W.Va. Board of Education Backs Efforts to Expand Technology Use

Posted: April 26, 2011
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Board of Education wants to make sure West Virginia’s schoolchildren are using 21st century tools to learn 21st century skills.

 

State board members at their April meeting adopted a resolution outlining 10 elements of high quality digital learning as proposed by the Digital Learning Council.

The digital learning elements provide additional guidance, including

  1. Student eligibility: All students are digital learners.
  2. Student access: All students have access to high quality digital content and online courses.
  3. Personalized learning: All students can customize their education using digital content through an approved digital learning provider.
  4. Advancement: Students progress based on demonstrated competency.
  5. Content: Digital content, instructional materials and online and blended learning courses are high quality.
  6. Instruction: Digital instruction and teachers are high quality.
  7. Digital learning providers: All students have access to multiple high quality digital learning providers.
  8. Assessment and accountability: Student learning is one method of evaluating the quality of content and instruction.
  9. Funding: Funding creates incentives for performance, options and innovation.
  10. Delivery: Infrastructure supports digital learning.
The digital learning elements build upon West Virginia’s 21st century learning plan called “Global21: Students deserve it. The world demands it.” Global21 establishes the 21st century learning curriculum, including core subjects as well as performance learning skills.
 
In the resolution, board members directed that the digital learning elements be incorporated through alignment with state code, policy changes, strategic plans, guidelines and procedures.

 

“Global21 is helping our public schools move beyond outdated instructional models,” said state Board of Education President Priscilla Haden. “The 10 Elements of High Quality Digital Learning will help our schools focus their efforts on providing today’s digital learners with the tools and resources they need to succeed.”

For more information, contact the Office of Communications at (304) 558-2699.
 
--The West Virginia Board of Education and the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) are committed to ensuring all students in the state are college and career ready when they graduate from a public school. What West Virginia students are learning in school exceeds national and international standards. Through the WVDE’s 21st century learning plan called “Global21: Students deserve it. The world demands it.,” West Virginia is seeing better student performance on the West Virginia Educational Standards Test 2 (WESTEST2); the SAT and the ACT college entrance exams; the job skills assessment called Work Keys given to career and technical education students; and in a high school graduation rate that exceeds the national average.