Celebrate Digital Learning Day

The Alliance for Excellent Education has named Feb. 1, 2012, “Digital Learning Day,” a nationwide campaign intended to raise awareness of teaching and learning through digital media and technology. Thirty-nine states have committed to the event, which is reaching 1.7 million K-12 students. Hundreds of school districts and 15,000 teachers are participating in the event with their own programs, directed by toolkits provided by the Alliance for Excellent Education. All of this culminates today in a “National Town Hall” webinar featuring FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

According to Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia, this all began with one West Virginia elementary school that had its own Digital Learning Day.

“It asked the students for one day to put their pencils down and engage in some aspect of digital learning,” Wise said. “So instead of powering down cellphones, power them up. Use smartphones to do research-based inquiries, to answer questions. It was designed to get teachers thinking about ways that they could better use technology; what kind of innovations could they bring.”

Wise was taken with this idea, and took it nationwide. It’s focused on K-12 schools but Wise said the connection through college and into professional learning and development is clear, as companies are looking for employees who are comfortable with digital tools.

“The corporate world is going to be constantly updating and upgrading its workers’ skills,” he said. “Much of that is going to be online and through digital technology. So I don’t see how in almost any occupation you’re going to make it if you’re not comfortable using digital tools and also learning and constantly upgrading on a digital basis.”

Wise said engaging with digital learning teaches students “deeper learning skills” such as communication, innovation, self-reflection, collaboration and teamwork. “Whether you’re working on an assembly line or in the most advanced IT operation, those are increasingly common skills, and digital learning is a major tool in advancing them,” he said.