The true power of technology is not in learning to use it, but rather using it to learn. The device (by itself) isn’t the magic, all the ways students can learn with it is! Don’t be a district that puts the device first or is swayed by fancy gadgets and buzzwords!  Put the learning first. Come learn how teachers leverage their devices for learning and ensure that we keep the learning the priority.

Readings About the Digital Divide

• Digital Divide: Impact of Access
• Writing from ISTE’s Digital Equity Personal Learning Network
• Digital Divide in U.S. Education
• The First and Second Digital Divides: Challenges in Classroom Tech Use
• The Digital Use Divide: Challenges to Technology Implementation
• Without a Net: The Digital Divide in America – A Documentary
• Impacts of the Digital Divide: Classroom Case Studies
• What’s Lost When Kids Are ‘Under-connected’ to the Internet?
• National Education Technology Plan

 

Addressing the First and Second Digital Divides (2nd Divide is about how tech is used.)

• Digital Learning Strategies for Rural America: A scan of policy and practice in K–12 education
• Digital Equity Initiative Toolkit – CoSN
• Dynamic Learning Project – Digital Promise
• Joan Ganz Cooney Center At Sesame Workshop – Advancing Children’s Learning in a Digital Age
• Digital Equity for Learning 
  • Digital Equity for Learning Report: Opportunity for All? Technology and learning in lower-income families
  • Digital Equity for Learning Report: Connecting to Learn: Promoting Digital Equity for America’s Hispanic Families
• Maine Learning Technology Framework
• Plain English Instructional Model
• Focus on 6 High-Impact Motivation Strategies
• Classroomu Management in a Title I School 

Focus on the Learning:

• Let’s get tech leads and curriculum leads working more closely together. We must do a better job of leveraging technology to improve student outcomes.
• Let’s Focus on the Learning
• Ed Tech Research is Clear: Owning a Device Does Not Improve Learning
• Maine Announces Learning Technology Framework
• Are We Talking Technology or Are We Talking Learning?
• A Plain English Instructional Model
• The Advantages of a Plain English Instructional Model
• Taking Classroom Tech Use to the Next Level: Specific Traits to Look For – the article that includes Alan November’s 6 questions to decide if technology adds value.

Student Engagement:

• Motivating Students: Focus on 6 Strategies 
• Classifying a Student’s Level of Motivation
• What Motivates Underachieving Students? (Middle School Journal, Nov. 2001)
• Tone of Voice Matters (In Surprising Ways)
• Articles on Ineffective Motivators, especially Extrinsic Rewards
• Characteristics of Good Learning Experiences
• Engaging Tasks – a high impact motivation strategy
• The McMEL Motivation Page