Student Opinions to Help Shape
U.S. Education Technology Plan

NetDay and NEA have teamed up to give kids a say in how technology is used to improve their education in the October 29, 2003, Speak Up Day event.

On NetDay's Speak Up Day, some 500,000 students are expected to share their ideas about using technology and the Internet during a national online event. The results are intended to help shape the U.S. Department of Education's National Technology Plan, which is being developed as a mandate of the reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) , also known as the "No Child Left Behind" act.

According to NetDay, a national education technology nonprofit organization, "Today's students are natives in the cyber world; adults are the immigrants. Students use technology like language or currency, without a thought about how or why. Adults have had to relearn how to work, play, and socialize using technology."

NetDay's research shows that students have "very distinct ideas about leveraging technology to improve their education…but for the most part, no one has asked their opinion." With Speak Up Day, students are being asked.

To find out more about how students, teachers, schools, parents, and friends of education can promote and participate in Speak Up Day, visit NetDay's Web site.