AASL a core partner in celebrating inaugural Digital Learning Day

CHICAGO  – Building upon a growing movement, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), working together with the Alliance for Excellent Education and other national educational associations and organizations, is calling on school librarians to participate in the inaugural national Digital Learning Day on February 1, 2012.  Digital Learning Day will celebrate innovative teaching practices that make learning more personalized and engaging and encourage exploration of how digital learning can provide more students with more opportunities to get the skills they need to succeed in college, career and life. Learn more about Digital Learning Day at http://www.digitallearningday.org.

“Digital Learning Day is more than just a day” said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education, co-chair of Digital Learning Now and former governor of West Virginia. “It is about building a digital learning movement that truly provides a quality education for every child.”

Educators working to ensure that every child graduates career and college ready and empowered with the 21^st century skills needed to compete in today’s rapidly changing economy are encouraged participate in Digital Learning Day by signing up at www.digitallearningday.org. Over the next three months, interested participants will receive targeted toolkits, opportunities to participate in webinars and conference calls and share ideas with like-minded colleagues. This celebration of innovation, personalization and imagination to build a movement that provides a high quality education to every child will then culminate on Feb. 1, 2012, with Digital Learning Day.

“Technology has a rapidly expanding place in today’s educational landscape and celebrating Digital Learning Day is a wonderful way to showcase its importance,” explains Carl Harvey, AASL president. “Technology engages students by allowing them to share and learn with their peers and guides them in self-direct learning. It also gives our students access to a wealth of information, which in turn, requires students learn skills to select, evaluate and use information appropriately and effectively.”

The American Association of School Librarians, www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), promotes the improvement and extension of library services in elementary and secondary schools as a means of strengthening the total education program. Its mission is to advocate excellence, facilitate change and develop leaders in the school library field.

The Alliance for Excellent Education is a Washington, D.C.-based national policy and advocacy organization that works to improve national and federal policy so that all students can achieve at high academic levels and graduate from high school ready for success in college, work and citizenship in the twenty-first century. For more information about the Alliance for Excellent Education, please visit http://www.all4ed.org.