- eSchool News - https://www.eschoolnews.com -

Virtual network promotes sharing of learning content across state lines

The virtual network will allow educators to post and download learning resources in an open-source format.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York are joining forces to fund an open-source technology network that would give teachers access to a huge repository of learning resources across state lines.

Such a network is now possible because of the Common Core State Standards [1], which replace the current patchwork of individual state standards with a set of common standards. The Common Core standards have been approved by more than 40 states and play a critical role in the development of a national exam, planned for 2014.

For more on the Common Core standards, see:

Transitioning to the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics [2]

Gates gives $20 million for digital learning, Common Core curriculum [3]

Maine leads once again with Common Core pilot [4]

The Gates Foundation [5] said it has committed as much as $100 million to the development of the virtual teaching and learning network, although an actual dollar amount has not yet been released.

“Right now, states all have individual systems—some of them are older, some are newer with different capacities, and they’re not able to speak to each other,” said Debbie Robinson, chief communications officer for the Gates Foundation. In contrast, the new Gates-funded virtual network will be “an open-source system, so that any state or school district or contract developer could use [learning content] and tailor it to whatever their needs are. You’re not locked into having to do it a certain way, but you get the benefits of being able to share information across states [and] with other school districts.”

Illinois, Colorado, New York, North Carolina, and Massachusetts will be piloting the program, which should be available in fall 2012. The Council of Chief State School Officers [6] chose the five states, according to foundation officials.

Once the network has been created, educators will be able to post content and download lesson plans or other learning resources that fit their classroom needs.

“The system we’re building on the bottom is like the iPad itself, and then you have the ability to get access to these applications,” Robinson said.

She added: “We very much like the idea of being able to fuel innovation and to make [learning] resources available to all different sizes of school districts and communities. The other thing that was compelling to us was that there was a huge need from teachers and a huge need from states. We were hearing loud and clear that teachers were willing to jump on board with the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, but you can’t leave them hanging out there by themselves; they need some help.”

Illinois’ inclusion into the program, and the addition of private support, are especially critical for the state, which lost its bid for federal Race to the Top [7] funding last fall. Part of the bid included a similar virtual network that would have cost $25 million over four years.

Illinois schools superintendent Christopher Koch told the Chicago Tribune that the network will provide teachers with “something tangible in their hands.”

The Gates Foundation was drawn to teachers’ requests to be able to collaborate and share learning content.

“The ability to use economies of scale and to help this happen on behalf of the states was really a great opportunity,” Robinson said.

For more on the Common Core standards, see:

Transitioning to the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics [8]

Gates gives $20 million for digital learning, Common Core curriculum [9]

Maine leads once again with Common Core pilot [10]