The Emerging Digital Divide, College Alternatives & More

Busy week? We’re here to help. Here’s our roundup of top educational stories from the past seven days:

• “It’s important to frame best practices for afterschool providers in terms of engagement and participation in the world, not simply proficiency with computers and the Internet. It’s not about having a laptop or a smart phone, it’s about using the laptop or smartphone to translate a child’s worldview into content. It’s about giving them the creative space to digitally develop a voice.” Afterschool time can help bridge the emerging digital divide and help turn passive content consumers to content creators.

• “Change is traditionally not something that schools do well. We don’t keep up with it at the rate at which businesses and other entities change to keep up with things.” Dr. Rod Berger chats with Christa Krohn about changing expectations for competency-based assessments.

• Find out how Generation Z has their sights on bypassing college with more innovative and agile education alternatives.

• “Information from students’ activities on the Summit Learning Platform is combined with qualitative feedback from educators to inform teachers, parents and most importantly, students themselves about their learning progression.” Summit Public Schools believes that students can be empowered to make choices that direct their learning, with guidance from teachers and access to real-time data.

• Creating a new school doesn’t require a state-of-the-art physical redesign. EdCircuit shares how Poudre School District Global Academy achieved inspiring pedagogy and amazing student outcomes without the need to build a new school.