FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 9, 2012
CONTACT:
Judi Clark, Parents for Choice in Education
(801) 710-2345, judi@choiceineducation.org
Jaryn Emhof, Digital Learning Now!
(850) 391-4090, jaryn@excelined.org
Parents for Choice in Education and Digital Learning Now!
Host First-Ever Utah Digital Learning Summit
SALT LAKE CITY – Today, Parents for Choice in Education (PCE), in partnership with Digital Learning Now! (DLN), hosted “K-12 Education 2.0: The Shift to Student-Centric Learning,” a half-day summit focusing on the role of technology in the future of K-12 education in Utah and the policies that will impact implementation. The event, which took place at Innovations High School in Salt Lake City, was Utah’s first digital learning conference.
“While impacting every other facet of our lives, our education system has yet to embrace the power of technology. We need to change that,” said Robyn Bagley, PCE board chair. “Technology can individualize learning in ways that can never be achieved through traditional methods of delivering instruction. Digital learning allows education to become personalized, data-driven and competency based, empowering more students to succeed.”
The summit brought together Utah legislators and elected officials as well as education, business and community leaders for an in-depth discussion on how leveraging technology can help all students reach their full potential and better prepare them for college and careers through customized, individualized learning.
“In today’s information-driven economy, digital learning offers a personalized, high-quality education model that better prepares students for 21st century careers,” said John Bailey, executive director of DLN and co-author of the Smart Series interactive papers. “In order for students to be successful, policymakers must be willing to transform an outdated education model into a student-centric system that offers access to the latest technology available.”
The summit featured premier digital learning experts and policy leaders in the K-12 digital learning movement, and a panel of Utah students who shared their experiences in online learning. Since the passage of the Statewide Online Education Act in 2011, the state of Utah has opened its doors to new forms of education and innovation in the classroom, allowing schools like Innovations High School to better prepare students for college and careers.
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Parents for Choice in Education is dedicated to ensuring every child has equal access to a quality education by empowering parents, increasing choice, and promoting innovative solutions to Utah’s educational challenges. PCE has long since believed in the power of technology to transform education and has actively advocated for policies that expand opportunities for students to engage in digital learning.
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.
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