The marquee event of the first-ever national Digital Learning Day, the National Town Hall featured a roundtable discussion with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowskion transitioning K-12 schools to digital learning. It also included live interaction via Skype with four school districts in Charlotte, Cleveland, Denver, and Houston; profiled great teachers who are effectively using technology to deliver instruction; and focused on successful education innovation projects that demonstrate how technology can be used in the classroom to improve student outcomes.

The Alliance for Excellent Education held a webinar on January 18 featuring the perspective of districts as well as elementary, middle, and high schools on the power of digital learning and how to participate in Digital Learning Day. The webinar featured Karen Collins, principal of Mountainview Elementary in West Virginia; Noelle Ellerson, assistant director for policy analysis and advocacy at the American Association of School Administrators; Michelle Meehan, a teacher at Kenmore Middle School in Virginia; Eric Sheninger, principal of New Milford High School in New Jersey; and Bob Wise, president of the Alliance and former governor of West Virginia. As members of the Alliance’s Educator Working Group and core partners in support Digital Learning Day efforts, the panelists discussed how digital learning has made a difference in the lives of students and teachers and they described how to get involved in this celebration of innovative teaching and learning. Panelists also answered questions submitted by viewers across the country.

On January 6 the Alliance for Excellent Education will hed a webinar to highlight some successful schools and provide more information about getting involved and learning more about how technology can have a powerful impact. The webinar featured Ann Flynn, of the National School Boards Association; Jayne Marlink, executive director of California Writing Project that is heading up efforts for Digital Learning Day on February 1, 2012 in California; Jason Pittman, a science teacher at Hollin Meadows Elementary School in Alexandria, Virginia who was awarded the Zula International-National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Early Science Educator Award for his outdoor garden project; and Bob Wise, president of the Alliance and former governor of West Virginia. The panelists are members of the Educator Working Group that supports the Alliance’s Digital Learning Day efforts, and discussed how they have seen digital learning make a difference in the lives of students and teachers and elements of success in digital initiatives.

On January 5 the Alliance for Excellent Education hosted a webinar featuring state directors of comprehensive systems for birth-through-grade-twelve literacy development and education—Melissa Colsman from the Colorado Department of Education and Jill Slack from the Louisiana Department of Education.

On December 20  Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia and staff from the Alliance’s advocacy team held a panel discussion of what did and did not happen in 2011 in the way of education policy, and what to expect for 2012. The panelists also addressed questions submitted by webinar viewers from across the country.

On December 14, the Alliance for Excellent Education released new data projecting the economic benefits that would likely come to states if they were to ensure that even their most at-risk students achieved postsecondary success. Participants from the K–12 and higher education sectors shared examples of how this can be achieved, pushing past the traditional idea of alternative education programs and highlighting schools and programs designed to support dropouts and off-track students beyond high school completion and through to a postsecondary credential.

On Monday, December 12 the Alliance for Excellent Education held a webinar that highlighted its new issue brief, “Expanded Learning Opportunities: A More Comprehensive Approach to Preparing High School Students for College and a Career.” The webinar explored how expanding the learning opportunities for high school students can create a range of options for schools and districts as they seek to improve outcomes for students and address the unique barriers that many high school students face that prevent them from graduating ready for college and a career. Distinguished panelists discussed the research and policy context of when, where, how, and from whom students learn; shared insights from innovative initiatives that are implementing “anytime, anyplace” learning to meet the needs of high school students; and addressed questions submitted by webinar viewers from across the country.

On December 9 the Alliance for Excellent Education held a webinar examining the digital learning imperative that faces schools today. The webinar featured Candice Dodson, director of e-Learning at the Indiana Department of Education; Bob Farrace, senior director for communications and development at the National Association of Secondary School Principals; Gilbert Trevino, Superintendent of Floydada school district near Lubbock, Texas; Emily Sheketoff, associate executive director of the American Library Association; and Bob Wise, president of the Alliance and former governor of West Virginia. The panelists spoke about digital learning and how it can benefit students; they also answered questions submitted by viewers across the country.

On November 30 the Alliance for Excellent Education held a webinar examining NAEP results reading and math in brades four and eight. The webinar featured Jack Buckley, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics; Dr. Cornelia Orr, executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board; and Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia.

On November 29 the Alliance for Excellent Education held a webinar featuring two educational leaders—Yvette Jackson of the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education and author of The Pedagogy of Confidence: Inspiring High Intellectual Performance in Urban Schools; and Julie Evans, chief executive officer of Project Tomorrow—who described how to change the essential learning conditions within high schools and provided the pedagogical and technological tools to enable and empower students to achieve high intellectual performance. Alliance Senior Fellow Mariana Haynes moderated the discussion and fielded questions from webinar viewers across the country.