New report on learning and the Internet emphasizes role of afterschool and informal education

This week the Aspen Institutes Task Force on Learning and the Internet released its much anticipated report, Learner at the Center of a Networked World.  The report and series of recommendations seeks to ensure today’s students are at the center of, and have access to, safe learning inside and outside of the classroom that prepares them for future success. The comprehensive report addresses the serious issues of trust, safety, privacy, digital literacy and accessibility—especially for underserved students. In their recommendations, the task force recommends actions to help all students connect safely and maximize learning experiences online.

The task force—composed of 20 thought leaders with diverse perspectives on learning, innovation and safety, and supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation—finalized the report after a year of study, outreach to stakeholders including the afterschool field, public input and internal deliberations. Former Governor of Florida and Chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd) Jeb Bush and Co-Founder of Voto Latino Rosario Dawson served as Honorary Co-Chairs.

The Aspen Task Force report calls for a shift from the traditional focus on one learning institution, the school, to a focus on the learner and all the places where there are opportunities to learn—like afterschool programs, museums, libraries and the home. To be successful, students must have access to learning networks that are interoperable—or have the ability to share information—and that allow them to earn credit for what they have learned regardless of where they learned it. These credits should also be recognized by schools and institutions of higher education. Most importantly, schools, technology leaders, and policy makers need to ensure sensitive student information is secure and protected and there are trusted environments in which the data can be shared and used to improve instruction.  The task force provides a framework and examples to help communities come together to be creative and collaborate about building environments where safety, learning and innovation become synonymous.

Written to be implementable, practical and accessible, this report includes six recommendations along with specific action steps that the government, parents, educators, district leaders, students, foundations, nonprofits and businesses can take to ensure that the learners of today are equipped to thrive in the 21st century. Afterschool educators and youth development professionals will likely find the recommendations consistent with much of the work in which they are already engaged. The recommendations are:

1. Redesign learning environments to empower students to learn any time, any place, both in school and beyond.
2. Provide educators with skill-building to support and guide learners in a networked learning environment.
3. Build an infrastructure that will connect all students in all of the places they learn.
4. Make sure all learning networks are interoperable—or have the ability to share information and data.
5. Adopt policies to ensure children are taught basic skills—or digital literacies—for living and learning in the digital age.
6. Create trusted learning environments for children to keep them safe.

For more details on the recommendations and 26 specific action steps, go to the full report online: www.aspentaskforce.org.The task force recommends that federal, state, and local governments all take steps to fund pilots, experimentation and eventually full implementation of the steps called for in the report. Many of these recommendations can be embedded in the existing funding streams that already support schools, libraries and nonprofits. At the release event committments were announced to start implementation of the recommendations including a new digital media and learning trust challenge.