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Are you interested in digital learning in the elementary school setting? Check out Jeremy Macdonald's blog series.

If you are interested in digital learning in school libraries, check out Robyn Young's blog series.

Check out all of the Alliance's Digital Learning Series blogs.

Recent Blog Posts

• Amilcar Guzman: The Drive for Online Learning in Today’s Schools - February 7, 2013. The following blog post comes from Amilcar Guzman with the Data Quality Campaign. When we think of the technological advances made during the past decade, things that often come to mind are new electronic devices and the growth of social media. These advancements have led to new ways of communicating and working. A rapid area of growth during this time has been online learning. As the number of students enrolled in online education continues to rise it is important to understand how to deliver and assess this type of learning. Read more.

• Michael Golden: Transforming learning: Will you accept the challenge? January 14, 2013. Now is the time for all of us to take on a bold challenge. We need to transform the experiences and outcomes of school. Let’s channel our knowledge of how and why people learn to change today’s classrooms. We need a better way to help students succeed in high school and college. Above all, we must ensure our nation’s youth do not miss out on rewarding careers because they lack the skills and exposure necessary to find personally compelling careers. When we build upon the prior interests and identities of students, and provide them with the opportunity to engage in personally relevant projects, motivation and learning follow. Read more.

• Jeremy Macdonald: Chrometastic Web Browsing - December 13, 2012. The following post comes from Jeremy Macdonald, a 5th Grade Instructional Technology teacher at Mills Elementary in the Klamath Falls City Schools district in Klamath Falls Oregon. In my search for a more productive work experience and a more meaningful learning experience for students, I happen upon little things there and there that, for some, can mean lots. I don't know what browser you're using, but I'm quite fond of Google Chrome. It provides me with the quickest Internet experience, as well as the most innovative approach to streamlining life, work, and play. I've mentioned Evernote once before in these posts, and I still continue to use it in many ways in and out of the classroom. But Evernote + Chrome is a dream-come-true for a techie like me. Read more.

• Cheryl Williams: Step forward with Digital Learning Day 2013 - December 10, 2012. The following blog post comes from Cheryl Williams, the executive director of the Learning First Alliance, which is a core partner of Digital Learning Day. As I ponder Digital Learning Day, another collaborative effort by leaders in education to communicate the potential of advances in technology to support teaching and learning, I’m reminded of the immortal words of baseball great, Yogi Berra, “It’s déjà vu all over again.” While I’ve been an advocate for technology’s appropriate use in the classroom for more years than many of today’s teachers have been alive, I want to use that wisdom (or cynicism….you decide) to remind us what’s important about the Digital Learning Day initiative. I’m optimistic that we are at that point in time when significant change and progress can be made by bringing the promises of the digital world to our schools, students, teachers and communities. Read more.
• Robyn Young: BYOD - Rethink Cell Phone Use in the Classroom - November 27, 2012.The following blog post is a part of a series from Robyn Young, the school librarian at Avon High School and the Avon Advanced Learning Center in Avon, Indiana. She is a former Media Specialist of the Year in the State of Indiana. My cell phone died.  OK – it didn’t die…I killed it. It fell off of my counter and landed right in the middle of my dog’s water bowl. The bowl is only 6 inches in circumference and about one inch deep, but that didn’t matter. I snatched the phone out of the water as fast as I could, but it was too late.  It was dead. And I didn’t back up the data on it. The really bad part is that I’ve always kind of made fun of the people who don’t back up the data on their phones or who aren’t more careful with them, but now that it has happened to me, I guess that it’s really not that funny...

• Dr. Michael J. Martirano: Blended Learning: The Next Major Reform Intervention for PreK-12 - November 20, 2012.The following blog post is part of a series from Dr. Michael J. Martirano, superintendent of St. Mary's County Public Schools in Leonardtown, Maryland. In September 2012, I challenged every educational leader and teacher in America to examine programmatic offerings and interventions that are being implemented in their respective school districts for the purpose of ensuring that every young person is on a positive trajectory to achieve the goal of graduating from high school with the skills that will allow him/her to be ready to attend college and enter the workforce...

• Dana Novotny and Flo Falatko: Baltimore County Magnet School Seamlessly Integrates Technology - November 19, 2012. This blog is a guest post from Dana Novotny and Flo Falatko, educators at Cromwell Valley Elementary Regional Magnet School of Technology in Towson, Maryland. All students at Cromwell Valley Elementary Regional Magnet School of Technology (CVE) participate in a rigorous technology magnet program. This program reflects our belief that in order to be successful and productive in the 21st century, students need to use technology as a tool to enhance their knowledge base and communication skills....
• Kenneth Olson: Movement and Space - November 15, 2012. This blog post is a summary of the post, "Creating a Space for Inquiry" on the blog Inquirying Minds.Mr. Olson, Dean of Students at Plymouth High in Plymouth, Indiana says that integrating technology into the classroom is about more than providing students internet-accessible devices. It can mean transforming the physical space in which students learn ensuring that the classroom design encourages creativity, collaboration and inquiry. Read his post here.
• Jeremy Macdonald: Simply Powerful - November 8, 2012. There are so many tools and apps and widgets and gadgets out there that it is often difficult to figure out which ones are worth your time and which ones are better left alone. But in reality, who has time to figure that out? A while back I talked about the phases or stages of ed-tech. Many of us become enamored with a device or an app before we have a chance to see what the alternatives are. Fortunately for me, I have (or at least I tell myself that I have) time to read up, demo, play with, and try for myself a lot of what hardware and software companies are designing for education.

