CROWN POINT | Technology experts maintain there is a disconnect between the way students spend their time outside the classroom and the way they learn inside.

They say students spend their time using iPods, e-mail and video games, while inside some classrooms they're reduced to pencils, chalkboards and textbooks.

As a result, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Suellen Reed and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed an Educational Technology Council a year ago to draft a K-12 technology plan for Indiana.

The plan was nine months in the making, and members of the council are quietly traveling the state to talk about it.

Marvin Bailey, council chairman and president of the Corporation for Education Technology, was in Northwest Indiana recently to discuss the Indiana Plan for Digital-Age Learning during a conference with area educators at Crown Point High School.

He talked about grants, engaging students in 21st Century learning, and state leadership and support structures.

George Tachtiris, director of technology and media for the Crown Point Community School Corp., said the plan has been developed but it's going to take many years and lots of coordination and commitment to make it work.

"The issue is how do we prepare students for this new global economy. It's a global society, educationally, economically and socially," he said, adding the plan was very thorough.

The plan asks that educators, the Legislature, schools and communities collaborate, and use a systematic approach to bring students into the digital age.

Larry Veracco, Lake Central High School assistant principal, said he is surprised at how few dollars the Legislature has dedicated to technology in schools compared to neighbors in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio.

"The information shows that we are behind," he said. "We used to receive some money through casino revenue, but those dollars have been significantly reduced."