strategies may turn out to be expensive because of travel and allowance requirements.
The collaboration of the policy change suggestions requires the application of online guided discussions to facilitate knowledge and skills to stakeholders. The written guidelines help teachers and students on mechanisms that they can apply in an attempt to integrate the e-learning practices in the education program (Roumell & Salajan, 2016). The strategy plays an essential role in equipping the stakeholders and integrating knowledge on how such systems work in the country. This communication approach is necessary because it acts as a source of firsthand information to educate people on strategies for addressing these changes.
Budget Implications for the Policy Change
The proposed changes in the e-learning policy indicate that there will be a need for adding budget allocation for with an objective of creating effectiveness in the e-learning policy. This information implies that the US federal government, local government, and private sectors should increase budgetary allocation for e-learning policy. For instance, there will be a need to increase the number of computers and extending internet networks in schools. Purchasing more computers need more funds to achieve the expected student-computer ratio. The cost of equipment in the United States is approximately $632 (Blomeyer, 2002). Consequently, there is likelihood that the government and schools will divert most of their resources in acquiring resources for implementing the policy change. For instance, schools will increase spending on e-learning from 5% to approximately 8%. Federal and local governments will also have to raise budgetary allocation to enable education to create infrastructural facilities for e-learning. The policy change also seeks to incorporate school dropouts in the process. Consequently, there will be a need for creating training centers and provide necessary materials for implementing the program. Campaign awareness to different stakeholders also increases transport costs, which drive the demand for accommodating the changes in the policy.
Timeframe for the Plan
The time frame for the policy change plan should take approximately 2-3 years. The change process requires the allocation of all the resources and research of possible social and economic effects that should be included in a policy. For instance, training teachers in different regions require the allocation of resources, and implementation of the program can take two years. The two years’ time need to ensure that teachers develop all the skills and knowledge that will be applied in transforming knowledge to learners. The digital technology shows that people need to develop a positive attitude towards the importance of e-learning and transmit these skills to the students within two years. Two years will also be required in allocating resources such as trainers, and training centers to facilitate the transfer of technology needs to the public and school dropouts. The change should begin by allocating funds for researching to identify the possible risks associated with the program and intervention strategies for minimizing the challenges associated with policy change.
Conclusion
E-learning education policy is an outdated program that needs several changes to match the modern requirements of the standards of education. The historical implementation of the US e-learning policy in the United States reflected the standards of education. The historical educational leadership theories and ideas played an essential role in understanding the context for developing the e-learning policy. Ineffectiveness in the implementation indicates that there is a gap between policy formulators and stakeholders in the education sector. As a result, the system needs to have a significant change focusing on both infrastructural and commitment to a successful training process. The first approach of the policy change needs to focus on implementing a training program for teachers. Diversified research and commitment to bringing all key stakeholders to research and identify the sources of a gap and possible solutions. Infrastructural changes are some of the origins of challenges such as shortage of computers and internet networks. Proposed changes in the policy seek to implement strategies for supplying such resources to schools. Collaboration needs to be facilitated through written and verbal communication strategies. The timeline for the proposed change is three years. This timeframe is adequate for allocating resources and diving strategies for minimizing the level of risks associated with the change in policy.
References
Alamin, A. A., Shaoqing, G., & Le, Z. (2015). The Development of Educational Technology Policies (1996-2012): Lessons from China and the USA. International Education Studies, 8(6), 142-150.
Blomeyer, R. (2002). Virtual schools and e-learning in K-12 environments: Emerging policy and practice. Naperville, IL: North Central Regional Educational Laboratory .
Bush, T., Bell, L., & Middlewood, D. (Eds.). (2019). Principles of Educational Leadership & Management . SAGE Publications Limited.
Hošková-Mayerová, Š., & Rosická, Z. (2015). E-learning pros and cons: active learning culture? Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 191, 958-962.
National Policy Board for Educational Administration. (2015). Professional standards for educational leaders 2015 .
Roumell Erichsen, E., & Salajan, F. D. (2013). A comparative analysis of e-learning policy formulation in the European Union and the United States: Discursive convergence and divergence. Comparative Education Review, 58(1), 135-165.
Roumell, E. A., & Salajan, F. D. (2016). The evolution of US e-learning policy: A content analysis of the National Education Technology Plans. Educational Policy, 30(2), 365-397.
