To catch up on something - before it went out on recess, Congress passed and the President signed the Higher Education Opportunities Act of 2008. Included in that bill is the creation of a National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies:
The purpose of the Center shall be to support a comprehensive research and development program to harness the in creasing capacity of advanced information and digital technologies to improve all levels of learning and education, formal and informal, in order to provide Americans with the knowledge and skills needed to compete in the global economy.
This have been the long standing goal of our friends over at Digital Promise. Originally conceived of as DO-IT (Digital Opportunity Investment Trust), the Center is a major step forward toward creating an educational system for the I-Cubed Economy. As Digital Promise explains:
Advanced information technologies such as virtual reality, visualization, digital modeling, digitization, simulations and intelligent one-on-one tutoring systems are proven to dramatically enhance and accelerate teaching and learning difficult and abstract concepts by translating abstractions into real-world contexts and providing customized tutoring and individualized assessments. “Educational Games” and virtual reality training simulations are examples of technology-based learning tools that could be used to teach higher-order thinking skills such as strategic thinking, interpretative analysis, problem solving, plan formulation and execution, and adaption to rapid change. These are skills more American must have to compete with lower cost knowledge workers in other nations. In addition, at present, we have no systemized way to research and produce content for learning in a way that is replicable on a national level.
Congratulations on that big step forward.
Of course, now comes the funding issue . . .
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