Afternoon Announcements: January 31, 2012

Digital Learning Day is almost here and the momentum surrounding the day is growing. As 39 states are now taking part in the first national initiative to integrate technology within the classroom, publications all across the country are highlighting local efforts to get involved. If you haven’t quite positioned yourself to jump on the digital bandwagon, the latest news will surely get you ready to plunge.

The New York Times draws attention to their extensive history of covering technology's role in education applauds the Alliance for Excellent Education’s mission of continuing the focus. Additionally, Education Week gives you a synopsis of just what to expect for tomorrow first annual Digital Learning Day with ways to stay informed about your state's plans ahead of Wednesday's big event.

Senator Tom Harkin Celebrates Digital Learning Day, Announces HELP Hearings On Education Technology

The following blog post comes from U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), the Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

Digital Learning Day is a day to celebrate promising innovations in technology that will help us educate our students to succeed in the 21st century global economy. This is a one-day celebration, but the fact is, digital learning in or out of the classroom is now a daily reality for most students.

All over the country, educators are coming up with innovative ways to help students learn, using technology to individualize instruction or to connect with classrooms in other countries to learn about other cultures. Other schools are increasing the variety of courses offered to students, such as through dual enrollment at colleges offering online courses. Teachers also use technology to access professional development programs, connect with professional learning communities, and download open educational resources.

Department’s Approach to Rethinking Civics Education Gives New Lens Into A More Effective Education System

Earlier this month, Secretary Duncan gave a speech on a 21st century civic education. The speech and the subsequent reports that accompanied it, highlight the depth of an important problem. What’s captured my attention more and more in looking at these reports and statements more closely is elements of a common, coherent strategy to tackling key educational challenges and achieving stronger educational outcomes. There are two striking features of these reports that is supported by approaches the Alliance advocates for. First, there is an emphasis on blurring the lines of what falls in the responsibility of secondary vs. postsecondary education. Secondly, there is an emphasis on changing the fundamental way education is delivered to focus on more active approaches.

Of course the need that gives rise to the Department’s initiative on civic education could not be more important. Education is not only the key to the nation’s economic health, but the nation’s civic health as well. To that end, if a doctor was asked to give a prognosis on the nation’s civic health through students’ civic competency, the nation would fail its’ check up. Governor Wise and other panelists highlighted some of these points this last summer in a 4th of July webinar on the Nation’s Report Card for History and Civics. On the nation’s most recent US History Report Card, less than a quarter of 12th graders were deemed proficient and a significant civic achievement gap persists between racial and ethnic groups. The numbers are unchanged over the last ten years.

Nyssa Arcos Evans: Transforming Schools Through Digital Learning

The following post comes from Nyssa Arcos Evans, a 6th, 7th and 8th Grade Globaloria Educator at East Austin College Prep (EA Prep), in Austin, Texas. Before joining EA Prep, Nyssa was an elementary bilingual educator with Elgin ISD and Pflugerville ISD. While teaching at Pflugerville ISD, Nyssa was a participant in a Model Technology Pilot integrating Promethean technologies in the classroom as well as ST Math and Music in the curriculum. Prior to teaching middle school, she taught 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th grade. Nyssa received her B.S. from TCU and holds a M.S. in Education Media Design and Technology.

What was school like when you were a kid? Were you provided with many opportunities for self-exploration and creation? For me, school was pretty monotonous. Almost everything was taught from a textbook and most of our assignments consisted of multiple-choice worksheets and tedious bookwork. Visiting the computer lab once a month was a privilege, but in some ways it wasn’t much better than the drill-and-kill classroom, with a very pixilated Oregon Trail the only program available to us. Looking back, I can’t help but wonder how I could have really learned anything in such a drab academic atmosphere.

Afternoon Announcements: January 30, 2012

Happy Monday! Break out of your sluggishness by grabbing a cup of caffeine and make use of the afternoon announcements as your newspaper, with insight into the latest in education news.

Michigan is taking a big step in recognizing the importance of early childhood education. In September, public schools in the state of Michigan must offer all-day kindergarten to receive full funding for each kindergarten pupil. According to the Huffington Post, the new rules were approved last year by the state legislature.

Sue McIntyre: Beyond the Digital Curtain- Bringing Technology Into the Classroom and Professional Development

The following article is provided by Sue McIntyre, a composition instructor at Humboldt State University and director of the Redwood Writing Project.

The Redwood Writing Project (RWP) is a National and California Writing Project site located on the rural coast of Humboldt County--a full five- to six-hour drive on winding roads north of San Francisco. Such remoteness offers challenges, and many of our Teacher Consultants (TCs) have found that digital tools are one way to enhance communication with (and between) our students and bring the world on the other side of our so-called “Redwood Curtain” into the classroom. Despite our efforts to keep up with technology, though, few of us are digital natives, and we realize that our students are coming into our classrooms with a whole set of skills we don’t have. To address this gap, we began to inquire into the best practices of tech-based teaching and explore some of the many digital platforms available to educators. For the past five summers, 8-12 TCs per year have participated in summer technology institutes, learning about blogs, wikis, podcasts, glogs, and more. We’ve developed classroom-learning platforms, integrated digital learning opportunities into our current curriculum, and shared our successes and failures. In the past three years, we’ve begun taking what we’ve learned into the community, partnering with K-12 schools and districts and offering technology workshops to teachers throughout the area.

Tip of the Day: 2 days and counting…more than 1.7 million students participating so far!

Tip of the Day:

1.      Public-Private Partnerships Make A Difference In Schools Everyday and Especially for Digital Learning Day

2.      Check List for Digital Learning Day:  Plan a Lesson, Tune-in To The Webcast, Watch the Town Hall

Check out this amazing group of non-profit organizations and corporations that have banded together to make Digital Learning Day 2012 happen.

Visit the “Partners” page at http://www.digitallearningday.org/partners/ to see the broad array of companies and partnerships that were created through this national awareness campaign.  As you peruse that page, please know that these companies have invested in Digital Learning Day to support innovation and great teachers like you.  As you visit their pages, you will notice several partners are offering special offers and product pricing for Digital Learning Day participants.  There is no expectation to buy or sign-up for anything but we would appreciate you noticing their support and perusing their links as time permits.

Checklist for Digital Learning Day

1.      Tune into the morning webcast at http://www.digitallearningday.org. The full agenda can be reviewed at http://www.digitallearningday.org/events/national-events/dldwebcast. 

2.      Plan a Lesson by viewing the resources in the teacher toolkits at http://www.digitallearningday.org/toolkits/teachers/

3.      You are also encouraged to watch the live town hall meeting being streamed via the Internet on February 1, 2012.  You can view this on your own, with colleagues, or as a class. Please make sure to register at http://digitallearningday.eventbrite.com/ to get the directions, bookmark the link, and test your system before the live webcast on February 1 at 1:00 PM Eastern Time.

Bart Goering: Digital Learning Day Promotes Innovation and Student Learning

Bart Goering is Superintendent of Spring Hill Unified School District in Spring Hill, Kansas. He is a member of the American Association of School Administrators (a core partner supporting Digital Learning Day) and serves on the AASA Executive Committee.

Digital Learning is an excellent opportunity for school districts like mine to not only feature the proven education technology practices our district is already undertaking, but to also feature the ever-expanding list of digital learning opportunities our district is providing to meet the ever-changing demands of our 21st century learners.

A priority in our school district is to provide students with a global perspective and experience. We can achieve this through the strategic use of educational technology in classrooms, while also giving them the skills needed for future learning successes. In addition, continuing to integrate technology into our classroom instruction will lead to more project-based learning and increased student engagement, which ultimately translates to higher student achievement.