Friday, November 29, 2013

Getting to Know the Project Tomorrow Team

Happy Friday!

We hope you all had a fantastic week and a great Thanksgiving! It's Friday which means it's time to meet another one of our fabulous team members. Today we would like to introduce you to Tina Kreditor, our Accounting Manager!

Tina Kreditor
Accounting Manager
Project Tomorrow
949-609-4660 x14 voice


Tina Kreditor is the Accounting Manager for Project Tomorrow, joining the team in 2007. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from the University of Southern California. She earned her CPA certificate in 1990. After working at Price Waterhouse, Tina worked for a residential home builder, spent 10 years working in Real Estate Investments at Pacific Life in Newport Beach, and currently has her own business providing accounting consulting for closely-held companies.

In her free time, Tina enjoys scrapbooking, reading and cheering on her USC Trojans!!

Please be sure to check back next week to meet Marianne Miller, Grants Manager!

Thanks for reading!

-The Project Tomorrow Team

Thursday, November 28, 2013

A Day of Thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving! 

We hope you are all enjoying your day! Today we would like to take a moment to say:


Thank you to all our followers and Speak Up participants for your continued support of Project Tomorrow and Speak Up!  

In honor of giving thanks, we would like to give a special shout out to all our Speak Up Partners and Sponsors. With December quickly approaching and the close of the survey near, the encouragement and support from the following organizations are truly the core to the success of our Speak Up surveys each and every year. 

We greatly appreciate all the support and encouragement that goes into making each year's Speak Up such a success, without you Speak Up would not be possible!

Champion Sponsors

  • Blackboard
  •  
  • Brain Pop
  • K 12
  •  
  • Dreambox logo
  • School Wires
  •  
  • SMART logo
  •  
  • Rosetta Stone

Champion Outreach Partners

  • American Association of School Administrators
  •  
  • CoSN
  •  
  • Digital Learning Day
  • Digital Promise
  •  
  • edWeb
  •  
  • iNACOL
  • ISTE
  •  
  • NASSP logo
  •  
  • Technology Leadership Network
  •  
  • State Educational Technology Directors Association
  • SREB

Non-Profit Partners





*The partners noted with an asterisk have been supporting Speak Up outreach efforts since 2003.
To learn more about joining the Speak Up family, contact Julie Evans at jevans@tomorrow.org

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

-The Project Tomorrow Team

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Around the Web Wednesday!

It's Wednesday...

Do you know what that means? It is Around the Web Wednesday!

Browse all the links below for the latest news and topics trending in education. Be sure to let us know which article intrigued you the most!

Be sure to check back each week for our Around the Web Wednesday Series

Need an activity before Thanksgiving Break? Out of school for the week? Take the Speak Up survey!! Surveys are open to anyone interested in having a voice on critical education and technology trends. Go to www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013 to take the survey today. Surveys open to students, parents, educators and community members! Please be sure to pass on, every voice counts!

Enjoy your day.

-The Project Tomorrow team


eSN Special Report: Powering the Digital Classroom (Featuring Project Tomorrow)- eSchool News
5 things to be thankful for in education - Meris Stansbury, eSchool News
Campaign Seeks to Recruit Top Students to Become Teachers - New York Times
Frequent Tests Can Enhance College Learning, Study Finds - New York Times
This Awesome Ad, Set to Beastie Boys, Is How to get Girls to Become Engineers - Slate
Why Are There Still So Few Women in Science - New York Times
Smartphone Apps to Report School crime- ithinqware.com
Portland schools hope to bolster STEM education - The Forecaster
Involving  More Female and Minority Students in STEM Imperative According to Experts - Digital Journal
ISTE Board President Kecia Ray and CEO Brian Lewis Congratulate Educators Honored by President Obama as “Champions of Change" - Digital Journal

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

I Am A Scientist

Despite being home to two of the largest life science clusters in the world, California’s mathematics and sciences programs continue to lag behind other states, ranking 43rd in the category. As the life sciences continue to grow in California, the state will need more diverse and educated workers in order to fill high-paying jobs; STEM education will have to become stronger in order for these roles to be fulfilled.



