Digital Transformation
Coverage of the movement away from physical textbooks and classrooms toward digital operations in K-12 schools and higher education. Examples include virtual classrooms and remote learning, educational apps, learning management systems, broadband and other digital infrastructure for schools, and the latest research on grading and teaching.
SRI Education, Columbia University and the nonprofit Achieving the Dream are partnering on a research center to help students learn study skills necessary for success in online learning environments.
Arizona school districts made use of an API system offered by education research nonprofit Ed-Fi Alliance to identify and assist more than 550,000 students in need of free meals during school closures.
Though many students struggled with remote learning, success stories proved it can be a viable model for some. Now K-12 schools have an opportunity to axe the one-size-fits-all approach and build more flexible options.
The IT staff at Colorado’s Boulder Valley School District conducts annual summer inspections of computers, projectors, phones, audio and other classroom technology to make sure it’s ready when kids return in the fall.
The Georgia district approved $53,717 in 21st Century Community Learning Center grant funds to support after-school programs at three of its elementary schools, as well as summer programming.
As the adaptive necessity of telework became a norm for major IT organizations, some found it actually helped productivity. Colleges and universities might take cues from the private sector in how to make the most of it.
In an effort to close the digital divide, the scope of which was revealed when classes moved online during COVID-19, the university is making all new freshman and transfer students eligible for free tablets.
The state is trying to recoup more than $150 million from Indiana Virtual School, Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy and related institutions for allegedly inflating their enrollment numbers and other fraud.
The nonprofit EveryoneOn has helped more than 800,000 Americans find low-cost Internet service and digital resources, and its outreach has only become more important for K-12 students with the advent of remote education.
Recent legislation that intends to close the digital divide still comes with gaps, as Republicans and telecommunications companies oppose municipal broadband as well as regulations to ensure everyone can afford it.
