Author Profiles New York Classroom Technology Experiment

Author David Bornstein writes at the New York Times (9/20) "Opinionator" blog that though public education policy debate tends to focus on teacher quality, students' are often overlooked as an education resource. "One way to help students gain agency over their own education is through technology." Bornstein profiles a New York school engaged in "a promising experiment in digital learning," noting that "last year, CFY, a nonprofit organization, provided home computers (and arranged for discounted broadband access) to every one of the sixth grade students in the school. ... In addition, CFY provided a four-hour training for the students and their parents in a free Web-based platform CFY developed called PowerMyLearning which contains 1,000 (soon to be 2,800) digital learning activities and games from across the Web that have been carefully selected and categorized by teachers and education specialists." Bornstein suggests that the program is already bearing fruit.