In I Am A Scientist, Tom Torlakson (Superintendent of Public Instruction), the Department of Education, The California Endowment, California Biotechnology Foundation, and Lybba connect what a solid STEM education can do for expanding students’ future career paths. The film follows student from Promise Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles at a biohackathon, an event that enables students to work with biomedical lab equipment in a hands-on setting. “[At the biohackathon] I was inspired by [the students’] imagination and wonderment…these students are genuinely passionate about pursuing careers in science, medicine, research,” said Jesse Dylan, founder of Wondros and Lybba.

The film hopes to not only show the impact that STEM education has on future career paths, but also hopes to inspire students to consider the life science field as well. “We want to help students find their passion and to get a sense for what’s possible in the future,” said B. Kathlyn Mead, the EVP and COO of the California Endowment. Given STEM education’s track record, this seems likely. Marlena Jackson, founder of NexGeneGirls, an afterschool program that introduces girls to science and technology, has seen her students place themselves on track to becoming scientists, engineers, and lab technicians just after some exposure to science.

I Am A Scientist is now showing and is due to be screened at several high schools throughout the state in order to open students’ eyes about a possible career path in the sciences.

Here at Project Tomorrow our mission is to ensure that today’s students are well prepared to be tomorrow’s innovators, leaders and engaged citizens of the world. We believe that by supporting the innovative uses of science, math and technology resources in our K-12 schools and communities, students will develop the critical thinking, problem solving and creativity skills needed to compete and thrive in the 21st century. Each year we hold our Leading the Way: Youth Leadership Summit for Math and Science for local High School students in Orange County, CA. This free half-day event includes a student presentation of OC business trends, panel discussions from industry leaders and a diverse group of engineers, tabletop exhibits to introduce students to local STEM career opportunities and college programs, and breakout sessions led by business and education leaders throughout the region. Opportunities like these are just what students need to get exposure to these types of careers!

To learn more about how you, your company or students can get involved with next year's 2014 Leading the Way Youth Leadership Summit please visit our website at: http://www.tomorrow.org/programs/youthLeadershipSummit.html

Click here to read the full article, "New Flim Inspites Youth to Find Passion in STEM Education and Discover Science-Based Career Opportunities".

Also please be sure to contribute to the national dialog about science, technology & preparing students for the 21st century workforce through Speak Up! This year we are asking students, parents and community members to share the types of college and workplace skills that they think students should be learning in school to be successful in the future, what is needed to acquire those skills as well as student's overall STEM career interest and how they would like to learn about future careers.

To participate in Speak Up go to www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013, surveys are available to students, educators, parents and community members.

Thanks for reading! And please be sure to tell us your thoughts on this interesting article below in our comment section!

Written by Lisa Chu, Project Tomorrow Fall Intern

Monday, November 25, 2013

GoldieBlox - Building Games for Girls to Inspire Future Engineers

Happy Monday! 

We hope you had a wonderful weekend! With the short work week we thought we share something fun to brighten your Monday! And with the winter holidays right around the corner possibly a gift inspiration for your daughter, niece or other young ladies in your life!


Read more about GoldieBlox in Today.com's article: GlodieBlox: Rebelling against dolls, the pink princess and the toy complex.

Need an activity before Thanksgiving Break? Out of school for the week? Take the Speak Up survey!! Surveys are open to anyone interested in having a voice on critical education and technology trends. Go to www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013 to take the survey today. Surveys open to students, parents, educators and community members!

Enjoy your day.

-The Project Tomorrow team

Friday, November 22, 2013

Getting to Know the Project Tomorrow Team

Happy Friday!

We hope you all had a fantastic week! It's Friday which means it's time to meet another one of our fabulous team members. Today we would like to introduce you to Meredith Kohl, our Special Projects Manager!

Meredith Kohl
Special Projects Manager
Project Tomorrow
949-609-4660 x20 voice


Meredith Kohl serves as Special Projects Manager for Project Tomorrow®.  Her present work focuses on the organization’s Tomorrow’s Teacher Initiative, which stimulates and nurtures the development of a new generation of K-12 teachers in math and science by leveraging Project Tomorrow’s YouthTEACH2Learn and California Future Educators Association (CFEA) programs across the state.  Meredith joined the Project Tomorrow® team in 2012 as the Youth Leadership Summit Coordinator. Her previous experience includes serving as a corps member with Teach for America in the Las Vegas Valley and a Fulbright Fellow to Italy, along with administrative and programmatic nonprofit work at the Center for Teaching Quality in North Carolina. She holds a California elementary teaching certification as well as a master of education in curriculum and instruction, and currently teaches and directs the lower elementary education program at Bridges Reading and Writing Institute in Irvine.

