Digital Discourse / Archives for Education

Senate Committee approves reathorization of ESEA

October 25, 2011 By

Last Thursday, the U.S. Senate HELP (education) Committee approved a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), updating the current No Child Left Behind Act. The bill has been stalled for years, though minimal bipartisan support allowed it to move forward at this time with expectations for significant amendment if/when it gets to the Senate floor.

Among the approved amendments were two on the technology. The first, supported by a broad coalition, would add the Achievement through Technology and Innovation Act, providing direct support to states and schools around technology acquisition, implementation and professional development. The second, generally supported by SIIA, would create an ARPA-ED research agency within the U.S. Department of Education focused on learning technology R&D advancement. SIIA will advocate for further infusion of digital learning in ESEA moving forward.

Mark Schneiderman is Senior Director, Education Policy at SIIA.

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Filed Under: Education, Education Policy, Policy Tagged With: , , ,

Great week for IP protection and software antipiracy, Hill resumes privacy, cybersecurity focus

October 4, 2011 By

With two very positive developments, this is a great week for intellectual property protection and efforts to fight software piracy. First, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) was ratified this weekend when it was signed by the U.S. and seven other countries. The treaty represents a major advancement in international cooperation around enforcement of intellectual property laws, as it will encourage and empower nations to work together to stop those who use the Internet to profit from counterfeiting of software. The agreement will also extend SIIA’s reach and ability to thwart counterfeiting – especially operations taking place on foreign websites.

Second, on Monday the U.S. Supreme Court handed a monumental victory on Monday in refusing to hear the Vernor v. Autodesk case. In declining to review the case, the High Court upheld 9th Circuit ruling that the first sale doctrine should not apply to Autodesk’s software because it was licensed — thus Vernor is not permitted to sell “used” copies on eBay. In January 2010, SIIA filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit that advocated for this outcome, and it is now officially confirmed that a one-time payment and/or ability to keep possession of the disk (media) do not transform a software transaction into a “sale.” The copyright owner’s reservation of title and imposing restrictions inconsistent with ownership confirm that it is a license, not a sale.

In other news, Congress’ return means more focus on privacy and cybersecurity on the Hill. Most notably, the House E&C Subcommittee on Commerce and Trade will hold a hearing on Wednesday on the FTC’s proposed revisions to COPPA, and then another hearing on privacy next week focused on consumer expectations. On Thursday the House Homeland Security Committee will Hold a Thursday hearing on cloud computing, with an emphasis in evaluating the security for Federal use of cloud computing.

Finally, the U.S. Senate HELP (i.e., education) committee has announced its plans to mark-up legislation October 18 to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act following several years of hearings and internal discussions. The base-bill is expected to be only a basic package of those issues where there is bipartisan agreement, with other issues and programs left to an extensive amendment process. SIIA expects an amendment to be offered to authorize the Achievement through Technology and Innovation (ATTAIN) Act (S.1178), legislation long-championed by SIIA. Despite the bipartisan support for the legislation, the outlook is still murky, especially now that the Obama Administration’s waivers have relieved some of the pressure.

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Filed Under: Anti-Piracy, Digital Policy Roundup, Education Policy, Policy Tagged With: , ,

Pending Federal Budget Cuts Would Stall Technology-Based Education Innovation

March 18, 2011 By

The use of technology and digital learning in education has reached a tipping point — the conversation has shifted from “if” to “how,” and education leaders are touting digital learning’s power to improve productivity, personalize learning, and expand learning opportunities. Yet, just as the nation’s education system is poised to accelerate technology-based innovation and improvement, a critical U.S. Department of Education program is on the chopping block. House-passed and Senate-proposed bills would zero out funding for the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT; NCLB II-D) program for Fiscal Year 2011 (i.e., 2011-2012 school year).

Advocates are mobilizing to respond, contacting their Members of Congress by e-mail and phone and advocating in-person April 13 (at SIIA’s Ed Tech Government Forum, which will also include speakers on government programs and policies of interest to digital learning providers).

SIIA and several education groups (ISTE, CoSN and SETDA) expressed strong concern in a recent statement: “We are deeply disappointed that despite many Members’ understanding of the vital role technology plays in K-12 education in their states and districts, Congress is on the verge of eliminating funding for this critical program. Elimination of the program also is the surest way to devalue the billions of dollars invested over the last two years on improving broadband access to K‐12 schools and directly undercuts ongoing state and federal efforts to deploy education data systems, implement new college and areer‐ready standards and assessments, and address the well-documented STEM crisis. Our educators and students deserve better, and we urge Congress to reverse course and fully fund the EETT program.”

[3/22/11 Update: 14 U.S. Senators called on the Appropriations Committee to restore funding for the EETT program to the FY10 $100 million level. See their letter, along with a supporting statement from education groups including NEA and NSBA.]

EETT is the only federal education program designed to leverage innovation and technology to adequately prepare all of the nation’s children for the competitive 21st century global economy. Integrating technology among all programs is necessary, but not sufficient, while public R&D supoort is needed but not an alternative for directly supporting schools. This targeted investment is needed to provide leadership and professional development, and to increase the capacity of educators to redesign education to further personalize learning and engage students.

Spread the word to educators and colleagues! Contact your Member of Congress now!

