Robert Craven: iEngage- Digital Learning Every Day, All Day

The following article comes from Robert Craven. Robert is an educator with a technology obsession. An educator for over 15 years now, Robert quickly realized the impact technology made on both his teaching and student learning; this discovery started him on his endless journey into the integration, development and practice of technology and curricular integration. Robert is an Apple Distinguished Educator, Google Certified Teacher, and was recognized as one of the 5 “Best of ISTE” presenters in 2007, 2009 and 2010. His work involves online learning, mobilelearning, professional development training and much more. Contact Robert on Twitter via @digitalroberto and via e-mail atcravenr@svusd.org or digitalroberto@gmail.com.

Every day is a digital learning day for students. It might not be occurring in schools or classrooms around the nation, but you can guarantee that the second students leave school grounds they’re using technology to learn (most are using it covertly in class, but we’ll talk about that another time). The analogy of schools to airplanes fits so well, “Welcome aboard, today we’ll be learning, please sit up straight, put your tray table up, and turn off all electronic devices. There is one exit row at the back of the classroom, not to be used...” and just as we tune out the instructions on the plane, so too do students tune out their teacher. Yet, as soon as we land and the school day is over students take out their devices and begin learning again.

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Stats that Stick: December 21, 2011

States that are seeking to limit the level of online interaction between teachers and students: 12.

California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia all have school boards that are updating or are revising their social media policies this fall. Many of these reviews come after parents have complained of inappropriate materials posted on personal pages of teaching professionals.

States that will share $500 million in early-learning grant money from the "Race to the Top" competition: 9.

California, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington will share money to aid the nation's youngest learners as part of President Obama's "Race to the Top" grant competition. The initiative had states competing for federal dollars to create programs that focus on K-12 education in order to make schools more effective. 

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Digital Learning with the NCTAF STEM Learning Studio

The following article comes from Melinda George. Melinda is the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the National Commission on Teaching & America’s Future’s (NCTAF). Contact Melinda at mgeorge@nctaf.org.

An algebra teacher, a biology teacher, a media specialist, an English teacher, a social studies teacher, and an engineer are sitting around a table…  Sound like the beginning of a bad joke?  Actually, it is a recipe for ensuring that every student is provided quality teaching in a school organized for success.  Add in robust, targeted technology and you have a learning environment that engages students, professionalizes teaching, and brings about deeper learning for both students and teachers.  This is what the National Commission on Teaching & America’s Future’s (NCTAF) Learning Studios are all about. Learning Studios create a culture of collaboration among teachers across different disciplines with support and resources from community content experts. This purposeful collaboration inspires and engages students and brings positive results in student achievement.

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Afternoon Announcements: December 20, 2011

Good afternoon. The Alliance brings you seasons greetings, holiday cheer, and education news. Enjoy!

A large focus for education reform experts has been minimizing the achievement gap that exists between White and Asians students and their non-White counterparts. Education Week reports on the existence of a diffrent type of achievement gap often overlooked. According to new data, African-American students whose primary language is English perform worse on math and reading than Blacks who speak a different language at home.

Just how vital are scholarships? In 1988, two philanthropists give college scholarships to a group of fifth graders from Maryland and their journeys were chronicled by The Washington Post magazine. Learn just how critical scholarship aid is to education and personal development as brought to you by NPR.

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Alliance Policy Staff: Deeper Learning in the Heartland

Getting out of Washington, DC and into some schools is the best and likely one of the most important parts of a policy nerd’s job. I spent a day earlier this week doing just that in Minnesota. I visited three different high schools that part of the Minnesota-based EdVisions Schools network (www.edvisionsschools.org).

By way of history, EdVisions was started about 20 years ago by a small group of Minnesotans who were interested in developing a new type of education. As former educators from traditional education programs, the EdVisions team specifically looked at the things within a traditional education system that prevented students from being productive and engaged leaders in their own learning process.

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What a School Librarian Can Do For You

The following blog post comes from Robyn Young, the school librarian at Avon High School and the Avon Advanced Learning Center in Avon, Indiana. She is a former Media Specialist of the Year in the State of Indiana and is a member of the Digital Learning Day Educator's Working Group, which provides leadership on the Digital Learning Day toolkits and outreach development for teachers and administrators across the country. Contact Robyn at rryoung@avon-schools.org or on Twitter @ahsbooks. Read other blog posts from the Digital Learning Day Educator Working Group. Learn more about Digital Learning Day at http://www.digitallearningday.org.

Classroom teachers are overworked. If you are in the trenches doing the job, you already know this. You've got lessons to plan, individualized instruction to prepare, data to record, and attendance at the various PLC meetings that are supposed to help you get better at doing all of it. Where is there time in all of this to learn new technology to integrate into your classrooms?

That's where your school librarian can come in and help. A school librarian has been trained in utilizing technology in the classroom and is a certified teacher as well. When I got my Master's Degree in Library Science, half of my classes were technology classes that taught the integration of technology into the curriculum. Your school librarian has had similar training and can be there to teach you the latest and greatest stuff that you can easily use with your students. Not only that, but you don't have to be an expert in how to use the technology, the school librarian will come in and teach your students how to use it, and be there to support the students when they have questions. Sounds easier than trying to do it yourself, doesn't it?

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Afternoon Announcments: December 15, 2011

Good Afternoon, it's almost the weekend so hurry through your evening. But don't rush through the latest in education news.

It looks like someone in the Department of Education needs to reassess their calculation skills. According to the New York Times, a new study by the Center for Educational Policy found that the Secretary of Education largely overstated the percent of schools nationwide that are failing under the No Child Left Behind act. While Secretary Arne Duncan initially reported 82 percent of schools are failing, it turns out that in reality, it is slightly above half of that- 48 percent.

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Afternoon Announcements: December 14, 2011

More like evening announcements? Enjoy the latest in education news as you make your way through the rush hour commute. 

Being unemployed in this economy is not uncommon and incredibly difficult. But being unemployed and uneducated may just set you back even more. Education Week reports that the U.S. House of Representatives is considering a bill that would require Americans filing for unemployment insurance to have a high school diploma or GED in order to receive benefits. Those who don't must be working toward one. Ouch.

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