Speak Up News February 2016

Your Speak Up data is in! We are excited to release the Speak Up 2015 data results to all participating organizations! If your school or district participated in Speak Up between October and December of last year, it’s time to dig in and see what your students, teachers, parents and community members had to say. Keep reading to learn how to access your data and more. Quick links: ▪ Your survey results are now available! Learn how to access your Speak Up data results. ▪ Exporting your data is easy: Simply print the results or copy and paste them into one of our templates. ▪ Need help with your Speak Up data? Learn more about our Speak Up services. ▪ Digital Learning Day is next Wednesday. Find out how YOU & the schools, students, and educators in your network can participate. ▪ Speak Up on the go! Learn more about upcoming presentations with our CEO, Julie Evans.  For more than a decade, Speak Up has been providing this service to schools and districts around the country. We’re excited to see how this data informs your initiatives, policies and practices. Drop us a note and let us know how you use the data this year or how we can make the surveys even more useful next year. We love hearing from you! Feel free to share your thoughts with us on Facebook,Twitter, and our Blog. -The Project Tomorrow team Access your Speak Up results online All schools and districts around the country who registered for Speak up 2015 can now access their data for free - here's how: 1. Click here to access your reports. 2. Select either Option 1 to view District results or Option 2 to view individual School results. 3. Next, enter the state, the first few letters of your district or school name and your admin password. 4. To view data reports, select the number in the “# of District Surveys” column to display that survey type. 5. To view your open ended text responses, click on “District ” in the Open Ended Responses Column. 6. Print the results or copy and paste them into your own file or this Speak Up Data Excel Template. To view your data across audiences and by theme, use ourthematic report template to drop in your school or district’s data. *Please note, at least one survey must be present to display the survey results with state and national comparisons. Exporting your Speak Up data Exporting your Speak Up data is quick and easy! Just follow these steps: 1. Highlight and copy the Speak Up data by survey type from our Speak Up data homepage. 2. Paste your data into our template Excel spreadsheet (click here to download) - the survey types are already organized by tab. 3. The file is already formatted to print, making it easy to view your data! Click here to learn more about accessing your data, or watch our quick how-to video here. Need help? The Project Tomorrow staff is available to help you effectively use your data, here are just a few of the services we can provide you: ▪ Identify the top 5 trends in your school, district or state with national benchmarks ▪ Create a Speak Up presentation that you can use to share your Speak Up results in your school or district ▪ Provide Speak Up fast facts that can be used on your website, newsletters or promotional material ▪ Present your Speak Up data in person or via a webinar ▪ Prepare a summary of your specific Speak Up findings (school, district or state) that can be distributed to your stakeholders ▪ Write a case statement, using the Speak Up data, highlighting the benefits of investing in technology (school, district, state or national) ▪ Prepare a customized narrative report about your Speak Up data (school, district or state) Contact the Speak Up Team, to learn more about our consulting services and fees. Digital Learning Day 2016 Project Tomorrow is helping spread the word about Digital Learning Day on February 17th, 2016, and we would like you to join in! It’s a day thousands of schools and local communities across the country recognize great teaching practices and showcase innovative teachers, leaders, and instructional technology programs that are improving student outcomes with the help of digital tools. As a grassroots effort, Digital Learning Day encourages students, teachers, leaders, and communities to be part of transforming our education system. That means thinking differently about how technology can be used to support more engaged, deeper learning opportunities for all students. Get involved by adding an event or activity to the official Digital Learning Day map or joining the online conversation using #DLDay. Learn More about DLD here Speak Up On the Go! Upcoming presentations Webinar: Digital Learning and Technology Trends at Private Schools Hosted by Sevenstar Wednesday, February 17th Register here Nebraska Distance Learning Association Spring Conference Thursday, February 25th Omaha, NE - Keynote session: 9AM, Walnut Grand Ballroom - Ten Things Everyone Should Know about Today’s Students and Digital Learning: Breakout session 1, 10:30-11:15 BYOD sessions: ETC! 2016 California State University, Stanislaus Saturday, February 27th Workshop: Pink or Blue? Examining Gender in Games SXSWedu Austin, TX Tuesday, March 8 4:00PM - 6:00PM Hilton Austin Downtown Room 410 Session: Digital Equity Challenges: Strategies for Bridging the Home/School Connection COSN 2016 Washington D.C. Tuesday, April 5th 9:15-10:15 a.m. - Cardoza NSBA 2016 conference TBA Boston, MA April 9-11 Speak Up Congressional Briefing TBA (Mid-April) Washington, DC Click here to sign up for alerts on our upcoming briefing! Thank you for your interest and continued support of Speak Up! Be sure to stay updated on all things Speak Up by following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagramand our Blog. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at jhostert@tomorrow.orgor via phone at (949) 609-4660 ext. 17. Many thanks to our sponsors and partners for the support of Speak Up: Blackboard, Inc., BrainPOP, CDW, DreamBox Learning, Fuel Education, Qualcomm Wireless Reach, Rosetta Stone, Scholastic Education, American Association of School Administrators, CETPA, Consortium for School Networking, CUE, Digital Learning Day, ICE (Indiana Connected Educators), iNACOL, International Society for Technology in Education, National School Boards Association, National School Public Relations Association, National Science Teachers Association, National Secondary School Principals Association, NCCE (Northwest Council for Computer Education), NETA (Nebraska Educational Technology Association), State Education Technology Directors’ Association and TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association).

