State Events!

Alabama

The Alabama State Department of Education (SDE), Technology Initiatives office, ACCESS Distance Learning, kicked off Digital Learning Month (DLM) on February 6, 2013. DLM™ focus used Alabama™ digital story to showcase ways of using contemporary tools to ensure Alabama students are college- and career-ready. The SDE, in partnership with the Alliance for Excellent Education, participated in the national Digital Learning Day campaign. Governor Robert Bentley also proclaimed February as Alabama Digital Learning Month. Virtual field trips (VFT) through interactive videoconferencing (IVC) included: Dauphin Island Sea Lab™ shark dissection and a live estuary exhibition of marine animals and plankton; NASA and Space Camp with sessions on Living in Space, Toys in Space, and Career Opportunities; UAB's T. J. Atchison Spinal Cord Research facility™ investigation and cutting-edge discoveries with stem cells in curing paralysis; Helen Keller Foundation™ spokesperson, great-grand-niece of Helen Keller, Keller Johnson-Thompson, about America™ First Lady of Courage; Josh Johnson and the weather team from WSFA-TV; Justin Martin from Outdoor Channel™ The Season and his life as an outdoorsman and businessman; Farley Nuclear Plant™ overview of the nuclear plant operations; Alabama Archives and History Architreats with Fred Gray, attorney for Rosa Parks discuss Civil Rights World in Alabama 1961-1963; and the Pro Football Hall of Fame™ artifacts and historical documents they have to offer. Students were also able to take an electronic field trip of the U.S. Capitol as well as participate in a Reading Discovery session with Mrs. Barbara Bush. Professional development opportunities for teachers held through WebEx and livestreaming TV included: Alabama Virtual Library (AVL) topics about resources for elementary, middle, and high school teachers provided by EBSCO; scientific-based research about the effects of artificial sweeteners presented by Faulkner University™ research department; and higher-order thinking using the iPad, presented by Technology in Motion trainers. All IVC sessions were recorded and are available at http://tcs.asc.edu. The WebEx sessions were recorded as well and are available on the ACCESS Distance Learning website, http://accessdl.state.al.us, click on Digital Learning Month. The flyer, with complete information on each session can be found here as well.

Arkansas

From Thursday, November 1, 2012 through Friday, February 1, 2013, the Arkansas Department of Education will be electronically collecting educators’ responses to the following question: How are you using technology to prepare your students for the challenges of the college classrooms and careers of the future? As responses come in, they will be reviewed and evaluated for inclusion in a special Digital Learning Day collection on the Arkansas iTunes U website.

Alaska

The Alaska Department of Education is sharing digital stories in their state. Teachers, students and community members are building 2-minute videos to share stories about what it's like to be a teacher in Alaska. All videos are uploaded to SchoolTube and shared in Alaska's Digital Sandbox.

For more information contact Roxanne Mourant, [email protected]

California

From January 21 – May 31, 2013, the California Writing Project (CWP) will coordinate the Digital Learning Day and Beyond initiative, comprised of three components:

Upstanders, Not Bystanders: A Digital Call to Write and Call to Action invites teachers and students, K through university, to write digital genres about historic, public, or personal upstanders. Through podcasts, videos, blogs, Voice Threads, Glogsters, and more, students will describe how this person is an upstander and explain why their upstander serves as a call to action. Educators will work with CWP and Common Sense Media to showcase students’ digital writing on a variety of public forums.

Teaching the New Writing and Reading conference and regional follow-up programs focus on digital teaching and learning strategies that support the Common Core State Standards and foster readiness for college and career writing. 

Digital Citizenship Month, co-sponsored by Common Sense Media during May, will celebrate student writing produced from January-May and also bring students, educators, and parents together to learn strategies for being responsible, thoughtful digital citizens and upstanders in the face of cyberbullying.

For more information, link to: http://www.californiawritingproject.org/digital-learning-day.html.

For questions, contact Jayne Marlink: [email protected]

Colorado

The Colorado Coalition of Cyberschool Families is holding its annual Day at the Capitol on Digital Learning Day, February 6^th, this year! This a free event for all students who attend a Colorado public online school, their families, teachers, and school choice advocates to come together to learn and play.  The day will begin at the new History Colorado center with various activities for everyone to enjoy. We will then march over to the State Capitol for the rally. We are excited to be partnering with Governor Hickenlooper’s office this year to celebrate digital learning! The rally will feature speeches by various legislators and other state leaders. Participants will also have the opportunity to tour the Capitol building, as well as explore History Colorado. For more information, please visit our website and the event website at . You may also contact Alexandra at (303) 892-9100 x 19. 

