Digital Learning Now! Releases Report on Improving Teaching Careers and Conditions

SEATTLE, WA, May 07, 2013 (Press-News.org) Digital Learning Now! (DLN), a national campaign under ExcelinEd, today released the seventh white paper in the DLN Smart Series -- "Improving Conditions & Careers: How Blended Learning Can Improve the Teaching Profession." In honor of National Teacher Day, DLN launches "Conditions and Careers" to acknowledge the important role teachers play in the shifting educational landscape and aims to improve the lives of teachers everywhere.

The paper brings together top thinkers on the future of education from Digital Learning Now!, Getting Smart, and Public Impact to show that blended learning environments can create more and better opportunities for teacher collaboration, enable differentiated staffing and boost meaningful professional development opportunities.

"It's important to confront misconceptions about what blended learning means for teachers. With thoughtful policies and purposeful implementation, the shift to blended learning can be a powerful enabler for improving the teaching profession and the success of students, " said John Bailey, executive director of DLN.

"If blended learning lets great teachers help more students, develop peers, and earn far more, they will show us the way to make digital learning outstanding," said Bryan C. Hassel, Co-Director of Public Impact. "Even very small amounts of digital learning make job-embedded development, expanded impact, and much higher pay possible."

"Improving Conditions & Careers" presents a vision of blended learning that offers better teaching conditions and enables better career opportunities. Teachers stand to benefit from well-designed blended learning models that afford more career advancement opportunities, improved collaboration time and growth opportunities, new teacher-leadership roles, more flexible schedules, as well as opportunities for increased pay. In addition, schools can extend the reach of great teachers to impact more learners, while simultaneously improving the teachers' experiences as empowered professionals.

"Personalized, blended learning is the solution to the problem of rising demands on teachers," said Tom Vander Ark, CEO of Getting Smart. "Time saved from thoughtful implementation of technology can be reinvested in working with students, growing professionally, collaborating with peers and developing new strengths."

"We're hoping this paper and accompanying infographic lay the myth to rest that blended learning is about replacing teachers with technology," added Carri Schneider, director of policy and research for Getting Smart. "Blended learning tears down the walls of the traditional classroom and the impact of that on teaching is something to be celebrated."

Download the full paper and learn more at digitallearningnow.com/dln-smart-series. Join the conversation on Twitter with the hashtags #SmartSeries, #thankateacher, #blendedlearning, and #DigLN. DLN is also active on Facebook at facebook.com/DigitalLearningNow and Twitter at @DigLearningNow.

ABOUT DIGITAL LEARNING NOW!

Digital Learning Now! is a national campaign under ExcelinEd with the goal of advancing state policies that will create a high-quality digital learning environment to better equip all students with the knowledge and skills to succeed in this 21st-century economy. The policy framework stems from the belief that access to high-quality, customized learning experiences should be available to all students, unbounded by geography or artificial policy constraints.

ABOUT GETTING SMART

Getting Smart is a advocacy firm passionate about innovations in learning. We help education organizations construct cohesive and forward-thinking strategies for branding, awareness, advancement and communication, and public and media relations. We are advocates for better K-12 education as well as early, post-secondary and informal learning opportunities for all students. We attempt to accelerate and improve the shift to digital learning. On GettingSmart.com we cover important events, trends, products, books, and reports. For more information contact us at info@gettingsmart.com.