A New Approach to Learning that’s Better Designed for Our Times

“In order to provide the best education in the world again, we must develop educational opportunities and resources that excite and prepare all our students,” is how Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sees the challenge for the teachers, school leaders, academics, advocates, and entrepreneurs who attended the Reimagining Education: Empowering Learners in a Connected World conference on May 28-29, in Washington, D.C.

Co-hosted by the Department of Education and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the convening brought together participants from many different sectors to think about and make recommendations for a future in which the latest technologies are available and are an integral part of personalized learning experiences for all students, as well as helping to deliver a major upgrade in teacher professional development and the advanced instructional tools they need. Technology alone won’t solve the challenges the U.S. must meet to be a world leader again in elementary and secondary education, but, as Secretary Duncan noted, “We cannot succeed without it.”

That’s why he accompanied President Obama to Mooresville, N.C., on June 6th to launch the ConnectED initiative, which is designed, in part, to provide high-speed broadband Internet to 99 percent of all schools and libraries in five years. Other countries are outpacing the U.S. in the critically important arena of education innovation, but through the ConnectED initiative, according to Secretary Duncan, “we can level the playing field and give our students the best chance to succeed in the global economy.”

To read Secretary’s Duncan’s reflections on both the Reimagining Education conference and the ConnectED initiative, click here.