Opening Up Technology in Service of Teaching

Electronic content and digital interactivity are everywhere - except in most public school classrooms. Bridging the disconnect between Education and Technology by identifying barriers and devising solutions was the theme of the discussion on “Opening Up Technology in the Service of Teaching”.

The panelists discussed the challenges they identify in the system to introduce technology tools in teaching, the kinds of devices that should be allowed, how teachers operate classrooms, and how text book approval processes at the state level are changing, amongst other topics. They addressed the need for standardized testing and the data on how current dynamics change in the teaching environment.

The discussion emphasized that access and collaboration for creation and sharing of content that transcends boundaries and the immediate need for “breaking out rather than holding on”, in the words of one of the panelists, to improve the dismal state of public education are essential.

Participants

Panelists
Tim Vollmer
Open Policy Fellow
Creative Commons

Lynne Munson
President and Executive Director
Common Core

Michael Levine
Executive Director
Joan Ganz Cooney Center

Mark Osborne
Deputy Principal, Albany Senior High School in New Zealand
(participating via Skype)

Moderators
Lisa Guernsey
Director, Early Education Initiative
New America Foundation

Sascha Meinrath
Director, Open Technology Initiative
New America Foundation