Katie Ash
kash@epe.org
“In my reporting for this issue, I’ve been struck by how integral technology has become to all aspects of education, transforming everything from the kinds of conversations teachers and parents need to have with students to keep them safe to what students do with the time it takes to get to and from school, each day,” says Katie, a Digital Directions staff writer, blogger, and Web producer (See “Learning on the Ride.”). “It points to a shift in the role of technology as its own isolated discipline to technology as an underlying and central piece to all areas of education.”
Michelle R. Davis
mdavis@epe.org
“It was a fascinating intellectual journey delving into the world of school district Web site design and organization for this issue,” says Digital Directions Senior Writer Michelle R. Davis (See “Build It Better”). “I never truly appreciated just how many ideas need to be considered and decisions made when figuring out what to include on a district site and how to help users navigate it. Every decision must be weighed against the law of unintended consequences, because user preferences vary widely in the K-12 online world.”
Andrew Trotter
atrotter@epe.org
“Educators and policymakers have been talking about the importance of technological literacy for years, but their various understandings of the concept have confused the conversation and generally not kept pace with changes in the global economy and the digital worlds that children inhibit,” says Andrew Trotter, a Digital Directions writer and Education Week assistant editor (See “Tech Literacy Confusion”). “But a federal effort to craft a technology literacy assessment might help clarify what tech literacy is and what it is not.”