The pandemic-fueled expansion of online learning will certainly persist beyond the pandemic, and schools must ensure that the transition creates accessible, high-quality options for all students. Most recently, the surge in COVID-19 Omicron variant cases and persistent ambiguity around whether and how to close schools reinforces the fact that we…

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to reverberate across the nation, for millions of students, educators, and families, the current school year is rife with challenges. The long-term impact of the disruptions of the last two years on student enrollment and attendance remains to be seen, particularly for students with whom schools have lost…

Achieving prosperity for all Americans could not be more urgent. Although the United States remains the most prosperous nation on earth, millions of citizens are losing faith in the American dream of upward mobility, and in American-style capitalism itself. This crisis of confidence has widened the divide afflicting American politics and cries out…

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed into law on March 27, provides flexible funding for states to respond to the COVID-19 emergency in K-12 schools. CARES Act funds allow state and district funds to be spent on resources such as technology tools, professional development for educators, sanitation of buildings, and…

Educators and students in schools across the United States have faced sweeping, unprecedented changes to teaching and learning as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which shuttered school buildings in spring 2020. This Data Note offers teachers' and principals' perspectives on some of those changes and presents their…

For 17 years, the New Media Consortium convened panels of experts from higher education and posed three key questions for them to discuss: (1) What is on the five-year horizon for higher education institutions?; (2) Which trends and technology developments will drive educational change?; and (3) What are the critical challenges and how can we…

At least 55 million students ended the school year learning at home after approximately 124,000 public and private schools closed their doors due to the coronavirus pandemic. This "new normal" created uncertainty among high school students about their futures as many struggled with the pandemic's compounding effects as they also worried…

COVID-19 has profoundly affected educational institutions across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as it has in the rest of the country and around the world. Since March 2020, school buildings statewide have been closed. Although many schools have worked hard to provide instruction remotely, it is likely that schoolchildren all over the state are…

As schools closed their physical classrooms in March 2020 due to COVID-19, educators across the United States reported that English Learners (ELs), immigrant students, and students in low-income families were particularly difficult to reach with online instruction. The pandemic and the sudden, forced transition to remote learning have brought into…

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, most elementary and secondary schools and local educational agencies (LEAs) across the United States stopped offering in-person instruction in February or March 2020. By the middle of April 2020, 48 states, four U.S. territories, the District of Columbia, and the Department of Defense Education Activity…

The fact that online learning has been successful for many schools across the country does not mean that it has been free of challenges. Indeed, there are numerous issues and challenges in online learning. Few policymakers anticipated that any space time, any space place learning was possible when most education laws were authored over the past 50…

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is pleased to release its fifth annual National Trends Report on the use of federal funds to support educational technology. This report documents findings from Round 5 (FY 06) of the No Child Left Behind, Title II, Part D, Enhancing Education Through Technology (NCLB IID) program. The…

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is pleased to release its fourth annual National Trends Report on the use of federal funds to support educational technology. This report documents findings from Round 4 (FY 05) of the No Child Left Behind, Title II Part D, Enhancing Education Through Technology (NCLB II D) program.…

Online learning is growing rapidly across the United States within all levels of education, as more and more students and educators become familiar with the benefits of learning unconstrained by time and place. Across most states and all grade levels, students are finding increased opportunity, flexibility, and convenience through online learning.…