Launch of the Digital Learning Council

I'm pleased to be part of a new initiative with former governors Jeb Bush and Bob Wise which is identifying the policies and practices that local, state, and national leaders should adopt to create a high quality digital learning landscape. Also part of this effort is my colleague here at Whiteboard, Andy Rotherham.  Press release is below.  EdWeek story here.

--John

BUSH AND WISE CONVENE DIGITAL LEARNING COUNCIL TO DEVELOP PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES FOR INTEGRATING INNOVATIONS IN TECHNOLOGY INTO PUBLIC EDUCATION

Council unites diverse leaders to establish a roadmap to digital learning and promote its adoption Tallahassee, Florida and Washington, D.C. August 18, 2010 – Jeb Bush, governor of Florida 1999 – 2007, and Bob Wise, governor of West Virginia 2001 – 2005, today launched the Digital Learning Council to identify policies that will integrate current and future technological innovations into public education. The Digital Learning Council unites a diverse group of more than 50 leaders from education, government, philanthropy, business, technology, and think tanks to develop the roadmap of reform for local, state and federal lawmakers and policymakers.

“Technology has the power to customize education for every student in America,” said Jeb Bush, co-chair of the Digital Learning Council. “Providing a customized, personalized education for students was a dream just a decade ago. Technology can turn that dream into reality today. The Digital Learning Council will develop the roadmap to achieve that ultimate goal.”

Technological innovations have already changed the way our nation works, shops and entertains itself. The Digital Learning Council will lead this national initiative to develop and transform education by moving digital learning to the forefront of education and away from the niche role it plays today. Today, more than 2 million students take courses online and 1.5 million home education students take online course but that barely scratches the surface of what is possible through technology.

“The members of the Digital Learning Council share a sense of extreme urgency about the need to bring digital learning to every school, every classroom and every child,” stated Governor Bob Wise, co-chair of the Digital Learning Council. “We must not squander the opportunity to promote digital innovation to reform our nation’s schools and ensure that all students are prepared to confront the challenges in our economy and society with the tools and skills that digital technology offers.”

The Digital Learning Council will cover the many facets of digital learning including; online and virtual schools; personalized learning; blended learning; digital content; online and mobile social networks; classroom technology; ensuring equity, security and privacy; and promoting parental choice, among other topics. The Digital Learning Council will report its ongoing discussions online and welcomes input and dialog. The final recommendations of the Digital Learning Council will be the focus of a nationwide campaign to urge adoption of the policy principles by states, track states’ progress and encourage best practices. A partial list of members and special liaisons of the Digital Learning Council, listed alphabetically appears below. Professional affiliations are for identification purposes. The  Digital Learning Council membership includes:

• Curt Allen, Agilix
• Jeanne Allen, Center for Education Reform
• Sally Bachofer, NY SED, Office of Innovative School Models
• John Bailey, Dutko Worldwide
• Jaime Casap, Google
• Karen Cator, US DOE
• Shafeen Charania, Microsoft Education Product Group
• Kevin Chavous, Education Equality Project
• Milton Chen, Edutopia
• Barbara Chow, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
• Bill Coley, Ohio State House
• John Couch, Apple
• Rich Crandall, Arizona State House
• John Danner, Rocketship
• Randy DeHoff, Colorado State Board of Education
• Barbara Dreyer, Connections Academy
• Daniel Domenech, AASA
• Steve Dowling, Pearson Education
• Mike Feuling, Internet Academy
• Anitere Flores, Florida State House
• Chip Greene, Houghton Mifflin
• Aimee Rogstad Guidera, Data Quality Campaign
• Kevin Hall, Charter Growth Fund
• Leah Hamilton, Carnegie Corporation
• Rick Hess, American Enterprise Institute
• Collin Hitt, Illinois Policy Institute
• Michael Horn, Innosight Institute
• Gisele Huff, Hume Foundation
• Kevin Johnson, City of Sacramento
• Michael Johnston, Colorado State Senate
• Chip Kimball, Lake Washington School District
• Joel Klein, NY City Public Schools
• Keith Krueger, Consortium of School Networking
• Bill Lager, Altair Learning Management
• Patricia Levesque, Foundation for Excellence in Education
• Margery Mayer, Scholastic
• Gregory McGinity, Broad Foundation
• Barbara O’Brien, Colorado Lt. Governor
• Ron Packard, K12
• Susan Patrick, iNACOL
• Trevor Packer, College Board
• Michael Petrilli, Fordham Institute
• Gerard Robinson, VA, Secretary of Education
• Joel Rose, School of One
• Andy Rotherham, Bellwether
• Stefanie Sanford, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Ron Scheberle, American Legislative Exchange Council
• Cyndie Schmeiser, ACT
• Bryan Setser, NCVPS
• Kathleen Shanahan, Florida, State Board of Education
• John Schilling, American Federation for Children
• Jabar Shumate, Oklahoma State House
• Jim Shelton, US DOE
• Michael Stanton, Blackboard
• Ana Thompson, Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation
• Cheryl Vedoe, Apex Learning
• John Watson, Evergreen Education Group
• Anthony Williams, Pennsylvania State Senate
• John White, NYC DOE
• Tae Yoo, Cisco Systems
• Caprice Young, KC Distance Learning
• Julie Young, Florida Virtual School
• Connie Yowell, MacArthur Foundation