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Corporate Social Responsibility
News
6.25.2007 - 09:55pm ET
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Pearson Foundation Announces New Digital Arts Alliances
Innovative Public-Private Partnerships to Provide 21st Century Skills to K-12 Students and Teachers Nationwide
(CSRwire) ATLANTA, GA. - June 25, 2007 - The Pearson Foundation today announced a
series of new partnerships, programs, and funding commitments with members
of the Digital Arts Alliance, the consortium that promotes digital arts in
K-12 education through fully funded and staffed programs delivered
directly to schools and community centers nationwide. The Pearson
Foundation is the founding partner in the Digital Arts Alliance, and part
of Pearson, the international education and information company.
At the opening of the annual National Educational Computing Conference
(NECC), the Pearson Foundation welcomed seven new members to the Digital
Arts Alliance: Adobe Systems, Inc., the American Red Cross, Facing
History and Ourselves, Peachpit, Phi Delta Kappa International, and
Pearson Education/Hispanic Leadership Council.
The Pearson Foundation also announced a significant expansion of its
existing partnership with Nokia, as well as a national initiative with the
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).
Each year, the Digital Arts Alliance makes it possible for more than
15,000 students and teachers to experience firsthand how laptop computers,
video production equipment, and the latest mobile-phone technologies are
changing the ways young people can organize, present, and share
information about issues that matter to them.
Pearson Foundation president Mark Nieker said the following organizations
made announcements today regarding their support of the Digital Arts
Alliance:
Adobe, the leading digital arts technology publisher, will
host Digital Arts Alliance student movies and other digital stories on its
Digital Kids Club Website at www.adobe.com/education/digkids.
Additionally, the Digital Arts Alliance will use Adobe digital photography,
video, and imaging software as its preferred solution for all Digital Arts
Alliance student and educator programs.
The American Red Cross, the leading disaster preparedness and
recovery organization, along with the Pearson Foundation, will provide
digital-arts focused professional development for middle- and high-school
teachers in regional workshops across the United States.
Facing History and Ourselves, the international educational
and professional development organization, in collaboration with the
Pearson Foundation, will introduce the Facing History curriculum in the
form of digital arts projects. This new program for students and educators
will serve Title 1 middle and high schools, offering digital arts support
to high-need schools that might not otherwise receive this valuable
curriculum.
Nokia and the Pearson Foundation have announced a significant
expansion of their Mobile Learning Institute program. The new Mobile
Learning Institute Leadership Network will offer free two- and three-day,
hands-on sessions for teachers in regional workshops in at least 11 North
American cities each year, in addition to continuing student and educator
support in California, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York,
and Texas school districts. The new Digital Arts Alliance Leadership
Institute will provide comprehensive digital arts training to more than
100 additional technology educators from across the U.S., in conjunction
with the International Association for Technology in Education (ISTE) and
other partners.
Through 2009, this increased commitment is expected to triple the number
of teachers served by the Mobile Learning Institute program nationwide
Phi Delta Kappa, the international association for
professional educators, together with the Pearson Foundation, will sponsor
the Inside Our Schools video competition to schools engaged in the Future
Educator Association (FEA), the only nationally-recognized organization
promoting education as a career. This video program encourages the high
school students who take part in FEA Clubs to create films that identify
best practices and examples of teaching excellence in their own schools.
The Digital Arts Alliance will enhance this program, working with select
teams to create and broadcast quality student films. The end result will
be video created by student participants that showcases future educators
and their role models — current teachers — who embody good teaching
practices.
Peachpit, the leading digital arts publisher, will become the
Digital Arts Alliance’s key publishing partner, working with the Pearson
Foundation to develop books on the use of technology, the impact of digital
arts on students and teachers, and best practices in use and design.
Peachpit will also secure contributions to the Digital Arts Alliance
Scholarship Fund, based on sales of key titles on market-leading Adobe
applications in the best-selling Visual QuickStart Guide series.
Pearson Education, the leading educational publisher, and the
Pearson Foundation will sponsor the Pearson Education Digital Literacy
Fellowship Program, a Digital Arts Alliance program designed specifically
to promote digital literacies among teachers who serve the nation’s
Hispanic communities. This initiative delivers digital arts training and
support to teachers and students in school districts across America in
conjunction with the Pearson Education Hispanic Leadership Council, a
nationwide body of select state and district administrators representing
educators serving Hispanic students — the fastest-growing population in
the U.S. public education system.
In addition, the Pearson Foundation today announced an innovative
public-private partnership with The International Society for Technology
in Education (ISTE) — The Digital Arts Alliance Leadership Institute
—which integrates key efforts of Digital Arts Alliance members in
partnership with (ISTE), the trusted source for professional development,
knowledge generation, advocacy, and leadership for innovation. Beginning
later this summer and continuing through the coming academic year, The
Digital Arts Alliance Leadership Institute will provide regional education
leaders across the United States: intensive, hands-on professional
development sessions from the Mobile Learning Institute (sponsored by
Nokia and the Pearson Foundation); extended Internet-based coaching and
mentoring from a network of ISTE’s national technology trainers; and
additional resources and support from Adobe, Peachpit, and Pearson
Education.
Nieker said "At Pearson, we are working with organizations which recognize
that for today’s young people, success in school and in life requires
educational experiences that meet the challenges of our new century.
Digital arts projects provide that kind of experience. As the growth of
the Digital Arts Alliance indicates, we are not alone in this commitment.
We are seeing increasing interest from both the public and private sectors,
all eager to join us in offering these exceptional digital arts programs,
which we hope will foster the development of confident school leaders."
ABOUT THE PEARSON FOUNDATION
The Pearson Foundation extends Pearson’s commitment to education by
partnering with leading nonprofit, civic, and business organizations to
provide financial, organizational, and publishing assistance across the
globe. The foundation aims to make a difference by sponsoring innovative
educational programs and extending its educational expertise to help in
classrooms and in local communities. More information on the Pearson
Foundation can be found at www.pearsonfoundation.org
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