I recently had the opportunity to attend an event at the White House announcing the launch of “Digital Promise,” a bipartisan initiative created by Congress to help spur breakthrough technologies to transform teaching and learning. As an independent nonprofit, Digital Promise will seek to empower schools to revolutionize education through digital content.

The team behind Digital Promise has identified three primary goals for its research and development. It plans to identify breakthrough education technologies that personalize learning, do rapid evaluations of its work to learn which types of solutions are working and which are not, and transform the current market for learning technologies by bolstering the investment in educational technologies

It was an exciting day filled with inspiring stories and great information. During the launch event, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spoke about America lagging behind other countries in education. His challenge to participants was to redefine education to meet the needs of students in the digital age, thereby empowering young people to compete in the global society.

Duncan’s call to action made me think about the position I am in to personally contribute to the transformation of our nation’s schools. As a representative of Dell in the field, I want to speak out about our goals and strategies around assisting schools in moving to the next generation of learning. We have the tools to help prepare students for a competitive workforce. With the work we’re doing with our customers, I know we’re on the right track. "Digital Promise" will help further our collective cause by influencing policymakers and inspiring the private sector to invest more in educational technology, and more importantly commit to bringing the benefits of technology to life for our students and teachers. 

I believe this initiative is the beginning of a necessary shift in our education system, and I am excited to see what’s next. Together we can change the way we teach and learn. What’s even more exciting is that this is just one of many conversations we’ll be a part of. I’ll keep you all updated as I attend forthcoming events and learn more! In the meantime,  check out more information on "Digital Promise" at www.digitalpromise.org. To get started with technology solutions, Professional Learning Services and more, visit our K-12 education homepage.