Although only six states—Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Minnesota, Utah, and Virginia—earned an A or B on the 2012 edition of the Digital Learning Report Card, digital learning continues to be a hot topic in legislatures across the country, says the ed-tech advocacy group Digital Learning Now!, which wrote the report.
States were graded based on 39 measures that correlate to the organization’s 10 essential elements for high-quality digital learning. Those elements were crafted during a meeting in 2010 of a digital learning council co-chaired by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise, which led to the formation of Digital Learning Now!. In 2012, more than 700 bills related to digital learning were debated in state legislatures, according to the report. Of those, 152 were signed into law, allowing students to take classes online, equipping students and teachers with mobile devices, and providing schools the flexibility to embrace blended learning models.