In her free time, Meredith enjoys anything Italian, playing soccer, crafting and design projects, and Saturday morning brunch excursions with her husband—we’re always looking for tasty spots in Orange County. Recommendations welcome and greatly appreciated. ;)

Please be sure to check back next week to meet Marianne Miller, Grants Manager!

Thanks for reading!

-The Project Tomorrow Team

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Report Release:

Making Learning Mobile 1.0:
Leveraging Mobile Devices to Transform Teaching and Learning

“This project represents a landmark study in the developing K-12 mobile learning space, this study is important because it gets beyond simply putting a tablet in the hands of students, and it examines how to effectively implement tablets within instruction to improve student learning”   —Julie Evans, CEO Project Tomorrow
As part of the Making Learning Mobile study, Chicago 5th grade and Fairfax County 8th grade students were provided with educationally-managed broadband Android tablets using the Kajeet Sentinel® platform to connect kids in school and at home. The objective of the study was to evaluate how the students used the devices, in school and out of school, to support their schoolwork and extend learning beyond the classroom.  While the majority of 8th graders in the Fairfax County study had high-speed Internet access at home, only 39 percent of the Chicago 5th graders had similar access.  Therefore, the Chicago study represented an opportunity to provide first-time home access to the Internet for many families, a ground-breaking initiative within Chicago schools.
While each study resulted in different findings based on the student grade level and demographics, some common results included:
  • Students appreciated having a personal tablet because it made it easier for them to get online at school, review class materials whenever they wanted and read online textbooks outside of school all without competing for home computer access.
  • Teachers creatively used the tablets in a variety of ways to engage students in learning, to increase student-teacher communications, and to support instruction.
The Making Learning Mobile study is continuing this school year within Chicago Public Schools.
Register for the webinar at http://tinyurl.com/webinarMLM and download the complete report from both school districts on the Kajeet website at: http://www.kajeet.com/4u/education/MLM-form.html.
About Kajeet®
Kajeet, the only wireless service provider dedicated to kids and education, is solving the digital divide in schools. Kajeet for Education provides portable Wi-Fi hotspots with school-managed off-campus Internet connectivity.  Giving teachers or administrators the ability to set access hours and filter out non-educational content, the Kajeet Sentinel® platform, gives students the access to essential academic resources on the Internet anytime, anywhere. The Kajeet SmartSpot™ is compatible with all devices students use today and is 100 percent compliant with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). For more information, please visit us at www.kajeet.com/education.
About Project Tomorrow
Project Tomorrow®, the national education nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering student voices in education discussions, designed and implemented this program evaluation for Kajeet for Education.  Project Tomorrow has 17 years of experience in the K-12 and higher education sector and regularly provides consulting and research support to school districts, government agencies, business and higher education institutions about key trends and research in science, math and technology education.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Around the Web Wednesday

It's Wednesday...

Do you know what that means? It is Around the Web Wednesday!

Browse all the links below for the latest news and topics trending in education. Be sure to let us know which article intrigued you the most!

Be sure to check back each week for our Around the Web Wednesday Series!

Have you participated in Speak Up 2013? Surveys are open to anyone interested in having a voice on critical education and technology trends. Go to www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013 to take the survey today. Surveys open to students, parents, educators and community members!

Enjoy your day.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

School turns loss into a positive with added STEAM curriculum

After losing their school to an F5 tornado in April 2011, University Place Elementary School in Tuscaloosa, AL wanted to turn the misfortune of losing their school building into an advantage: instead of just switching to a new building, the faculty also wanted to switch to a new curriculum. They settled on STEAM, a curriculum based on science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and the arts. “Our students have great creativity. We saw the creativity of STEAM would add another facet,” Principal Deron Cameron said regarding his school’s decision.


University Place Elementary School is just one of several schools who have taken up the STEAM approach. Other schools have dubbed the curriculum as “STEM and Beyond,” noting that it gives them a chance to reach out to all students and not just the ones who solely excel in straight academics. At Taylor Elementary School in Virginia, students are able to learn about the plant lifecycle by creating songs to represent the stages of the plant lifecycle via GarageBand. 

