National Connected Superintendents Summit<\/a> on Wednesday at the White House.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nVargas is among school chiefs who will be recognized for their leadership in helping transition their districts to digital learning. The conference will bring together officials from throughout America to share with one another and the education department promising approaches to using technology in classes.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cSchool districts across the country are helping teachers harness the power of technology to create personal learning environments for all students,\u201d said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in a media release. \u201cWe want to make sure every child \u2014 whether he or she is in the inner city, in a rural community, or on a Native American reservation \u2014 has access to knowledge and the chance to learn 24 hours a day, seven days a week.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The White House summit will be followed by a series of 12-15 regional summits that will focus on the digital progress made possible by local school districts. The events will also include the unveiling of digital tools that facilitate incorporation of technology into short-term and long-range education planning.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
To help spotlight the value of technology in schools, the education department is sponsoring a Future Ready Initiative aimed at showcasing outstanding school leadership and strategies.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Future Ready Initiative highlights the critical role of district leaders in setting a vision and creating the environment where educators and students access the tools, content, and expertise necessary for thriving in a connected world,\u201d said Richard Culatta, director of the department\u2019s Office of Educational Technology.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Future Ready superintendents demonstrate effective use of technology in some of the following ways:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Fostering and leading a culture of collaboration and digital citizenship<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Transitioning schools and families to high-speed connectivity<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Empowering educators with professional learning opportunities<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Accelerating progress toward universal access to quality devices<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Providing access to quality digital content<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Creating access, equity, and excellence\u2014particularly in rural, remote, and low-income districts<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Offering digital tools to students and families to help them prepare for success in college<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Sharing best practices and mentoring other districts in the transition to digital learning<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cTechnology has the potential to transform education in America, allowing students to learn more, to do so at their own pace, and to develop the knowledge and skills employers demand,\u201d Culatta said. \u201cAnd yet, fewer than 30 percent of classrooms have the broadband Internet to support today\u2019s education technology needs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In June 2013, President Obama announced the ConnectED Initiative, starting with a goal of connecting 99 percent of students to next-generation connectivity within five years. Model schools and districts across the country are using technology to create personalized learning environments.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kent School District Superintendent Edward Lee Vargas was selected by the U.S. Department of Education as one of 100 top school leaders from across the nation to participate in the first National Connected Superintendents Summit on Wednesday at the White House.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":7696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-7695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7695"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7695"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=7695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}