By accelerating schools' adoption of technology for virtual learning, the pandemic spotlighted longstanding inequities in digital access, especially for Black, Hispanic, and low-income K-12 students. By spearheading efforts to collect data, collaborate with partners, buy digital devices and infrastructure, and reimagine effective technology use,…

The Common Core State Standards call for students to develop digital media and technology skills. One way to help them reach that goal: incorporate gadgets they're already familiar with--cell phones, tablets, and smartphones--into their learning environment. Mobile devices are becoming essential to students' daily lives. According to a 2011 Pew…

21st Century students need a complex set of skills to be successful in a digital environment. Digital literacy, similar to traditional definitions of literacy, is a set of skills students use to locate, organize, understand, evaluate and create information. The difference is that it occurs in an environment where a growing set of digital tools…

Many school library media specialists (LMS) would gladly pass along the responsibility of teaching online safety. Others may feel that it is the job of the computer lab personnel, the classroom teacher, or the parent. So how does the LMS fit into this scenario? While it is certainly appropriate for parents and classroom teachers to take joint…

Schools in Washington State had a smattering of computers that were used for instruction and were mostly disconnected from any network when the author joined the state's K-12 public education agency in 1989. It was clear that state educators needed to see beyond the dazzle of slide decks produced by seven-year-olds and reconceptualize the use of…

Information and communications technologies (ICT) are changing everything, transforming organizations, and redefining the skills and talents needed to succeed in the 21st century. At the individual level, the ability to understand and make use of ICT--digital literacy--is proving essential to employment success, civic participation, accessing…

To succeed in college, career and life in the 21st century, students must be supported in mastering both content and skills. This Implementation Guide presents state leaders, policymakers and/or district and school leaders with assessment tactics and examples to assist in statewide 21st century skills initiatives. The Partnership for 21st Century…

The Department for Education and Skills currently shows a high regard for the potential of technology transforming the British education system. Government White papers demonstrate e-learning based unification strategies that reinforce the message that introducing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) will raise standards in schools. This…

To succeed in college, career and life in the 21st century, students must be supported in mastering both content and skills. This Implementation Guide presents state leaders, policymakers and/or district and school leaders with assessment tactics and examples to assist in statewide 21st century skills initiatives. The Partnership for 21st Century…

This 21st Century Skills Map is the result of hundreds of hours of research, development and feedback from educators and business leaders across the nation. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has issued this map for the core subject of English.

Provides a historical and current context for National Education Technology Standards (NETS) that were developed for elementary and secondary education, describes their implications for priorities such as school funding, and suggests curriculum-based strategies that may be used to meet these standards within content-area lessons. (Author/LRW)

This report contains aggregate and disaggregated state-level results from administrations of North Carolina's computer skills tests (performance and multiple choice) in 2000-2001. The report also provides limited information about the performance of school districts and charter schools. Additional data are included in this report about the…

In many states technology standards for students have focused on basic computer skills, but more standards are beginning to focus on identifying technology skills that students need for school and the workplace. In most states in the Southern Region, technology standards for students are based on the National Educational Technology Standards for…

Seventh- and eighth-grade students in a small Vermont town publish a community newspaper. Students learn writing skills, organizing, meeting deadlines, computer skills, problem solving, production skills, and much about their community while meeting Vermont's academic cross-disciplinary standards. Teacher comments describe the 3-year development…

With all the focus on accountability, test scores, and school restructuring, educators may lose sight of the ultimate goal of education: empowering all students to attain personal and professional success when they leave school. As such, educators should equip their students, not simply fill them with data. Educators should make their classrooms…