Project

Enabling Connected Learning

Team Members

About the Project

What is the value of data in education and learning?

Enabling Connected Learning was initiated to better understand the relationship between U.S. governmental policy, technology development, and innovative learning initiatives.

This initiative also sought to support the Cities of Learning movement in order to create bridges between different learning environments, all with the learner at the center.

As young people embrace technology to learn, play, and socialize, the boundaries between education, the home, and society get increasingly blurred. New concerns have emerged over student data, youth privacy, and educational reform. Federal and state policies focused on children, education, and technology influence what learning initiatives are possible. Privacy, safety, and security all shape the trustworthiness of different digital platforms and learning ecosystems, even as data can be used to enable new forms of learning and new opportunities for advancing education. While these issues are publicly debated and politically fraught, research to ground these conversations is limited.

The goal of this project was to better understand exactly how existing and proposed policies affect connected learning initiatives and where and when student data can and should be used. We worked with technology developers, policymakers, and researchers to identify and address issues that hinder efforts to empower young people and advance their learning opportunities.

Enabling Connected Learning was funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

All Work