SETDA in 2014: Year in Review

Written by on December 18, 2014. Posted in ConnectED, Digital Content, E-Rate, Equity of Access, FCC, In the News, OER, Policy, Professional Learning

As the calendar year draws to a close and we take time to celebrate family and the holiday season, all of us at SETDA want to wish you a happy, healthy, and productive new year. Over the course of 2014, SETDA worked with you to identify and shed light on emerging issues, share best practices and policies, and lead change at the federal, state and local levels. SETDA members, partners, and staff collaborated to:

• Play a leading role in the modernization of the E-rate program, including securing the adoption of SETDA’s broadband capacity targets as official goals for the program;
• Launch a redesigned website at www.setda.org to more clearly communicate the association’s work and priorities to the public, following on the fall 2013 launch of an online professional learning community for members and partners, SETDA Connects;
• Release The Guide to Technology Requirements, a website to help school and district leaders understand the detailed technology requirements for online assessments and to help consider these requirements in the overall context of school technology needs;
• Launch the The Guide to Implementing Digital Learning, a free web-based resource to support school and district leaders as they work to ensure that investments in digital learning spark positive results;
• Continue to refine and enhance the state-level policy and practice information contained in SETDA’s State Education Policy Center;
• Continue to advocate for the recommendations contained in our groundbreaking report, Out of Print: Reimagining the K-12 Textbook in a Digital Age, including by launching a new series of issue briefs to shed further light on emerging issues, such as those related to teacher-created content and the accessibility of digital content;
• Host uniquely powerful professional learning and networking events for our members and partners at our Emerging Technologies Forum in Atlanta in June and our Leadership Summit in the Washington, DC area in October;
• Host in-person and online events to highlight the $2 billion in educational technology and software donated to K-12 schools by leading companies under the Obama Administration’s ConnectED Initiative;
• Expand our strategic partnership program through the launch of a new pilot Affiliate program designed to extend SETDA’s reach, influence and impact; and
• Share our views on education policy and practice with prominent education trade and mass media outlets.

As you look ahead at your organization’s  long term planning and advocacy goals for 2015, be sure to refer back to the many SETDA resources that have been developed to help education leaders like you advance school reform and improvement through the effective use of technology.

Happy holidays from all of us at SETDA.