me arts ed

Article from Fast Company

“How Web-Savvy Edupunks Are Transforming American Higher Education” by Anya Kamenetz. In 2001 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) agreed to put coursework online for free. For every course offered at MIT today you can find the complete syllabi, lecture notes, class exercises, tests and some video and audio for every course. Fifty six million people have accessed this information from around the world.

Because of iTunes U and YouTube Edu online resources are being shared freely. Google scanned and digitized 7 million books and Wikipedia users continue creating the largest encyclopedia in the world. The largest social network, Facebook, makes sharing information easy worldwide. So, how does this impact teaching and learning at the K-12 level? Read about the edupunks and the entire  Fast Company article by clicking here.

Secretary Duncan writes to School and Education Community Leaders!

Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan

A letter from Secretary Duncan outlines the importance placed on arts education in the development and learning process for all children. He was reminded of the role of arts education after receiving the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report on arts education from across our country.

This fall the US Department of Education’s National Center for Education  Statistics (NCES) is planning to undertake a survey to assess the condition of arts education in grades K-12. More details are in the letter which you can assess on the Maine Department of Education arts website or by clicking here.  Be sure and share the letter with your school leaders.

The US DOE has a website for arts education where you can learn more about their grant programs and find resources to meet the challenges ahead.

On Tuesday, August 18th at 1Pm Secretary Duncan will be having a live discussion concerning his letter and support of arts education. The event is hosted by the NAMM Foundation and the SupportMusic Coalition. Your participation will demonstrate your support. You can register now by clicking here and up until 15 minutes before the event.

Dana Foundation Research

You can read the summary of this Dana Foundation research written by Dr. Michael S. Gazzaniga from the University of Santa Barbara by clicking here.

The research was done in 2004 by neuroscientists from seven universities across the US. The Cognition Consortium looked closely at the connection between people who have higher academic performance and their training in the arts.

The research findings could be helpful to arts educators as well as the larger community including policy makers. The summary of the report can be read by clicking here.  The entire research can be downloaded at the Dana Foundation site.