STEAM enables students to easily understand a topic that may have been difficult to grasp by just reading a textbook. Of course, not all STEAM programs are alike: each school develops their own curriculum based on what their students need. For example, one school collaborated with the local community, enabling students to become city planners who created cities using cereal box buildings, which were then reviewed by the community’s actual city planner. Despite the variations in STEAM programs, those who use it all agree that STEAM stresses the need for try and fail, giving students a chance to open up to subjects that may have been difficult for them to understand beforehand.

To read the full article: "For These Schools, Adding Arts to STEM Boosts Curriculum" on T|H|E Journal, click here.

Want to learn more about your students' interest in STEM? Participate in Speak Up! The Speak Up National Research Project give you the opportunity to contribute to the national dialog about science, technology & preparing students for the 21st century workforce! This year we are asking students, parents and community members to share the types of college and workplace skills that they think students should be learning in school to be sucessful in the future, what is needed to acuire those skills as well as student's overall STEM career interest.

To participate in Speak Up go to www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013, surveys are available to students, educators, parents and community members.  To get your school, district or organization involved please contact Jenny Hostert at jhostert@tomorrow.org.

Thanks for reading!

-The Project Tomorrow Team

Written by Lisa Chu, Project Tomorrow Fall 2013 Intern

Monday, November 18, 2013

Speak Up Planning Webinar Recording Now Available!

New to Speak Up? 

Watch our "All About Speak Up!" Recorded Webinar!!



As a kick off to Speak Up 2013 in your schools share our Speak Up Introductory Webinar recording with your school contacts. This 45 minute recorded webinar, hosted by Project Tomorrow's CEO, Julie Evans, includes background information on Speak Up, benefits of participation,  key Speak Up findings from last year’s survey as well as how your school  or district can participate in Speak Up this year. The recorded webinar can be accessed via Blackboard Collaborate here: Speak Up 2013 Planning.

 About Speak Up


The Speak Up National Research Project annually collects and reports on the authentic, unfiltered views of K–12 students, parents, and educators about critical digital age education and technology issues. The survey questions reflect many pertinent education topics impacting classrooms today—such as mobile learning, flipped classrooms, digital textbooks, virtual and blended learning, games, common core assessments and social media. Since 2003, more than 3 million K–12 education stakeholders have shared their ideas about digital learning through the Speak Up surveys. And we need your ideas too.

Speak Up is currently open for input through December 20, 2013. There is no cost to participate; no limit on the number of surveys that can be submitted; and all data collected is 100% confidential. The survey is available to anyone in having a voice on critical education and technology trends. 

To “Speak Up,” simply visit www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013  to take the survey. 

To learn more about Speak Up or to get your school, district or organization involved with Speak Up this year, please visit our website at www.tomorrow.org/speakup or contact Jenny Hostert on the Project Tomorrow team at jhostert@tomorrow.org / 949.609-4660 ext. 17.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Getting to Know the Project Tomorrow Team

Happy Friday!

We hope you all had a fantastic week! It's Friday which means it's time to meet another one of our fabulous team members. Today we would like to introduce you to Jenny Hostert, our Speak Up Operations Manager!


Jenny Hostert
Speak Up Operations Manager
Project Tomorrow
949-609-4660 x17 voice

Jenny Hostert is Project Tomorrow’s Speak Up Operations Manager. A native of San Clemente, California, Jenny grew up and attended college in Southern California, graduating with a BA in Sociology from UC-Santa Barbara in 2006. She joined Project Tomorrow in 2010 to lead the Speak Up National Research Project after spending 3 years working at Casa de Amma, a residential community for adults with disabilities. Jenny has a heart for non-profits, and is passionate about the ins and outs of making them successful. Jenny’s expertise includes Speak Up outreach communication and promotion efforts, technical issues and website management, and getting the Speak Up data back into the hands of the stakeholders. 

In her free time, Jenny enjoys weekends at the beach, traveling abroad, and spending time with family and friends.
Please be sure to check back next week to meet Meredith Kohl, Special Projects Manager!

