Competition promotes digital gaming in the classroom

Focusing on an hourlong lecture about American history or algebra can seem daunting to high school students, who are used to splitting their attention between texting, Tweeting, and playing video games, U.S. News reports.

“They’re born multitaskers,” says Sara Hall, director of the Center for Secondary School Digital Learning and Policy at the Alliance for Excellent Education, an advocacy organization. Many educators are trying to mirror that multidimensional aspect of students’ tech lives in their teaching styles by making the learning process more interactive. Many are trying digital textbooks; others are assigning webcast lectures as homework in flipped classrooms; and some are teaching via electronic gaming…

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On 10th anniversary, a look back at ‘No Child’ legacy

George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, which requires students at all U.S. public schools to meet certain math and reading benchmarks, went into effect nearly 10 years ago, on Jan. 8, 2002. Since then, NCLB has been a popular target for politicians, educators, and policy experts as it has become outdated, U.S. News reports. The legislation was supposed to be rewritten in 2007, but has merely been renewed by Congress for the past several years. President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have repeatedly attacked the law, going so far as to grant waivers from the law to states who submit alternative accountability plans. Congress took its first real stab at reforming the law in October 2011 as Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, of Iowa, and Republican Sen. Mike Enzi, of Wyoming, presented a comprehensive revision to No Child Behind. The Harkin-Enzi legislation looks to be one of Congress’s main focuses when it goes back into session later this month…

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