Digital Directions - Spring/Summer 2012 - (Page 4)

Digital Directions PRESIDENT & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Education Week eDitor’s Note Virginia B. Edwards EXECUTIVE EDITOR KEVin C. BUsHwELLEr DEPUTY DESIGN DIRECTOR Design Lead, Digital Directions gina TOMKO DESIGN DIRECTOR Breaking Outside The Comfort Zone LaUra BaKEr ASSISTANT DESIGN DIRECTOR VanEssa sOLis DESIGNERS Linda H. JUrKOwiTz PaULa saLErnO MiCHELLE r. daVis KaTiE asH, ian qUiLLEn DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY STAFF WRITERS SENIOR WRITER D Finding the balance between uncertainty and opportunity o you like to be pushed outside your comfort zone? it can bring fear, confusion, frustration, with a lack of control that most people dread at first. the first day of school in kindergarten comes to mind. i actually ran away from the kindergarten building and was chased down by the teacher. But for me, the memory that most sticks in my mind is learning how to ice skate as a 7-yearold. i was experiencing a whole new means of locomotion (gliding on skates) and my locus of control was about as unbalanced, at first, as i had ever felt. as new innovations and technologies come to schools, educators are being pushed outside their comfort zones, too. For them, the new means of locomotion is fueled by today’s fast-evolving digital tools, from tablet computers to multimedia content to interactive virtual courses. the balancing act is figuring out which of these tools to use and how to use them. at the same time, the educational technology companies that serve the K-12 market are being pushed outside their comfort zones. consider the recent move by Blackboard inc., which took a dramatic shift in strategy and product offerings when it purchased two companies built on the Moodle platform, the free learning-management system popular mostly because it is an alternative to Blackboard. (see ian Quillen’s story on Page 32 about the growing competition and uncertainty in the learningmanagement-system market.) and just when ed-tech leaders might have been feeling they were beginning to find some balance, they are facing one of the biggest challenges in years: figuring out how to put the technologies in place that will be necessary to support schools’ use of common-core standards and assessments. How, in tight budget times, will they purchase the technology needed to put all assessments online? What impact will the move to the common core have on virtual education? and what types of technology needs to be in place to ensure teachers get the training they need to implement the common core? (see Michelle r. Davis’ story about technology readiness for the common core on Page 42.) all this uncertainty surely triggers a very uncomfortable feeling. But the best response is to lace up the skates and stay in motion. n■ CHarLEs BOrsT niCOLE frUgé JO arnOnE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION ADVERTISING PRODUCTION COORDINATOR CasEy sHELLEnBErgEr sHanE sTEinfELd ONLINE ADVERTISING PRODUCTION COORDINATOR ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR, edweek.org KaTHLEEn KEnnEdy ManzO CHEri HUng ONLINE CREATIVE DIRECTOR, edweek.org CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER FOR DIGITAL OPERATIONS PaUL HyLand PUBLISHER & GENERAL MANAGER MiCHELE J. giVEns JiLL n. wHiTLEy CONTROLLER DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, edweek.org JEff rUPP DIRECTOR OF AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT/MARKETING sTEfaniE HEMMingsOn sEan HErdMan ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER, SALES AND MARKETING ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER, DISPLAY ADVERTISING sHarOn MaKOwKa (815) 436-5149 BEn dELanEy-winn (781) 538-6076 DIRECTOR, ADVERTISING REGIONAL ADVERTISING MANAGERS JULiE fagan (301) 502-4300 grEg sMiTH (203) 594-7198 Kevin C. Bushweller kbushweller@epe.org  http://www.edweek.org http://www.edweek.org http://www.edweek.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Directions - Spring/Summer 2012

Digital Directions - Spring/Summer 2012
Contents
Editor's Note
DD Site Visit
Bits & Bytes
Game On
Applicable Knowledge
Digital Badges
Lessons From Higher Education
Competitive Edge
Recognizing Online PD
Ready or Not
Q&A
Opinion
Data Delivery

Digital Directions - Spring/Summer 2012

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