Speak Up America is here!

Happy Speak Up America week and countdown to the finale of Speak Up! This year's survey has been a great success, with over 325,000 surveys already submitted. To celebrate this superb survey period, we've launched our Speak Up America weeklong event (December 7th - 11th). Now in its third year, Speak Up America plans to celebrate past and present participants with opportunities to win classroom grants, free national and regional conference registrations, and more - participating in our Speak Up America campaign is a great way to end this year's survey period on a high note! Keep reading to learn more. In this blog post: ▪ Last Minute Outreach: Try one of our promotional ideas to make the most out of the last two weeks of Speak Up. ▪ National Speak Up Day: Mark your calendars for Wednesday, December 9th! ▪ Classroom/School Grant Photo and Video Challenge with 5 chances to win! ▪ Free National Conference Registrations to the 2016 BbWorld, CoSN, iNACOL, and ISTE Conferences! ▪ Free Regional Conference Registrations to CUE, NCCE, NETA, and TCEA. ▪ Speak Up America Book Giveaway: Submit your name and take the survey for a chance to win 1 of 3 books! ▪ Speak Up 2015 Preliminary Data Snapshots released daily!

We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! Feel free to share your thoughts with us on Facebook, Twitter, and our Blog. -The Project Tomorrow team

Last Minute Outreach Ideas Kick your promotion into high gear with our last minute ideas! With less than 2 weeks to go there is still plenty of time to get the word out about Speak Up. If you just registered your district or are looking for new ways to promote the survey, try one of these ideas: ▪ Host a Speak Up Day or week ▪ Focus on one survey type ▪ Get your community involved in Speak Up America week ▪ Highlight the Speak Up survey on your website using one of our Speak Up logos (with a link to the survey).

Click here to view our full list of last minute outreach emails and promotional ideas.

National Speak Up Day Wednesday, December 9th The highlight of the Speak Up America 2015 Campaign will take place this Wednesday, December 9, 2015 with National Speak Up Day! National Speak Up Day is the day to encourage your community to participate. We would like everyone to have a voice in the future of how technology is used in our nation’s schools, so please share this link http://www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2015 with your students, teachers, parents, administrators, community organizations, members, affiliates or anyone who has a passion for improving education and ask them to take the Speak Up survey. The Speak Up survey is open to anyone who is interested in sharing their thoughts about education. If you are not a student, educator, administrator or parent but would like to take the survey, please take our community members survey. Feel free to share the survey (http://bit.ly/SU15survey) with anyone who may be interested as well!

Photo and Video Challenge Educators, win a grant for your classroom or school just by having your students participate in Speak Up! Planning to have your class or school participate in Speak Up this week? Already had your class or school participate? Need a little incentive to get your class or school to participate? Submit your photos and videos to our Speak Up for America Photo and Video Challenge - we've already had a few entries submitted, so start sending in your photos and videos! Photo Challenge Hashtag: #SpeakUpSnapshot To celebrate technology and all our wonderful Speak Up participants, we will be offering $225 grants to three lucky Speak Up participating classroom or school during the week of December 7th. All you need to do is take a picture with the Speak Up for America 2015 Badge (above) highlighting your Speak Up experience and upload to one of our social media sites or the photo challenge page. Contest is open now, so get your cameras out and shoot a photo showing you and your students Speaking Up! For contest rules please visit our photo challenge page here. Video Challenge Hashtag: #VoicesofSpeakUp Last year, we heard you loud and clear with multiple #speakupsnapshotssubmitted to the 2nd annual Speak Up America photo challenge. Now in our third year of Speak Up America, we want to see you and your class “Speaking Up” in action! In our social media video challenge, Project Tomorrow wants to know: "Why is using digital tools for learning important for your (students’) future?” All you need to do is create a short 15-30 second video answering the question above. Use this opportunity to get your class involved by making this into a class project. Submissions can come in the form of videos, animations (PowToon), slideshows, voice snippets and more! The more creative the better! In this challenge, there will be 2 grant opportunities to win $225! Never has your chance of earning a classroom grant been easier. Enter your#VoicesofSpeakUp video into the Speak Up America video challenge today! Learn more about the video challenge contest rules here.

