The marquee event of the first-ever national Digital Learning Day, the National Town Hall will feature live interaction with school sites around the country, profile great teachers who effectively use technology to deliver instruction, and focus on successful education innovation projects that demonstrate how technology can be used in the classroom to improve student outcomes.
Join the thirty-seven states, thousands of teachers, and more half million students who have already signed up to participate in Digital Learning Day by registering to watch this special live internet broadcast of the event on Wednesday, February 1 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., ET.
The town hall will feature U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, who will make a special joint announcement. Additional participants include Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia, and Leon Harris, Emmy Award–winning journalist and news anchor for ABC7/WJLA-TV (Washington, DC) and former coanchor of CNN Live Today, who will moderate the event.
The Town Hall will feature videos on education innovation and select schools from leaders including Sal Khan of the Khan Academy, and showcase four schools live via Skype including
- Englewood High School (Colorado):
With approximately 3000 students PreK-12, Englewood is a uniquely small district in an urban setting. Located just south of Denver, Englewood faces many of the same challenges of a large urban district including an increasing poverty rate, but without the same resources. The Colorado Department of Education had deemed Englewood a "Turnaround" district in 2010. The district undertook immediate reform measures, which have already resulted in some of the largest gains in the State of Colorado in terms of individual student growth and moving up one category of performance from "Turnaround" to "Priority Improvement"in 2011. Englewood is committed to focused reform efforts, many of which are supported through the innovative application of digital resources, including a one-to-one netbook model in several grade levels, the use of interactive whiteboards, blended learning options and a state-of-the-art STEM lab.
- Mooresville Graded School District (North Carolina):
The Mooresville Graded School District is located approximately 30 miles north of Charlotte, North Carolina. A district of approximately 5500 students, MGSD consists of three elementary schools, two intermediate schools, one middle school, and one high school which includes an advanced technology and arts center. Learn more about Mooresville:
Mooresville's Digital Conversion
Education Week: Building the Digital District
- Klein Independent School District (Houston, Texas):
Klein ISD is located about 40 minutes from downtown Houston and has approximately 46,000 students. In 2001, Klein embarked on a journey of technology integration and began rolling out four computers per class in elementary school classrooms, with the long-term goal of transforming learning through technology. Gradually, technology integration spread to all grade levels, most recently expanding to one-to-one computing at the high school level. The decade-long effort of planning, implementation and constant improvement has required hard work, vision, commitment and a significant amount of money, according to Ann McMullan, executive director of educational technology for the Klein Independent School District. But the payoff has been has also been substantial, from academic improvement to the excitement and engagement that’s observable in the classroom.
- New Tech West High School (Cleveland, Ohio):
The unique mission of New Tech West High School is to equip students with strong social and technical skills to produce graduates who are prepared for success in the 21st century workplace. Focused on producing technologically literate graduates that are college ready, New Tech West utilizes a one-to-one computing environment to implement project based instruction. Students are engaged in learning that is relevant, rigorous and focused on building skills necessary to be successful in college and career.
The webcast will also feature special segments that will focus on teachers including
- National Online Teacher of the Year Kristen Kipp from Jeffco Virtual Academy (Colorado); and
- Joseph Isaac, a biotechnology teacher from McKinley Technology High School (Washington, DC).
The town hall meeting will conclude with a special focus on the Reconnecting McDowell project in West Virginia, which is a comprehensive, long-term effort to make educational improvement in McDowell County the route to a brighter economic future. That segment will feature Jim Brown, superintendent of McDowell County Schools, Gayle Manchin, vice president of the West Virginia State Board of Education, and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.