Delaware 

It is with pleasure that the Delaware Center for Educational  Technology (DCET) in conjunction with the Digital Learning Cadre (DLC),  announces its first Online Professional Development Conference. This event, to  be held in celebration of Digital Learning Day, February 6, 2013, will be a  first-of-its-kind for Delaware educators.For more information please http://www.dcet.k12.de.us/DDLCOnline/index.shtml or contact Wendy Modzelewski.

Florida

In honor of Digital Learning Day on Feb. 6, 2013, Florida Virtual School is celebrating with the: STEM Modeling Challenge Are you interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, or Math?  How often have you asked yourself, "When will I ever use this?" Find the answers by participating in the STEM Modeling Challenge^©.  FREE registration is now open but the deadline is Jan. 31. Don’t miss this opportunity to use your problem-solving skills to win cash prizes!  For details and contest rules, visit http://smc2013.weebly.com/.

Idaho

In celebration of Digital Learning Day, the Idaho State Department of Education is sponsoring several awards for best practices in technology integration! Here is some more information. Enter your classroom in the Idaho Digital Learning Day Awards Program! Are you a classroom teacher in grades K-12 with a great lesson, art project, or video of classroom integration of technology that you would like to share with educators statewide? For more information, visit Idaho's Digital Learning Day page.

Indiana

Join Indiana as we launch our “Year of the Digital Learner” by offering an entire month of Digital Learning Opportunities this February! Beyond participating in the National Digital Learning Day on February 6th, and encouraging all our Hoosier educators to register on the DLD site. Indiana will offer three Digital Learning Month opportunities that includes: the 28-Day Web 2.0 Challenge, the #IN28DLD Photo Challenge, and our Indiana Pinnovation Board on Pinterest. Please visit our website for all the details: Indiana Digital Learning Month.

Kentucky

The Kentucky Department of Education website will broadcast DLD and a webpage will be created containing links to school district sites that are actively participating. DLD promotion in various KDE communications such as the KDE Commissioner’s fast five weekly email sent to all Kentucky K-12 Superintendents/Principals and Kentucky Board of Education members, the Monthly Webcast for District CIOs and the KDE Commissioner's Weekly Update sent to all KDE staff. Kentucky is working with their Educational  Recovery Specialist (ERS) within the state to promote activities planned on a district level. Visit www.education.ky.gov or contact Amy Young.

Maine

Want to beat global hunger while improving the intellectual strength of your students? The Maine Learning Technology Initiative, Alliance for Excellent Education, and Freerice are challenging students and sports fans, young and old, to team up for a different kind of bowl game this January and February—the RiceBowl—with the goal of beating global hunger by getting smarter through an adaptive computer-based activity. The RiceBowl Challenge offers participants the opportunity to join one of two teams (AFC or NFC) to compete for the Digital Learning Day Championship. The challenge begins at 12:00 a.m. on January 21, 2013—two weeks before the NFL Super Bowl—and ends on Digital Learning Day, February 6, 2013, with results tallied daily.

Massachusetts

Massachusetts will be celebrating Digital Learning Month in February 2013, with the national events on February 6 as one of the focal points. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is encouraging schools to share their successful digital learning practices with other educators and with the community at large by planning local events and submitting videos of their best digital learning practices.  

Nevada

On Digital Learning Day, Nevada will showcase school successes in the capital building and the Nevada Commission on Ed Tech will showcase their one-to-one plan.

New York

NYSCATE is pleased to announce the continuation of the discussion on Blended Learning in New York State with the announcement of a Blended Learning Summit, being held on Wednesday, February 6, in conjunction with the many activities celebrating Digital Learning Day. This event will take place at the Desmond Hotel, located in Albany, NY. This highly-anticipated summit is designed for the K-20 education community to discuss, learn and share best practices in regards to Blended Learning and how, in a very short time it is changing the face of education. There will be collegial and expert-led panel presentations, best-practice presentations & demonstrations, sponsor displays, and plenty of time for networking. Setting the tone for the day will be a keynote address by Michael Horn, co-author of "Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns" and Founder/Executive Director of the Innosight Institute. This is an excellent opportunity to engage in critical discussions regarding blended learning, policy implications, network management concerns, and many other topics raised through Virtual Learning Initiatives. We look forward to seeing you on February 6! For additional information, please visit www.nyscate.org or contact Amy Perry-DelCorvo.

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, NCTIES, and NCSLMA, in partnership with the Alliance for Excellent Education led for West Virginia Governor Governor Bob Wise, are pleased to announce our participation in the Digital Learning Day campaign. This national campaign is designed to celebrate innovative teaching and highlight practices that make learning more personalized and engaging for students and explore how digital learning can provide all students with the opportunities they deserve – to build the skills needed to succeed in college, career, and life. Through this campaign, we hope to build momentum for a wave of innovation that changes policies, shifts attitudes, and supports wide-scale adoption of these promising instructional practices.

