Partners for Digital Equality, Tutor.com, and Clayton County Government Announce Collaborative Effort: PDE Learning Without Walls(TM) (LearningWOW)

/PRNewswire/ -- Partners for Digital Equality (PDE), Tutor.com, and The Clayton County Public School System announce their PDE Learning Without Walls(TM) project (LearningWOW) as a way to welcome in the new academic year.

Last year Georgia's Clayton County Public Schools were the first in 40 years to lose accreditation, and after a long public battle their accreditation was restored in May of this year. It was evident that in order to regain the trust of the community and to empower the lives of its student body a new approach to learning had to be taken.

"Our partnership with Tutor.com clearly demonstrates that we will deliver real-time solutions to communities who have far less than adequate access to mainstream broadband technology -- in this case, all public school students based in one of the nation's most academically challenged school districts," said Partners for Digital Equality Chairman Julius H. Hollis (Mr. Hollis is also Chairman of The Alliance for Digital Equality(TM), a 501(c) 4 consumer advocacy organization). "Together, we intend to serve as a significant bridge across Clayton County's digital divide and thereby help stabilize the school district's accreditation."

PDE Learning Without Walls(TM) is aimed at enhancing student performance, literacy and self-esteem, while enabling families to get the career development services they need to thrive and remain competitive professionally. Online Tutoring, Career help, Homework Help, GED Prep, and Resume Writing are just some of the free services being offered to the Students and Parents of the Clayton County area through the LearningWOW initiative.

"We are thrilled to be part of this innovative program to bring students the one-to-one instructional support they need to achieve their academic goals and lay the foundation for a successful learning experience," said George Cigale, founder and CEO of Tutor.com.

In addition, the students will be provided a comprehensive rigorous curriculum (based on Georgia Performance Standards) that promotes proficiency and acceleration in school and world endeavors. Students are expected to master all Georgia Performance Standards coursework in core subjects including: English, Math, Science, and Social Studies.

Chairman Eldrin Bell of The Government of Clayton County said, "Clayton County looks forward to the technological advancements that this project will afford our students, parents, teachers and the entire Clayton County community. This partnership will certainly give us opportunities to excel and tap into new technologies through the utilization of the Clayton County library system as an empowerment pathway to the 21st century. Our citizens will have a chance to benefit from the many services offered through The PDE Learning Without Walls(TM) project, and I am just overwhelmed at the opportunity of being a part of it."

The PDE Learning Without Walls(TM) project will officially launch on August 10th, the first day of school in Clayton County.

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Growing Demand for Online Learning Not Yet Matched by Opportunities at K-12 Schools, Districts

/PRNewswire/ -- Despite growing interest in online learning, the availability of online classes have not kept pace with demand in K-12 schools and districts, according to a survey report from Project Tomorrow(R), a national education nonprofit organization, and Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBB) , a global leader in education technology.

According to the survey, more than 40 percent of 6-12th graders have researched or demonstrated interest in taking a course online, but only 10 percent have actually taken an online course through their school. Meanwhile, comparable percentages of middle school students (7 percent) and high school students (4 percent) have instead pursued opportunities outside their school to take online courses, underscoring the disconnect between the supply and demand of online learning in today's classrooms.

At the same time, a majority of school principals, 58 percent, say that online classes currently offered in their districts are primarily for teachers; just 31 percent say the classes are primarily for students. Additionally, while a full one-third of teachers have taken an online course for professional development - a 57 percent increase from 2007 - only 3 percent of teachers surveyed say they have taught a class online, a number that has not changed in three years. Just 13 percent are interested in teaching online, a considerable mismatch with the growing student desire to learn online.

The findings are included in the report Learning in the 21st Century: 2009 Trends Update, which offers an analysis of data from Project Tomorrow's Speak Up project, an annual survey which has collected and reported on the views of more than 335,000 U.S. K-12 students, parents and educators about online education and 21st century learning.

"While many of our nation's K-12 schools clearly recognize the advantages of online learning and instruction in teacher professional development, there remains a lag in utilizing this technology for student achievement," said Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow. "Educators must embrace these emerging technologies to enhance student learning and fully prepare today's students for future success."

"Today's students are eager to embrace technology in school but there is still a wide gap between the way they live and the way they learn," said Jessie Woolley-Wilson, president, Blackboard Learn K-12. "As schools and districts look to complement traditional learning methods with digital and online tools, teachers and principals must learn how to effectively use technology in a way that gives students more control of the learning process and contributes to student achievement."

The report revealed that K-12 students want to pursue online learning to gain more control of their own learning experience, have access to more courses and work at their own pace. When asked why learning through an online class might make school more interesting, 47 percent of 9-12th graders, 39 percent of 6-8th graders and one in four 3-5th grade students said they want to learn online to "be in control of my learning." Students do not expect courses to be easier online, but they do expect the online format to make it easier to succeed because they can review materials when they want and are more comfortable asking teachers for help.

The desire for online opportunities is best expressed through the words of students themselves. When asked, "What is the one thing that you would do to improve schools to ensure that all students had the skills they needed to be successful in life," a 10th-grade student from Alcoa High School in Tennessee responded, "I would provide personal laptops for each student and provide online classes. Every school does not have all the classes a student is interested in and online classes (provide) another option."

Teachers who have experience teaching online overwhelmingly agree: 76 percent believe that online learning benefits students by giving them greater control of their learning, compared to just 10 percent of all teachers surveyed.

School principals cited funding and teacher preparation as key barriers to offering expanded access to online courses, with 22 percent reporting that online learning was not a funding priority in their district. Specific to teachers, principals felt that teachers are not comfortable using the tools (18 percent) or teaching online (17 percent), are reluctant to try (14 percent), or their school does not have the expertise to create online courses (14 percent).

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NASA Invites High School Students to Apply for Inspire Project

/PRNewswire/ -- NASA's Interdisciplinary National Science Program Incorporating Research Experience, known as Inspire, is accepting applications from high school students through June 30. NASA will make selections in September.

The selectees will participate in an online learning community in which students and parents have the opportunity to interact with their peers and NASA engineers and scientists. It also provides appropriate grade level educational activities, discussion boards and chat rooms for participants and their families to gain exposure to the many career opportunities at NASA.

Students selected for the online learning community will have the option to compete for experiences during the summer of 2010 at NASA facilities and participating universities throughout the nation. The Inspire project is designed to encourage ninth through 12th grade students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. The summer experience provides students a hands-on opportunity to investigate education and careers in those disciplines.

The Inspire project is part of NASA's education strategy to attract and retain students in the science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, disciplines critical to NASA's missions.

For information about the project, including details about how to apply, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/education/INSPIRE

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