Free National Conference Registrations We are excited to announce chances to win free conference registrations toBbWorld 2016, the 2016 Annual CoSN Conference, the 2016 iNACOL Blended and Online Learning Symposium, and the International Society for Technology in Education 2016 Conference and Expo! One lucky district will be chosen for each free registration, and two will be chosen for ISTE 2016. Winning is easy – just follow the instructions below to enter your district into our competition: 1. Get in any last minute surveys! Any survey that comes in during Speak Up America 2015 campaign beginning Monday December 7, 2015 through Friday December 11, 2015 (in addition to surveys already submitted earlier in the survey period) will be entered into the competition. Increase your chances to win! 2. Encourage participation in National Speak Up Day (12-9-15)! Every survey submitted on this date will be entered into a separate drawing for a free ISTE 2016 Conference & Expo registration.

Free Regional Conference Registrations to CETPA, CUE, NCCE, NETA and TCEA. Are you a California, Nebraska, Nevada, Texas or Northwest (Idaho, Montana, Oregon, or Washington) district? You're in luck - the awesome folks at CETPA, CUE, NCCE, NETA, and TCEA are also offering free conference registrations! Winning is as easy as speaking up! All you need to do is encourage your staff, students, their parents and the local community to participate in Speak Up. Every participant from your district will enter you in to the drawing to win – the more surveys you have in the more chances you have to win! One winner will be selected for the NETA, NCCE, and TCEA conferences, and three for the CUE conference. We will randomly select a survey from your state and announce the winners on Friday, December 11th at 5PM PT/7PM CT/8PM ET.

Speak Up America Book Giveaway Submit your name and take the survey for a chance to win 1 of 3 books! Thanks to our wonderful friends at Arfstrom Consulting and Girls Thinking Global, we're hosting a special book giveaway this week! All participating parents, educators, and community members are eligible to enter the giveaway – all you’ll need to do is take the Speak Up survey (http://bit.ly/SU15survey) and enter your information into the webforms below. Once you hit the submit button, you’ll be entered into the giveaway for the book of your choice! Feel free to submit your name for each book. Click on the book title to submit your entry: ▪ Flip Your Classroom by Bergmann and Sams (donated by Arfstrom Consulting) ▪ Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis by Robert Putnam (donated byArfstrom Consulting) ▪ Real Women, Real Leaders: Surviving and Succeeding in the Business World by Kathleen Hurley (donated by Girls Thinking Global)

Thanks again to Arfstrom Consulting and Girls Thinking Global for their donations!

Daily Speak Up 2015 Preliminary data snapshots Click here to visit our Speak Up 2015 preliminary data snapshot page During Speak Up America Week, we'll pull a special snapshot of preliminary data for students, parents, teachers, administrators and community members. Each day we will release a special video infographic on NEW Speak Up findings. Check below to see when we will be releasing each snapshot of data: ▪ Monday, December 7, 2015 —Teachers ▪ Tuesday, December 8, 2015 —Parents ▪ Wednesday, December 9, 2015 —Students ▪ Thursday, December 10, 2015 —Librarians ▪ Friday, December 11, 2015 — Principals

We will also be releasing preliminary data reports to all participating schools and districts during Speak Up America week! Stay tuned for more details.

Thank you for your interest and continued support of Speak Up! Be sure to stay updated on all things Speak Up by following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagramand our Blog. If you have any questions please feel free to contact our Speak Up Operations Manager, Jenny Hostert, at jhostert@tomorrow.org or via phone at (949) 609-4660 ext. 17.

Many thanks to our sponsors and partners for the support of Speak Up: Blackboard, Inc., BrainPOP, CDW, DreamBox Learning, Fuel Education, Qualcomm Wireless Reach, Rosetta Stone, Scholastic Education, American Association of School Administrators, Consortium for School Networking, CUE, Digital Learning Day, iNACOL, International Society for Technology in Education, National School Boards Association, National School Public Relations Association, National Science Teachers Association, National Secondary School Principals Association, State Education Technology Directors’ Association and TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association).

Speak Up News - November 2015

Happy November! Can you believe we are already one month into Speak Up? We are off to a great start with 90,000 surveys submitted! Thank you to all who have participated, and a big thanks to our top states: Texas, Indiana, Alabama, Maryland, and California. Keep up the great work and encourage others to take the survey! Visit our promotional materials page for ideas on how to spread the word. In this newsletter... ▪ Speak Up 2015: Surveys are open through December 18th! ▪ Calling all Communications Officers! We want to know how you're using technology to facilitate engagement within your community. ▪ Speak Up America 2015: Get a sneak peek at our week long event before it begins on December 7th. ▪ Speak Up on the go! Check out this month's upcoming events with Project Tomorrow CEO Julie Evans.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to share your thoughts with us on Facebook, Twitter, and our Blog. -The Project Tomorrow team