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Social Media & College Admissions Another Worry for Students

As college acceptances become more competitive, it is no surprise that high school students are taking extra precautions in ensuring a spot at their desired schools. Besides dealing with academics, extracurricular activities, and community service hours, students are now worried about how they appear on the Internet.


At Bowdoin College, admissions officers turned down a student not just because of her grades, but also because of rude comments found on her Twitter account. “We would have wondered about the judgment of someone who spends their time on their mobile phone and makes such awful remarks,” Scott A. Meiklejohn, the school’s dean of admissions, stated. Most colleges don’t have formal policies regarding researching students online; out of almost four hundred college admission officers, thirty-one percent admitted they visited an applicant’s social media page to learn more about them. While this number may seem low, it is a five percent increase from last year.

Although most admissions officers prohibit the use of students’ personal websites during the admissions process, students should still be aware of what they post online. High school guidance counselors are now giving students lessons in cleaning up their digital identities; at Brookline High School, students are taught to delete alcohol-related posts and to create acceptable email addresses. Some students are already practicing what they learn from these lessons by untagging themselves in pictures and even by deleting their social media accounts all together. As admissions officers become more technology-savvy, students should be more careful about what they post online if they want to play it safe when it comes to college acceptances.


This year, our Speak Up Surveys will ask questions related to a student's digital footprint. 

An example question is:

Which of these statements reflect your thoughts about digital footprints (information that is available online about you from what you and others have posted)? (Check all that apply)

Speak Up Surveys are free, and schools and districts can receive access to their school and/or district's data in February 2014. Results regarding a student population's digital footprint will also be apart of that data. Surveys are open to anyone interested in having a voice on critical education and technology trends.

Go to www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013 to take the survey today. Surveys open to students, parents, educators and community members!


Interested in participating in this year's Speak Up surveys but want to learn more about it? Now's your chance! Join Julie Evans CEO, Project Tomorrow for a 45 minute recorded webinar to learn about key Speak Up findings from last year – and how your school or district can participate in Speak Up this year.  View the recording via Blackboard Collaborate here: http://bit.ly/SUWebinarRecording.

Enjoy your day.

-The Project Tomorrow team

Written by: Lisa Chu UCI Fall Intern 2013

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Around the Web Wednesday!

It's Wednesday...

Do you know what that means? It is Around the Web Wednesday!

Browse all the links below for the latest news and topics trending in education. Be sure to let us know which article intrigued you the most!

Be sure to check back each week for our Around the Web Wednesday Series

Interested in participating in this year's Speak Up surveys but want to learn more about it? Now's your chance! Join Julie Evans CEO, Project Tomorrow for a 45 minute webinar this Friday to learn about key Speak Up findings from last year – and how your school or district can participate in Speak Up this year.  Register to attend this special webinar here or contact Jenny Hostert at jhostert@tomorrow.org or (949) 609-4660 ext. 17.

Have you participated in Speak Up 2013? Surveys are open to anyone interested in having a voice on critical education and technology trends. Go to www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013 to take the survey today. Surveys open to students, parents, educators and community members!

Enjoy your day.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Webinar: Planning for Speak Up 2013

Powered by Blackboard Collaborate
Friday, November 15, 2013
8:00AM PT / 11:00 AM ET


Interested in participating in this year's Speak Up surveys but want to learn more about it? Now's your chance! Join Julie Evans CEO, Project Tomorrow for a 45 minute webinar this Friday to learn about key Speak Up findings from last year – and how your school or district can participate in Speak Up this year. Topics to be covered include:
What are some realities about ed tech in our schools today – from the perspective of students, parents, teachers & administrators?
Do we have a shared vision for digital learning?
Background Information on Speak Up and benefits of participation
How can your district participate in Speak Up 2013
Sound interesting? Register to attend this special webinar here or contact Jenny Hostert at jhostert@tomorrow.org or (949) 609-4660 ext. 17.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Speak Up News November 2013

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Happy November to all of our followers and supporters!

