The North Carolina Digital Learning Plan has been developed to provide recommendations for state actions that will support K-12 schools as they become digital age learning organizations. It was prepared for the North Carolina State Board of Education and Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) by the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at NC State University, working in collaboration with educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders across the state.
The Digital Learning Progress Rubric serves as a roadmap to support North Carolina’s educators and communities in the transition to digital-age teaching and learning. It is designed to help district or charter teams reflect on their current stage of development in digital learning and track their progress moving forward.
Technology Infrastructure and Devices
An effective digital learning transition requires that students and teachers in every school have ready access to the technology required for digital teaching and learning. While North Carolina has made great progress in providing broadband access to all schools, further work is needed to provide Wi-Fi networks within schools and connected devices for all students and teachers.
State Goals
- All schools have sufficient network capacity to fully support digital learning in all classrooms and workspaces by 2018. Sustainable funding and processes are available to maintain well-functioning networks in all schools thereafter.
- Ongoing increases are found in (a) teachers’ and students’ ratings about their access to technologies, and (b) the number of schools that provide devices to every student.
- Cost savings are obtained through economies of scale purchasing for both equipment and digital content.
- All Districts are able to address community and home access to ensure digital resources are available to all students.
ECA
- Cisco Access Points are installed close to all classrooms, offices, and common spaces.
- Students in grades 4-12 are provided a school-owned Chromebook that is allowed to be taken home. Students also receive a Chromebook case.
- Each Classroom in grades K-3 has a set of 12 Chromebooks to use. Additional Chromebooks are available as loaners and for MAP testing and State testing.
- All ECA classrooms are typically equipped with a Projector or large TV, and many have a document camera.
- All teachers are provided with a laptop.
- Content filtering is done by an MCNC Firewall, Google Admin, and GoGuardian.
- Safety monitoring is provided by Gaggle Software
- WIFI extends to the exterior of the school
ECA Goals
- Use Erate and state connectivity funds to add access points. This would be at no cost to the district
- Use Erate and state connectivity funds to add switches.
Human Capacity
The digital learning transition requires that teachers and administrators are able to take full advantage of modern technologies. Statewide data show that much remains to be done; in only six districts did more than 40% of the teachers rate themselves as having sufficient training to fully utilize instructional technology. On another survey, only 13 districts rated their leadership for digital learning to be at the advanced level.
State Goals
- All teachers and administrators demonstrate understanding and application of the digital learning competencies.
- All teachers and students report effective leadership and support for digital learning in their districts and schools.
- All teachers report that they are prepared to effectively use digital learning to increase their students’ engagement and achievement. All students report that their teachers use technology effectively to enhance learning.
- Superintendents, principals, experienced teachers and students report that new teachers and administrators are well prepared for their roles as digital-age educators.
ECA Accomplishments
- Teacher training provided on Canvas, Gaggle, Clever, and GoGuardian.
ECA Goals
- Develop high-quality professional development that can be delivered face-to-face and online.
- Increase engagement with stakeholders
- Increase parents using PowerSchool App, Canvas Parent App.
Content, Instruction, and Assessment
Digital learning requires very different tools and resources than traditional learning. Curriculum resources are no longer static pages, but instead provide interactive, multimedia learning experiences, with embedded assessments of progress and personalized paths to learning. While there has been some progress statewide, most districts rate themselves at the early or early developing stage of progress in the use of digital content and instruction. While, on average, districts rated themselves as more advanced on their use of data and assessment, most see the need for further progress in those areas as well.
State Goals
- High-quality, personalized, interactive digital learning resources are available to all students. Effective systems are in place for teachers to select, create, organize, share, review, and use digital learning resources and curricula.
- The cost of educational resources is reduced while maintaining quality and alignment with the North Carolina curriculum standards.
- All teachers use assessment data that enables them to personalize instruction and increase student achievement.
- Home Base use increases significantly. Teachers, students, and parents rate highly the value of Home Base.
ECA Accomplishments
- All staff and all students (k-12) have a G Suite Account.
- ECA has adopted Canvas as our Learning Management Systems.
- Upper School math teachers use Big Ideas Math online and some use SchoolNet.
- Science teachers use LearnEd Notebooks and online resources in grades 4-8 and in Biology.
- Teachers use No Red Ink and various other software tools.
ECA Goals
- Students will have daily opportunities to participate in differentiated digital learning activities.
- Adopt high-quality digital content that is available to students 24 hours a day.
- Offer coding courses through the Career and Technical Education Department at Middle School and High School.
- Internet safety and digital citizenship
- Video production
- Increase the usage of SchoolNet resources.
Funding and Policy
The transition to digital learning requires updating legislation and policies to foster educational innovations, restructuring budgets for sustainable initiatives, and ensuring that all students have access to digital-age learning opportunities. North Carolina has already made important progress – for example Session Law 2013-12 (transition from funding textbooks to funding digital materials) and Session Law 2013-11 (develop and implement digital teaching and learning standards for teachers and school leaders) – but further work is needed.
State Goals
- School and district leaders report that State legislation and policies support innovation and that barriers have been removed. North Carolina is frequently cited as a national leader in digital learning innovations.
- Schools have minimal problems with the misuse of digital technologies; structures and systems are in place to effectively address any issues that do occur.
- Sustainable funding exists and allows for long-term planning.
- Access to digital learning is addressed as part of the State’s responsibility to provide a sound basic education to all students.
