MMS Education, an organization that helps for-profit and not-for-profit organizations reach, engage, and measure impact in the PreK-20 education market, published a survey last month that detailed an expected general rise in educators’ use of social media, with an unexpected increase in use of social media sites designed specifically for Read more
This Tuesday, the Alliance for Excellent Education will host a webinar entitled “Perspectives on the Future of Teacher Preparation in the Digital Age.” The webinar will be moderated by Mary Ann Wolf of the Alliance for Excellent Education. The panelists, who will provide a diversity of views from different perspectives Read more
Juan Williams of the Wall Street Journal recently wrote an article about technology-based personalized learning strategies being employed across the country that have shown success. Excerpts from the article are below. …Prize-winning documentaries such as “Waiting for ‘Superman’” have revealed the terrible cost of losing young minds to failing schools. Read more
On August 1, the Alliance for Excellent Education began an unprecedented digital process asking the American public to participate in developing major new state legislation designed to make digital learning and educational technology available to all students around the country. The proposed draft legislation, titled the Each Child Learns Act, Read more
The first wave of petitions calling for technology professional development for all educators were delivered last week to Senator Patty Murray (Washington), and Representatives Lucille Roybal-Allard (California), Duncan Hunter (California) and George Miller (California) by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). More than one thousand educators are urging Read more
Resource Watch: ‘Pinteresting’ Idea for Teachers – Teaching Now – Education Week Teacher. Grockit, the online test prep company, has recently launched a new social learning site similar to Pinterest, but designed specifically for educators and students, according to The Journal, an education-technology news magazine. On Learnist, users can “pin” Read more
The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) has released a series of case studies from 28 states highlighting examples of innovative educational initiatives that are playing a crucial role in improving K-12 education across the country. The programs identified in these case studies were funded through the Enhancing Education Through Read more
Across the country, state education agencies have begun to institute new offices to specialize in innovation—searching for new ideas and helping them to make it into education policy. The “new ideas” cover a variety of areas, from teacher quality to online learning, which means they “transcend the assigned duties of Read more
A recent study released by the Pearson Centre for Policy and Learning examines how teachers are beginning to embrace new technologies, such as Twitter, to “take control of their own professional development, finding new ways to learn from each other; to reflect on their own practice, and to develop learning Read more
The Fordham Institute released a report focused on teachers in the digital age, particularly on the issue of if, in the near future, traditional teachers could be replaced by full-blown digital instruction delivered online. The authors claim that as digital learning become more widely used, “solid instruction in the basics Read more
Last week, the Departments of Education and Defense announced the pending launch of “Learning Registry,” an open source community and technology designed to improve the quality and availability of learning resources in education. Learning Registry is not intended to be an alternative to existing websites, but rather a communication system Read more
In the new era where teachers have little time for face-to-face interaction with colleagues and district budget cuts limit professional development opportunities, educators are increasingly turning to online communities (or professional learning networks, PLNs) that allow them to share lesson plans, teaching strategies, and student work, as well as collaborate Read more
The International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) recently released their revised standards for online teaching to ensure that students engaged in online learning have access to quality education. The new standards differentiate between two sets of indicators: the first are what the online teacher should know and understand; the Read more
Jack Schneider, postdoctoral fellow for innovation in the liberal arts at Carleton College, recently blogged for Education Week’s “Teaching Now” blog on the “mania” for educational technology. He touches on the apparent consensus that the solution to the nation’s education problem is new technologies: smartboards in every classroom, iPads for Read more
The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, a non-profit advocacy group, is collaborating with Qualcomm, Kajeet for Education, and HTC to launch an initiative designed to “empower pre-service/student teachers with advanced wireless technologies.” The project will promote communication, collaboration, and the availability of resources for first-time teachers. Five universities Read more
A report released July 25 by Bellwether Education Partners sought to answer a crucial question: Did the Investing in Innovation (“i3”) program successfully find truly innovative ideas to improve K-12 education? The report is the culmination of interviews with dozens of i3 applicants, winners and philanthropists, plus a review of Read more