Thank you to all the participants that have already taken part in the Speak Up surveys! Since the launch of the survey over 70,000 Students, Educators, Parents and Community Members have shared their ideas about the use of technology in education. There is still plenty of time to get involved, surveys are open through December 20th, 2013!
In this e-newsletter, find out how you can get more involved with Speak Up this year:
  • New to Speak Up? Attend the upcoming Speak Up Webinar: Planning for Speak Up 2013
  • Are you an organization serving students, parents, educators? You too can be part of the Speak Up Momentum
  • Calling all Members of the Education Community! Participate in Speak Up through our new Community Member and Business Leader Survey --open to anyone interested in sharing their thoughts on critical 21st century education and technology issues
  • Take the Survey. Learn more about how we use the Speak Up national data throughout the year and why your participation is important
  • Already taken the survey? Start spreading the word about the survey to your network of friends and family!
Happy Reading! Feel free to share your thoughts with us by commenting below or on Facebook and Twitter.
--The Project Tomorrow team
Click here to read online.
***

Webinar: Planning for Speak Up 2013

Powered by Blackboard Collaborate
Friday, November 15, 2013
8:00AM PT / 11:00 AM ET
Click here to register
Interested in participating in this year's Speak Up surveys but want to learn more about it? Now's your chance! Join Julie Evans CEO, Project Tomorrow for a 45 minute webinar next Friday to learn about key Speak Up findings from last year – and how your school or district can participate in Speak Up this year. Topics to be covered include:
What are some realities about ed tech in our schools today – from the perspective of students, parents, teachers & administrators?
Do we have a shared vision for digital learning?
Background Information on Speak Up and benefits of participation
How can your district participate in Speak Up 2013
Sound interesting? Register to attend this special webinar here or contact Jenny Hostert at jhostert@tomorrow.org or (949) 609-4660 ext. 17.
***

Are you part of a community group, after school program, non-profit or association working with children, parents, educators or members of the community?

Interested in their use of technology? Get involved with Speak Up! Schools and districts are not the only participants collecting data from this valuable survey. Many organizations are using Speak Up data to help with their own planning. If you are interested in getting your organization involved, please contact Jenny Hostert on the Speak Up Team at jhostert@tomorrow.org.
***

District leaders: Expand the scope of your Speak Up outreach and bring in the voices of your community members

You don’t have to be an educator or student to take the survey. The voices of your community members are important too!

This year, for the first time we are providing a special online survey for community members. Local employers, after school providers, school board members and homeowners without children in the local schools can now provide their views on the role of technology in preparing students for the jobs and careers of the 21st century. This new set of data will provide valuable insights for schools and districts as well as state and federal policymakers on the importance of digital tools and resources for college and career readiness. Additionally, both parents and community members will also be asked about their awareness of the new Common Core State Standards, and the sources, both digital and non-digital, of their information about the new standards. Now's your chance to get these important stakeholders involved!
Be a part of the conversation and share your ideas about how to leverage technology in schools to promote better learning.

Community members: Take the survey todaywww.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013.

Share your thoughts and views on the importance of education within your community and specifically, the role of technology in preparing today’s youth with the skills they need to be successful in the future. All community members will access the survey through a school in their local community. Look up a school via zip or state and school name.
***

Your Participation in Speak Up is Important!

Together, let's work towards leveraging technology to promote enhanced learning in our K-12 schools.

Speak Up 2012 had an amazing turn out last year with over 466,000 total surveys submitted from over 2,400 districts nationwide! In addition to all the great success stories we’ve heard from schools and districts utilizing their local participant data for their planning, Project Tomorrow has also been very busy sharing the national data results at the local, state and national level. Over the past year our CEO Julie Evans has presented the Speak Up findings in over 60 conference and webinar presentations and has released 6 written reports (2 at Congressional Briefings held in Washington DC) all of which are available for download on our website. Geared with Speak Up data, Julie also just recently met with the FCC to discuss their changes to the Erate rules, read more about this here. As you can see, you and your K-12 community's participation are truly making a difference! Let’s do it again this year, and aim for over 500,000 surveys!!!
It’s quick and easy to get involved in Speak Up, to take the survey follow these 5 simple steps:
  1. Go to this link: www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013
  2. Click on the appropriate survey button
  3. Follow the given instructions to access the survey. Begin by entering in your zip code or clicking on the drop down button and select your state, then go to the next line and type in your school name (community members select a school within your local community)
  4. Students will be required to enter in a survey password "secret word". Educators, parents and community members are not required to enter in a survey password. Primary contacts will assign an organization specific password for their students during the primary contact registration process. Click here to register as the primary contact.
  5. Complete the survey by December 20th, 2013
Not sure which survey to take? Visit our Tips on Deciding which Survey to Take, to help you select the survey that best meets your needs.http://www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013/TipsDeciding.aspx
***

Promote the survey to your network of friends and family

Start spreading the word about Speak Up to your network of friends and family. Have a friend that is an educator? A parent? A current K-12 student? Member of the community interested in schools? Send them the link to the survey. Word of mouth is always the best promotion, help us expand our reach!