Haven't taken the Speak Up survey yet? If not, be sure to take the survey by Dec. 18! If you haven't participated in Speak Up yet, be sure to take the survey by December 18th. Click here to take the survey or follow the link: bit.ly/SU15survey. Learn more about which survey you should take below: Take the educator survey if you are a... ▪ Teacher, Librarian or Media Specialist ▪ Administrator, Tech leader, or Communications Officer ▪ School or district employee (but not a teacher or administrator)

Take the parent survey or padres de familia en español survey if you are a... ▪ Parent ▪ Spanish speaking parent

Take the group survey if you are administering group surveys for... ▪ K-2 student group ▪ Grades 3-5 student group ▪ Parent group ▪ Parent Spanish group ▪ Community members group

If you do not fall into any of the above categories but are interested in sharing your thoughts and ideas, please select the community survey.

Once you've submitted your survey, share the following link with five friends and encourage them to take the survey: bit.ly/SU15survey Word of mouth is the best way to spread the word! If you need help promoting Speak Up to your friends and colleagues, visit our promotional materials page for downloadable flyers, instructions, sample emails, and more.

District Communications and Public Relations Officers, Speak Up! NEW survey for communications officers In a special partnership with the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA), we've created a special new survey just for Communication Officers! As a companion to the other Speak Up surveys, your input will help complete the picture of what’s required to effectively use technology tools to facilitate communications and engagement within your community. Now's your chance to get involved! Be a part of the conversation and share your ideas about how to leverage technology in schools to promote better learning. Click here to take the survey. Not a communications officer? Spread the word about this all new survey to your school and/or district's communication officer(s)! Contact Lisa Chu atLChu@tomorrow.org for sample emails and tweets.

Speak Up America 2015 December 7th - December 11th, 2015 Get ready - Speak Up America starts in one month! Mark your calendars for this year's campaign, which will take place from December 7th through December 11th, 2015. Our week long event will feature opportunities to win free conference registrations, Speak Up 2015 preliminary data snapshots, and more! Speak Up America 2015 features free conference registrations to: ▪ Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) 2016 Annual Conference ▪ CUE 2016 National Conference ▪ 2016 iNACOL Blended and Online Learning Symposium ▪ 2016 Spring Nebraska Educational Technology Association (NETA) Conference ▪ Northwest Council for Computer Education (NCCE) 2016 Conference ▪ Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) 2016 Convention & Exposition

With more to be announced! Stay tuned for more information about Speak Up America as we get closer to December 7th.

Speak Up On the Go! Don't miss Julie's events this month! We Got This! Integrating Digital Databases within Classroom Instruction American Association of School Librarians National Conference & Exhibition Friday, November 6 Click here to learn more Many school leaders report challenges in the integration of digital content within classroom instruction and yet school librarians and libraries are uniquely positioned to address these key challenges. We will present the results from a study and discuss findings with the librarians from two project high schools. Audience members will learn key strategies for integrating digital databases within classroom instruction, and how innovative librarianship can enhance both student and teacher outcomes. Modeling interactive learning, the audience will be polled throughout the session regarding their views on the outcomes using a Jeopardy style game format. The session supports the AASL strategic plan by demonstrating the relevancy of librarians within digital learning adoptions. The Pivotal Role of the School Librarian in Education Transformation American Association of School Librarians National Conference & Exhibition Friday, November 6 Click here to learn more Since 2003, the Speak Up Research Project has polled 4 million K-12 students, educators and parents about their views on digital learning. A key finding from the resulting data has been the increasingly importance of curated digital content and in school mentoring to actualize the promise of technology to transform education. Enter the school librarian. In this interactive session, we will share new Speak Up findings that demonstrate the pivotal role of the school librarian in school and classroom adoption of digital content. 1-2-3- 4 New Ways to Examine Blended Learning Outcomes iNACOL Blended and Online Learning Symposium Tuesday, November 10 10am-11am PT Click here to learn more While the debate continues as to how to measure outcomes in blended learning environments, some districts are now evaluating their blended learning programs based upon student annual growth, student engagement in learning, teacher effectiveness and parental support. In this flipped seminar, we will explore the how, when, why, and what of those outcome measures, and collaboratively develop a new template for assessing the real impact of blended learning. Twitter chat: Blended Learning Outcomes #SUchat Tuesday, November 10 3pm PT/6pm ET While the debate continues as to how to measure outcomes in blended learning environments, some districts are now evaluating their blended learning programs based upon student annual growth, student engagement in learning, teacher effectiveness and parental support. Let’s discuss all of these – and your ideas – for the best approaches for measuring the impact of blended learning today. Drawing in lessons learned from sessions at iNACOL this year, get ready for a lively Twitter chat! If participating, please include #SUchat in your tweets.