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Filed Under: Ed Tech Government Forum, Education Policies, Education Policy, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,

Just released: Don’t Copy That 2 – School Version

February 15, 2011 By

Don't Copy That Floppy 2 - School Version

For today’s tech-savvy youth, software piracy can be an easy and tempting option. But it’s an option that’s not only wrong–it’s illegal. That’s why it’s so important to reach out to kids and teens about the ethical and legal use of copyrighted materials.

SIIA created Don’t Copy That 2–School Version to educate 6 through 12th grade students about the use of copyrighted materials, such as software, books, articles, music, and movies. The program includes classroom resources and a rap video that addresses the dangers of engaging in piracy and the importance of respecting the creative output of others.

The acommpanying classroom resources include support materials for the video, lesson plans for middle and high school teachers, a glossary, and other resources that can be helpful to educators in teaching these complex and important concepts. The course materials include many of the same concepts for middle and high school students, but use age-appropriate methods. The lesson plans serve as models that educators can customize to their students’ needs. The learning materials have been designed as a series of presentations, discussions, and student activities.

Watch the Don’t Copy That 2–School Version video to learn more about copyright compliance:

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Filed Under: Anti-Piracy, Education Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Education Leaders Identify Top 10 Components of Systemic Redesign to Personalize Learning

November 15, 2010 By

The nation’s education stakeholders increasingly recognize that the fundamental redesign of our preK-12 system around the student is required for our future success. Calls for (e.g., Secretary Duncan) and examples of (e.g., Kansas City) innovative, personalized learning models are growing.

To help give voice and support to this movement, SIIA – in collaboration with ASCD and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) – released “Innovate to Educate: System [Re]Design for Personalized Learning,” based upon the insights and recommendations of some 150 education leaders convened at an August Symposium in Boston, MA (See archive of presentations, summaries and videos). The report provides a primer on personalized learning with definitions and examples and identifies the following essential practices and policies as voted on by Symposium attendees: [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Education, Education Policies, Education Policy, Personalized Learning, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,

Design Fix

July 15, 2010 By

[From a Symposium on Personalized Learning interview series by New Media Partner edReformer.com]

Joel Rose, CEO of School of One in New York City, addresses how personalized learning provides equity of student outcomes, and the need to address the design flaw of the traditional classroom model with with personalized systems and technologies.

Where does technology fit into [personalized learning]?
I think we need school designs that accomplish that personalized vision by integrating, instruction, professional development, leadership, options and technology. It’s one of the necessary components of an integrated design that serves that need. It doesn’t end or begin with technology, but technology is a piece of it.

What are some of the challenges being faced by the effort to bring personalization into the education system?
There is one big challenge, and that’s how nearly impossible it is for an individual teacher to personalize learning for 28 kids, during five periods a day. Even if we do that, it’s not enough. We have to complement the work of great teachers with systems and technologies that can enable personalized learning. It’s a design challenge. [Challenge is] the way we designed our schools, by putting 28 kids in a room, calling that sixth grade and putting one teacher in that room. And making that assumption that a kid can make that one year of growth . . . that’s a design assumption that is incredibly flawed. We are so accustomed to think of school in this way, the idea that there’s a different way of doing it doesn’t really enter into our minds. How we narrowly redesigned roles in school that have kind of calcified how we think about school. A lot of things we have done have just cascaded on top of this system. Until we fundamentally get to this design question . . . “This is where we want kids to be at the end of the year,” “This is the best way of doing that,” until we start asking these fundamental questions, we are going to stay where we are.

Read More from Joel Rose on how personalized learning and technology can address the design challenge of our school model, a roadmap for redesign, and how personalization flips the pursuit of equity from inputs to outcomes.

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Filed Under: Education, Education Events, Education Policy, Events, Personalized Learning, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,

Personalize and Deliver

July 13, 2010 By

[From a Symposium on Personalized Learning interview series by New Media Partner edReformer.com]

Harvard professor Howard Gardner shares his vision for personalized learning in an age of education reform which grows out of his theory of multiple intelligences. Gardner believes the educational world of the future belongs to those educators and technologists who can create robust ways to present important but challenging concepts.

What is your vision for personalized learning?
My vision of personalized learning grows out of the theory of multiple intelligences, which I developed thirty years ago. Personalized learning involves Individuation and Pluralization. Individuation means that each student should be taught and assessed in ways that are appropriate and comfortable for that child. Pluralization means that anything worth teaching could and should be taught in several ways. By so doing, one reaches more students. Today, we live in a computer age. For the first time in human history, individuation and pluralization are potentially available to any young person. And so the ideas of non personalized, remote, or cookie-cutter style teaching and learning will soon become anachronistic.

What are the challenges being addressed and the opportunities being leveraged?
The major challenge is a system that has proceeded for centuries on the basis of ‘uniform’ schooling and uniform learning: teaching everyone the same thing in the same way. That tack has seemed fair, because all are being treated in the same way. But it is actually unfair, because school is being pitched to a certain kind of mind–in my terms, a mind that is strong in language and logic. Added to that is our system of standardized assessment, which focuses on particular bits of knowledge and which often simply presents a set of choices. Once we have more personalized education, we can provide far more realistic assessments and allow students leeway in how they approach the problems and puzzles that they are presented.

Read More of Dr. Gardner’s views on the intersection of personalization and equity, the research on personalized learning, and the role of technology.

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