Sample Tweets:

Participate in Speak Up and share your ideas about how to leverage technology in schools to promote better learning: bit.ly/SU13survey >>> Tweet this!
Members of the K-12 Community share your opinions about the role of technology in education http://ow.ly/i/3DtvA >>> Tweet This!
Start spreading the word about Speak Up to your community! Share this speak up flyer http://ow.ly/pKgPM>>> Tweet this!
Ensure that the voices of your stakeholders are being heard in Washington DC and your state capitol. Be part of a solution! @speakuped >>> Tweet This!
Join @SpeakUpEd and 3 million students, parents, teachers, and admins who have participated since 2003 register now, bit.ly/SU13survey >>> Tweet This!
Share your opinions about the role of technology in education, open 10/2-12/20, 2013 at http://bit.ly/SU13survey @speakuped >>> Tweet This!
Get the pulse of what’s happening in your school (or district) & benchmark it with national results http://bit.ly/SU13survey @speakuped >>> Tweet This!
There’s still time to experience the value of #SpeakUp by collecting &using the data to garner support for your key technology initiatives! >>> Tweet This!

Sample Emails

General
Join the conversation about the use of technology for learning through Speak Up, a National Research Project. Since 2003, over 3 million K-12 education stakeholders have participated in the annual online surveys. Data findings are shared each year with federal, state and local policymakers to inform education programs, policies and funding.
Take the survey today at www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013 to share your thoughts and views on the importance of education within your community and specifically, the role of technology in preparing today’s youth with the skills they need to be successful in the future. Surveys are open to students, educators, parents, educators and members of the community. All community members will access the survey through a school in their local community. You can look up a school via zip or state and school name.
Project Tomorrow is a national education nonprofit organization dedicated to improving science, math and technology education in our schools. For more information on the Speak Up National Research project please visit Project Tomorrow’s website at www.tomorrow.org/speakup.
Teachers:
Educators participate in Speak Up, a National Research Project, and share your ideas about how to leverage technology in schools to promote better learning. Since 2003, over 3 million students, educators and parents have participated in Speak Up! Now’s your chance to join in on the conversation— the online surveys are open through Dec. 20th. It’s quick and easy to get involved! To take the survey, visithttp://www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013
Parents:
Parents Speak Up – Your ideas are important to us!
Open through December 20, 2013 athttp://www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013/
Be a part of the conversation! Speak Up is the first survey designed to help parents share their ideas directly with schools and national policymakers. As key stakeholders, Speak Up provides parents with a mechanism for expressing their views to the administrators at their child(ren)’s school and district about key issues impacting their child(ren)'s education. Since 2003, Speak Up has collected and shared the views of over 3 million students, teachers, and parents from all 50 states, as well as internationally. By participating in Speak Up, parents are expressing their views to a wider audience of local, state, and national policy makers as well as the business community—and contributing to the national dialog about science, technology, and preparing students for the 21st century workforce.
The online survey is open to students, educators, parents and members of the community; it’s quick and easy to get involved. To take the survey visit:http://www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013/ and click the yellow parents enter here button!
Also encourage your local schools and district to get involved.
Every participating school and district receives free online access to their own participant data in February 2014. Speak Up provides your schools and districts with state and national data for benchmarking that can be used to for grant writing, ed tech plans, budgets, professional development and community engagement. Please share this sample intro email/flyer with your local school & district administrators.
For additional promotional material to spread awareness, please visit our promotional material page at: http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/promo.html
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Thank you for your interest and continued support in Speak Up! We look forward to your participation in Speak Up 2013! Be sure to stay updated on all things Speak Up by following us on FacebookTwitter and our Blog.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at jhostert@tomorrow.org or via phone at 949/609-4660 ext. 17.
Jenny Hostert
Speak Up Operations Manager
Project Tomorrow
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