As Digital Learning Day approaches, states pledge support

Photo: Laura Devaney

Laura Devaney, Managing Editor writes, "Digital learning can help states address concerns about budgets and can help boost student achievement, a new report argues."




A new report that comes in advance of the first-ever Digital Learning Day argues that digital learning can expand students’ learning opportunities and help schools overcome tough budget situations and boost achievement.

The Digital Learning Imperative: How Teaching and Technology Meet Today’s Educational Challenges (PDF)

The Digital Learning Imperative: How Teaching and Technology Meet Today’s Educational Challenges, from the Alliance for Excellent Education (AEE), comes just one month before the first-ever Digital Learning Day on Feb. 1, 2012.
The report outlines three challenges that the U.S. education system faces:

• U.S. high schools are not improving at a rate that will help all students graduate from college and be ready for careers in a rapidly-changing world. President Obama’s goal, which aims for the U.S. to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020, will not be met unless high school learning improves greatly, the report warns.
• A struggling economy and strained state and local tax bases leave schools with little hope for increased or new funding, forcing leaders to do more with less and carefully evaluate how resources are used.
• Many students are without access to highly qualified and skilled teachers, top-notch teaching strategies, or unique and enriching learning experiences, leaving them at a disadvantage.

For Digital Learning Day, AEE will broadcast a virtual town hall meeting from Washington, D.C., and will link up with four to six satellite locations. Twenty-five partners, including national education organizations and stakeholder groups, have pledged support.

Twenty-eight states have signed up to partner on Feb. 1: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Participating states will customize their own celebrations, which might include a showcase of students’ digital learning work, digital lesson plan contests for teachers, and new or promising digital learning practices.
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Source: eSchool News