FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 9, 2012
CONTACT:
Jaryn Emhof
(850) 391-4090
Digital Learning Now! Releases Second Paper in Smart Series:
“Data Backpacks: Portable Records & Learner Profiles”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Digital Learning Now! (DLN), in partnership with Getting Smart and the Foundation for Excellence in Education, today released the second DLN Smart Series interactive paper, “Data Backpacks: Portable Records & Learner Profiles.” The second paper in the series takes an in-depth look at the need to move away from traditional student records and transcripts to a mobile, digital solution that supports the shift to digital learning and Common Core State Standards.
The paper’s authors – John Bailey, executive director of DLN, Samuel Casey Carter, CEO of Faith in the Future, Carri Schneider, director of policy and research of Getting Smart, and Tom Vander Ark, executive editor of Getting Smart – identify the three main problems with the current state of student data collection and dissemination, and offer Student Backpacks and expanded Learner Profiles as solutions to ultimately enhance and personalize the classroom experience for both students and teachers.
“Technology provides a wealth of information to give parents and teachers a comprehensive review of students’ strengths and weaknesses over time. This will in turn equip and enable teachers to provide a more focused, personalized learning experience for each student from day one,” said Jeb Bush, former Florida governor and chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education.
A Student Backpack is an electronic record of each student’s academic history that includes official transcript data, comments from previous teachers and additional information, and follows the student from course to course, classroom to classroom, grade to grade and school to school. An enhanced Learner Profile goes beyond official transcript data to provide teachers with information about each student’s learning preferences and potential, and offers teachers the ability to track ongoing student progress. The Learning Profile might include, for example, an online portfolio of “personal best” samples of work. Each component would incorporate enhanced privacy controls to protect sensitive information while allowing for easier sharing with parents and teachers.
“With the implementation of the Common Core State Standards in the 2014-2015 school year and the move to digital learning in many schools, districts will be receiving an unprecedented amount of extremely useful data. The key to harnessing is developing a unified student record that makes this information immediately accessible and useful to teachers, parents and students themselves. Just as electronic medical records are revolutionizing healthcare, so too can portable electronic student records revolutionize education,” added John Bailey.
The paper paints a clear picture of the future of digital learning and digital data collection, and asks leaders and policymakers to consider Student Backpacks and expanded Learner Profiles as the two primary solutions to ensure that every student has a bright start.
DLN plans to release the entire DLN Smart Series, which provides specific guidance regarding adoption of Common Core State Standards and the shift to personal digital learning, in partnership with the Foundation for Excellence in Education and Getting Smart throughout fall 2012 and early 2013. The entire series includes topics on funding high-access learning environments, building comprehensive learner profiles, preparing for online assessments, moving to competency-based learning models, financing student achievement, building big data policies, improving the teaching profession with blended learning, and more.
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Digital Learning Now! is a national campaign under the Foundation for Excellence in Education with the goal of advancing state policies that will create a high-quality digital learning environment to better equip all students with the knowledge and skills to succeed in this 21st-century economy. The policy framework stems from the belief that access to high-quality, customized learning experiences should be available to all students, unbounded by geography or artificial policy constraints.
Getting Smart™ is an advocacy firm passionate about innovations in learning. We help education organizations construct cohesive and forward-thinking strategies for branding, awareness, advancement and communication, and public and media relations. We are advocates for better K-12 education as well as early, post-secondary and informal learning opportunities for all students. We attempt to accelerate and improve the shift to digital learning. On GettingSmart.com we cover important events, trends, products, books, and reports.
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