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Written Testimony of Mark SchneidermanDirector of Education Policy, Software & Information Industry AssociationBefore the U.S. Department of Education’s National Math Panel November 6, 2006; Palo Alto, California

On behalf of the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) and our member high-techcompanies, thank you for inviting me to provide testimony about the role of technology in matheducation. I am Mark Schneiderman, SIIA’s director of education policy.SIIA is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry. SIIA provides global services in government relations, business development, corporate education andintellectual property protection to more than 800 leading software and information companies.SIIA Members:

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Depend on the nation’s schools for a skilled, high-tech workforce and are concernedwith the nation’s challenge in producing students with necessary science, technology,engineering and math skills.

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Seek employees with 21

century skills including in the areas of problem-solving,communication, collaboration, information literacy, computer literacy and the ability to be self-directed life long learners.

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View technology as a core component of modernizing our educational institutions and practices in order to better meet these and other educational needs.And many SIIA members – including Texas Instruments, Carnegie Learning and the MindInstitute – develop and deliver educational software, digital curricula and related technologiesand services for use in education. To that end, SIIA and our members are most interested in the panel’s findings in order to inform their research and development efforts. SIIA members work to ensure their digital content and technology tools are rich and engaging, learner-appropriate,and safe, aligned to the curriculum and state academic content standards, and incorporateeffective pedagogy and instructional design. SIIA and our member companies have longcollaborated with researchers, educators, government officials and other stakeholders to enhancethese innovative technologies and their impact. We applaud the Math Panel’s efforts toinvestigate both the research base and the evidence of effectiveness of math curriculum andinstruction in an effort to guide future research and practice and ultimately improve studentachievement.I was invited to present to you today a framework and context for understanding what, how andwhy technologies are being used today in mathematics curriculum and instruction. I hope this

1outline of the range and purpose of technology tools will help set the stage for the other panelistswho will demonstrate and discuss the related research.My testimony will make the following key points:1.

Educators and students are increasingly employing information and communicationtechnologies to meet their teaching and learning needs, and this use and demand isgrowing in light of various practical considerations and promising impact.2.

We must recognize the technology-rich environment in which today’s students live, andthe impact of that on what and how they learn. Similarly, schools must better recognizeand leverage the technology tools aiding institutions in all other sectors of our society.3.

Math-related educational technologies and e-learning come in many forms, designs and pedagogical approaches and serve many purposes and needs -- from assessment toinstructional management, from tutoring to simulation, and from individual to whole-class instruction.4.

Many technologies can be thought of as tools or alternative means/mediums for achievingtraditional educational needs, adding efficiencies and functionality not otherwise possible, such as the interactive, multimedia smartboard replacing the blackboard. Validevaluation of effectiveness should measure this utility, often an intermediary step toimproved teaching and learning.5.

Differentiated instruction is perhaps the most promising and overarching use of technology to increase student achievement. Sophisticated software provides educatorsthe tools to dynamically assess students, identify learning needs in real-time at a granular level, align curriculum and instruction to fill those gaps, and deliver computer- or teacher-based instruction to address each student’s unique learning needs and pace,including for students with disabilities.6.

Curricular and instructional technologies are dependent on the underlying cognitive, pedagogical and instructional research. These applications should therefore be examined both independent of and in conjunction with this design, distinguishing between thelearning research and the technology value-adds. In other words, the technology is onlyas good as the content and pedagogy it delivers. At the same time, the technology bringscertain utility and functionality that can not be achieved absent this medium.7.

E-Learning is not just for students. Technology can transform teacher professionaldevelopment from a one-time, disconnected activity to a targeted, “just in time” model.Teachers can better leverage anytime, anywhere online learning and virtual peer communities to improve their math content knowledge and teaching skills.8.

While software and digital content are increasingly serving as the core basal curriculum,many are designed and used under the premise that no single instructional material or program is sufficient to address the unique learning needs of each student. Use of

2multiple learning resources and media expands instructional options and allows for reinforcement, remediation, differentiated instruction, and the filling of curriculum gaps.9.

Research into technology’s impact on student achievement and other educational goals is promising. There is solid research showing effectiveness, which will be evident from theother panel presentations. At the same time, as in all other areas of education, theresearch is ongoing and much more must be learned. SIIA members are investing in thiseffort, and they seek public-private partnerships to ensure an ongoing research agenda.Such research must use varied measures and methodologies in light of technology’s manyroles and purposes.10.

Many systemic and practical issues must be overcome to replicate and scale the promising technology successes experienced by some, but not enough, schools, teachersand students. To that end, any research must control for the fidelity of implementation – technology, like all interventions, can not be successful if not appropriately used.My testimony is presented in the following three sections to address these key points.

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First, my testimony will frame the key factors driving the increased interest in, and useof, innovative information technologies to meet teaching and learning needs acrosseducation, including in math education.

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Second, my testimony will describe, and provide a framework for cataloguing, many of the key educational technologies employed in our schools today, with a focus on thosemost relevant to math instruction.

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Third, my testimony will frame and examine several of the key research issues andchallenges facing educational technologies and e-learning.Before exploring these three points in depth, let me first briefly set the scene with an overview of educational technology. From diagnosing learner needs to data-informed instruction/decisionsand from distance learning to individualized instruction, there are promising signs thattechnology is helping improve educational opportunities, productivity and outcomes. We, of course, invite this panel to directly examine that research.Differentiated instruction is perhaps the most promising and overarching use of technology toincrease student achievement. Sophisticated software with rich curriculum and embeddeddiagnostic assessments enables customization to the individual's unique learning needs, styles,and pace, including for students with learning disabilities and other special needs. Instructionalmanagement applications enable educators to assess student skills, and identify and deliver curriculum and instruction to fill in student skill gaps. This individualization can be bothautomated at the student level (i.e., computer tutorials), as well as managed by the teacher (i.e.,use of data to inform and tailor teacher instruction).It is of course also important to clarify between the vision and reality of technology’s use in our schools. The reality is that much is known about how to effectively design and use technologiesto improve education, and many teachers, students and schools are engaged in successfulimplementations today. The other reality is that too few educators and institutions today areadequately successful in adopting these innovative strategies and interventions to drive school