7/29/2019 ALEC Digital Learning Now!
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igital Learning Now!Y DAVE MYSLINSKI
ehave before us a question. And it's not a ques-tion of if more
technology will move into ourcountry's classrooms, but of when and
how. Asthe vast majority of states move toward imple-
enting online assessments by the 2014-2015 school year,
stategislators are in the middle of abrief window to ensure the
rightolicies are in place that allow access tohigh-quality digital
learn-
for.every student.Broadly, "access" means ensuring all students
are able to uti-high-quality online content, have access
toahigh-speed lnter-
et connection and are able to use Internet-access devices,
whichclude laptops, tablets, and even smart phones. Instead of
ourrrent practices of shutting out technology from education, weeed
to look at policies that allow students to seamlessly movem their
personal lives to their school lives.In collaboration with
education and business leaders and tech-
logy innovators, Digital Learning Now! developed the 10 Ele-ents
of High Quality Digital Lea17ling to provide a comprehensivemework
of state-level policies designed to advance meaningfuld thoughtful
integration of technology into K-12 public edu-tion. These 10
Elements were recognized inALEC'sResolutionpporting the 10Elements
of High Quality Digital Learning in 2011.The 10 Elements are a
guide for state policyrnakers to frame
ow states can best integrate technology into classrooms. As
weove forward, we need to remind ourselves why weneed
digitalarning: Properly implemented digital learning will allow
parentsd teachers to customize ahigh-quality education experience
forch and every student.After all, we oftentimes get caught up in
the process of what
e're doing and overlook the foundational purpose. The mainal of
digital learning-and of all education reform-is to ensurery child
in America has the opportunity to succeed.The future of education
is the "blending" of the best of tradi-al face-to-face instruction
with powerful new tools, content,
d services provided by technology. These are classrooms
wherechnology becomes a learning tool-not adistraction. And
theseclassrooms where teachers are empowered to provide more
dividualized instruction and better leverage their time-a
scarcesource given the demands placed on todays teachers.In many
ways-good and bad-education and health care areilar fields. They
are both highly regulated and fragmented.ey also received
significant public subsidies and provide ser-ces difficult to
measure in terms of specific outcomes. How-er, healthcare is far
more advanced in its use of technology toprove patient care and
electronic medical records to improveality, lower costs, and
increase coordination among providers.ctors have embraced
technology and their outcomes (patientalth) are reaping the
benefits. As teachers embrace technology,eir outcomes (student
learning) will see asimilar improvement.
As technology becomes similarly integrated into education,
wewillhave a flood of data and will be able to track astudent's
prog-ress, and more importantly, be able to anticipate problems and
cor-rect them before a student is stuck with a knowledge gap.
Thetechnology becomes a tool for the teacher tomore efficiently
andeffectively help the student. Another key benefit to
customizinginstruction for each student is the ability [0push each
one at anappropriate pacewhile keeping them constantly engaged.
Lack ofstudent engagement and the subsequent boredom in a
traditionalclassroom is alarge driver of students dropping out of
school.
While wedon't know what the future classroom will look like,wedo
know the classroom of the 20th century isunsustainable forthe 21st
century economy. The 10 Elements of HighQuality
DigitalLea17lingwill freeeducators tomatch the right education
stylewitheach student, and will help ensure all students can reach
their fullpotential.
I~IIIII JI
10 Elem en ts o f H ig h Q ual i ty D ig ita l L earn in g1.
Student Access:All students are digital learners.2. Barriers to
Access:All students haveaccessto highquality
digital learning.3. Personalized Learning: All students
canusedigital learning
to customize their education.4. Advancement: All students
progress basedon
demonstrated competency.5. Quality Content: Digital content and
courses are high
quality.6. Quality Instruction: Digital instruction is high
quality.7. Quality Choices:All students haveaccessto multiple
high
quality digital providers.8. Assessmentand Accountability:
Student learning isthe
metric for evaluating the quality of content and instruction.9.
Funding: Fundingcreates incentives for performance,
options and innovation.10. Infrastructure: Infrastructure
supports digital learning.
DAVEMYSLINSKI is the State Policy Director of DigitalLearning
Now!atthe Foundation for Excellence inEducation. Hecanbe
[email protected].
InsideALEC I J anuary/ February2013 27
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected].
