As students here at USC growing up through the age of technology, we all have first

hand experience of how different types of technology in the classroom can shape a student’s
ability to learn. Educational technology is an ever-growing concern for us sitting in this virtual
classroom, educators and students at all age levels. According to the University of San Diego,
educational technology is the technological tools and media that assist in the communication of
knowledge and its development and exchange. By this definition, computers, smartboards,
virtual reality, and even personal communication devices such as smartphones can be
categorized as educational technology. This in turn raises the question of what technology
should be introduced to the classroom, and how policy should be created for appropriate and
fair implementation of these practices.
There are a multitude of perspectives on this issue that arise from parents, educators,
and educational researchers. All tend to agree that technology should be implemented at the
highest benefit of the students, yet they disagree on what level policy should be implemented.
The three main levels of focus are federal, state, and local policymakers. I believe policy on
educational technology should be created and enforced at the state level with the aid of a board
of educators to give insight to the needs of the students. Proponents of federal policy cite the
ability of the national government to create a fair ground and equal access to technology among
all schools in the country. State and local policy supporters both support a more personal policy
making process that is specific to their area. The difference here is that supporters of local
policy find individual districts creating their own policy to be the most effective, while the state
supports a slightly broader focus of policy for all the districts in the respective state.
Though all of these have fair ground, I support the perspective that technology should be
implemented at the state level with the aid of a local board of educators to best suit the needs of
the students and for the students’ highest benefit. One benefit of state-level policy is that it can
be personalized to the needs of the local students as determined by the teachers on the board.
This places an important responsibility on the educators’ knowledge of development and
educational needs and the state policy makers ability to understand the local situation and
resources available to best suit these needs. According to the University of San Diego, many
teachers that are considered most successful in implementing technology in the classroom have
masters degrees in educational practices. Their higher-level degrees allow them to fully
understand the needs of their students and how to best provide for these needs in regard to
technology. This understanding of education at a higher level greatly aids the policy makers in
creating adequate laws when needed. Educational technology opens access to many
opportunities that have not been available before. By allowing states to create policy, they can
closely work with specific districts that are lacking in their achievements without limiting the
districts that are achieving high marks.
The state-level policy also allows schools to create infrastructure at the pace they can
achieve rather than a generalized plan established by the federal government. For example, the
South Carolina Department of Education created a 2020-2024 educational technology plan to
provide up to date learning devices and internet access at schools and homes by 2024. This is
a need for South Carolina, as our education system is further behind other states, while some
states may already be well beyond this goal today. If it were a broad federal goal, some states
would be limited by these policies while others would be scrambling to achieve this goal in time.
 One issue that arises with the state government policymaking is equity among states.
There is no denying that some states have a higher quality of education and access to
technology than others, and many claim that federal regulation can aid in bringing those not
meeting the same success up to the level of those who are. According to the world population
review, Massachusetts is ranked first in the nation for public education, while New Mexico is
ranked last.
Though the federal government is seemingly able to create policy that forces equality
among the states and provides equal opportunity to students of all income levels, the reality is
far from that. According to the Southern Regional Education Board, when state and federal
guidelines do not align, districts inevitably become confused and either leave work undone or
repeat unnecessary work. This causes a lack of efficiency in schools due to the confusion of
staff and ultimately hinders the ability of teachers to teach and students to learn. Additionally,
many policies created by the federal government in education have good intentions but actually
create unnecessary barriers. For example, many financial aid policies are based on “seat time”
or how many hours each student is present in class per school year. Though this seems fair and
a good measure of learning, it does not account for the new remote learning and self-paced
courses that are readily available in most schools today.
Overall the important focus of what and how technology is implemented into education is
not based on the quantity, but rather the quality of the technology used. Ultimately, state level
policymaking in regards to educational technology is the most efficient and personalized method
of determining how this technology can be used. Though some believe in local and federal level
policy making, these methods are either too broad or too specific to be applicable and
enforceable in many regards. Some states are going to need rapid policy, some are going to
need slower policy to build infrastructure, and some are going to need completely different
things than others. It comes down to the connection and understanding between the state
policymakers, the educator and their students, and by forming this connection the many benefits
of educational technology can be given to as many students as possible with fewer hiccups
along the way.