Digital Learning Day

Digital Learning Day is a national day that celebrates and encourages teachers to share successful practices and effective uses of technology in the classroom.  Teachers can celebrate in a number of different ways including:

•  Showcasing success integrating technology
•  Starting a conversation or joining one about digital learning
•  Trying a new digital learning day activity

Visit the Digital Learning Day site where you can learn more about the day, access resources, join in conversations with other educators, and celebrate the successes enjoyed by participants.

The state of Wisconsin has a Digital Learning Site where participating schools can share activities.  Any activity celebrating digital learning, whether simple or complex, is welcome.  Teachers are encouraged to try something new or showcase existing successes on February 6.  

Follow Digital Learning Day on Twitter (@DLDay2013) for updates.  

Digital Content - Another View

Digital content has made many changes since my last post a year ago.  Since then a number of applications (iOS, online) have given end users an opportunity to create their own customized digital content.  At a recent meeting of technology leaders, our group shared resources that might be helpful in creating content and sharing that content with students.

Resources shared include:

iTunes U contains free content for K-12, college and university users.  With iPad integration, users can access information quickly and easily on their mobile device.  An entire course can be viewed on the iPad in iTunesU where students can view videos, read content, take notes, and more.

Khan Academy offers more than 3,800 video lessons for students that demonstrate a wide variety of Math, Science & Economics, Humanities, Test Prep, and Computer Science concepts.  In addition, teachers have access to a Teacher Toolkit that provides information on setting up Khan Academy for classroom use, including individual student accounts.

CK-12 Foundation is a non-profit organization that creates and gathers high quality STEM content including text, video, audio, images, quizzes, and interactives.  All content is open-source content which provides educators with free information to use in designing curriculum and instruction.

 Additional resources will be added in the near future.

Digital Textbooks for Students by 2017

From the SETDA (State Educational Technology Director's Association) site:

February 1, 2012 FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski joined Education Secretary Arne Duncan to unveil the Obama Administration's "Digital Textbook Playbook" to accelerate the K-12 transition to digital textbooks.

The next challenge for schools ---> by 2017 provide digital textbooks to our students.  
Many schools are already exploring the digital tablet market.  In a number of Midwest schools educators are introducing tablets for a number of reasons - to differentiate curriculum, motivate and engage learners, and provide multiple types of resources (flat text, images, video) in one device to name a few.  The changes in tablet devices, apps, and digital text are constant.

We are working with a moving target.

At a time when school districts in Wisconsin are facing financial uncertainty, it would seem prudent to create a consortium of experts to work together to develop digital tools that are relevant, reliable, and cost-effective for all project participants.  Let's work to model the 21st century skills of innovation, creativity, and collaboration for our students to create the best possible foundational tools to use in teaching and learning.


Consider the following infographic predicting the future of digital textbooks: 

Graphic Source:  OnlineEducation.net