Michigan's Merit Curriculum

Last week Michigan's Governor passed into law Michigan's Merit Curriculum. It is the state's attempt to make their high school requirements more rigorous. While New York State has high standards and now the Regents With Distinction Diploma, something stands out about Michigan's new curriculum. What caught my attention is a requirement that all students take 1 credit in online/computer technology. While we are integrating technology into our coursework and students can take courses as an elective, we have yet to make the next leap to make it a graduation requirement. Needless to say, this is something I would strongly advocate for. Not only would this make our curriculum requirements that much closer to what is relevant in schools today, it would be the impetus for all schools to address the need for students to be technologically literate in the 21st century.
Most schools do have keyboarding and have students exposed or required to use word processing or powerpoint. Obviously, I'm taking more sophisticated than that- social bookmarking, online collaboration, video-conferencing, blogging, wikis, etc... Almost all of which is FREE. We all would like computers for every student and more computer labs. Hopefully that will happen. All schools have 'some technology' available to students which could and should exposed them to Web 2.0 technologies. Michigan is taking that leap.
In New York, the Regents have identified technology as an area to address in their P-16 initiative. I do hope that results in requiring students some basic requirement for 21st century technological literacy.
If you want to read more about Michigan's first leap, the link below will take you there.

http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140--152784--,00.html