• Jeremy Macdonald: Going Google - October 15, 2012. The following post comes from Jeremy Macdonald, a 5th Grade Instructional Technology teacher at Mills Elementary in the Klamath Falls City Schools district in Klamath Falls Oregon. Everyone these days seems to have gone Google. I just had the opportunity to participate in Oregon's Google Summit. With the new iOS Drive app and all the daily updates to the Google Apps Suite, it's difficult to find a reason why your district shouldn't be on board with Google Apps for Education....

• Leslie Wilson: Times and practices have changed: A real-life look back to 1964 - October 5, 2012. The following post comes from Leslie Wilson, who is the CEO of the One-to-One Institute and co-author of Project Red and A Guidebook for Change. 

• Jeremy Macdonald: #LeadLearner - September 27, 2012. The following blog post comes from Jeremy Macdonald, a 5th Grade Instructional Technology teacher at Mills Elementary in the Klamath Falls City Schools district in Klamath Falls Oregon.
• Robyn Young: You Don't Know How to Write an Email? - September 25, 2012. The following blog post comes from Robyn Young, the school librarian at Avon High School and the Avon Advanced Learning Center in Avon, Indiana. She is a former Media Specialist of the Year in the State of Indiana.

• Superintendent Dr. Michael J. Martirano: Doing Whatever It Takes for Our Students  - September 19, 2012. The following blog post comes from Dr. Michael J. Martirano, superintendent of St. Mary's County Public Schools in Leonardtown, Maryland.

• Library Media Specialist Sue Kowalski: How an iStaff Engages Students in Their Learning - July 31, 2012. The following blog post comes from Sue Kowalski, Library Media Specialist at Pine Grove Middle School in the East Syracuse Minoa School District, East Syracuse, New York.

• Arizona State Senator Rich Crandall: Celebrating Digital Learning Day at the Arizona Senate - July 20, 2012. The following blog post comes from Arizona State Senator Rich Crandall (R), who represents the city of Mesa, Arizona. Arizona joined in celebrating Digital Learning Day at the State Capitol on February 1st, 2012. 

• James Bosco: How Not to Keep Kids Safe on the Internet - July 16, 2012. The following blog post comes from James Bosco, professor emeritus at Western Michigan University and principal investigator for the CoSN, MacArthur Foundation funded project, “Schools and Participatory Learning: Policy and Leadership.”
• Jeremy Macdonald: Already Thinking About School - July 12, 2012. The following post comes from Jeremy Macdonald, a 5th Grade & Instructional Technology teacher at Mills Elementary in the Klamath Falls City Schools district in Klamath Falls Oregon. Like most summers, I'm never able to get to everything on my "To-Do" list. We all know how this feels. Especially…

• Robyn Young: Digital Learning: So Much More Than Just Using Technology in the Classroom - July 11, 2012. The following blog post comes from Robyn Young, the school librarian at Avon High School and the Avon Advanced Learning Center in Avon, Indiana. She is a former Media Specialist of the Year in the State of Indiana.
• Mark Schneiderman: A Digital Learning Framework for Systems Change - June 20, 2012. The following blog post comes from Mark Schneiderman, senior director of education policy with the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA). SIIA is a core partner of Digital Learning Day

Archived Blog Posts

• Vanessa Jones: Integrating Digital Learning Through Professional Learning Communities - April 16, 2012
• Winners of the Digital Learning Day Video Challenge: Best Middle School Impact Video - April 12, 2012
• Transforming Schools Through Digital Learning– January 30, 2012
• Beyond the Digital Curtain- Bringing Technology Into the Classroom and Professional Development– January 30, 2012
• Digital Learning Day Promotes Innovation and Student Learning– January 27, 2012
• Liter-ology 101– January 27, 2012
• Vision K20: Achieving Personalized Learning through Public-Private Partnership– January 26, 2012
• Do Our Students Have Access?– January 24, 2012
• Deborah Super: Networked Learning for System-Wide Change - January 23, 2012
• Turning the Digital Native into the Digital Teacher– January 20, 2012

• Leveraging Digital Learning for Science – January 18, 2012
• Utilizing Technology in the Classroom – January 17, 2012
• Learning to Manage a Blended Classroom: Tales from a First-Year Innovator – January 13, 2012
• Using Technology to Model Lifelong Learning Beyond the Bell – January 11, 2012
• Creativity in the Technology-Integrated Classroom – January 9, 2011

• Learning Stations To Reach Every Student –January 4, 2012
• It's More About Learning than Digital for LFA  –January 3, 2012
• iEngage- Digital Learning Every Day, All Day – December 22, 2011
• Digital Learning with the NCTAF STEM Learning Studio - December 21, 2011
• What a School Librarian Can Do For You - December 16, 2011
• School Culture is Critical to Sustaining Digital Learning –November 30, 2011
• Kentucky Teachers Using Technology –November 14, 2011