This year, our partnership with NCTIES and NCSLMA includes a contest for submitting videos that highlight what innovative digital learning looks like for North Carolina's students. Please spread the word, and visit http://it.ncwiseowl.org/resources/digital_learning_day/ for more information.

Ohio

The State of Ohio is excited to be part of the national Digital Learning Day celebration. Support for Digital Learning is one of Ohio’s top priorities. Our celebration involves State Agencies, School Districts, Non-profit organizations, and Legislators. February 6 will provide an online learning opportunity for students and teachers, a panel of digital learning leaders, profiles of a sampling of blended learning schools and a selection of webinars. The following week, digital learning  also will be showcased as part of  Ohio Education Technology Conference. The day and the month will see a focus on resources to assist schools and districts in offering and expanding blended learning.  Please join us as we celebrate the promise of digital learning and the power of personalization it helps to make possible. Visit the Ohio Digital Learning Day page to learn more.

Fro more information, contact, Angel Lemke, [email protected], Communications Assistant, eTech Ohio

Oklahoma

Virginia

The Virginia Department of Education, in cooperation with the Virginia Society for Technology in Education (VSTE) and the Alliance for Excellent Education, is pleased to announce February 6 as Digital Learning Day. This event is part of a national campaign designed to celebrate innovative teaching and highlight practices that make learning more personalized and engaging for students; explore how digital learning can provide all students with the opportunities they deserve; and build the skills students need to succeed in college, career, and life. It also provides an opportunity to highlight the use of digital learning resources such as the Department of Education's contract with Hampton Roads Educational Telecommunications Association, Inc., to develop eMediaVA, a digital media distribution platform that provides teachers and students with digital content correlated to Viginia's Standards of Learning (SOL) at no cost; the multi-touch Economics and Personal Finance iBook two-volume set that meets the Virginia SOL for Economics and Personal Finance; and other Department of Education technology initiatives. VSTE will host a series of webinars that highlight the work of the recently announced regional educational technology leadership award winners. To view the webinars on Digital Learning Day, go to http://www.vste.org/index/learn/webinar. Schools, libraries, community programs, and classrooms are invited to showcase how they are using digital media to improve teaching and learning. http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2013/006-13.shtml Contact Mark Saunders, Virginia Department of Education, Richmond, Virginia

 

Washington

On Digital Learning Day, February 1 2012, a team of teachers, administrators and tech support staff at Miller Junior High in Aberdeen, Washington handed an iPad to every student in the school. The year before, the iMiller project team outfitted all 5th-and 6th-graders with iPods. Tech integration runs like a deep, rich vein of practice and productivity in this vibrant 469-student learning environment. To recognize the smart, far-reaching work of the iMiller project team, we brought in a videographer to document what has become a game-changer of a program through the experience of the kids and the educators who define its success every day. We plan to release the iMiller video on Digital Learning Day 2013 as a way to honor all the fine work taking place across Washington by those who believe that, in the 21st century, technology is an essential element of classroom life. For more information please contact Jacqueline Wyatt.  .

West Virginia

West Virginia is celebrating Digital Learning Day over the next few months and is not limiting events to just one day. Many schools have already created video demonstrations about digital learning. Check out http://wvde.state.wv.us/global21/global21moments.php to see what’s going on in West Virginia schools.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin educators are sharing success stories centered on how technology improves student learning through a state video contest. Districts are asked to submit a five minute video of best practices of technology transformation in the classroom. Teachers are working with students to create these videos.

On Digital Learning Day, Feb. 6, 2013, State Superintendent Tony Evers is asking everyone – no matter your comfort with technology - teachers, librarians, school leaders, community groups, parents – to do one of three things: 1. Showcase Your Success 2. Start a conversation or join in one and 3. Try one new digital learning activity in your classroom! Find out more about Wisconsin’s Digital Learning Day activities!

Wyoming

The Wyoming Department of Education is hosting monthly digital learning webinars leading up to Digital Learning Day to share best practices and innovative resources that support effective teaching and learning throughout the state.  Wyoming's Digital Learning Day celebration will begin by highlighting available education options, to include digital and distance learning, at the state capitol.    Wyoming’s educational community will also be offering multiple presentations (http://www.wyomingswitchboard.net/WyoDL.aspx) during three concurrent afternoon and evening sessions on February 6th conducted virtually using Blackboard's Collaborate webinar/web-conferencing platform.  The sessions are designed to showcase successes utilizing digital learning in classrooms and schools throughout Wyoming.

For more information please contact Lachelle Brant, Distance Education Consultant, Wyoming Department of Education or call (307) 777-3679.