Dive Brief:

• The Aspen Institute Task Force on Learning and the Internet issued its findings today in a report titled "Learner at the Center of a Networked World," making six recommendations on how the government, educators, district leaders, parents, and others can give 21st century learners the personalized education they need to succeed. 
• The Aspen Institute is headed by writer and author Walter Isaacson, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and actress Rosario Dawson serve as honorary co-chairs of the 20-person task force of thought leaders behind the report.
• The results of the report, which was funded by the MacArthur Foundation, were presented in a live webcast Tuesday afternoon.

Dive Insight:

This task force aims to be more than just another committee presenting a gloom and doom portrait of U.S. education. The report addresses challenges like more tech creating a larger divide between students from different income levels, the sudden shift teachers must deal with in adjusting to new technologies, and the cuts in labor districts fear may come as a result — but it also highlights the importance of placing the student at the center of a safe and trusted learning environment (whether that be schools, libraries, museums, after-school programs, or home) innovative tech solutions built to meet their needs.

Among the six recommendations made by the report (which also includes specific action steps):

1. Redesign learning environments to empower students to learn any time, any place, both in school and beyond
2. Provide educators with skill-building to support and guide learners in a networked learning environment
3. Build an infrastructure that will connect all students in all of the places they learn
4. Make sure all learning networks are interoperable – or have the ability to share information and data
5. Adopt policies to ensure children are taught basic skills - or digital literacies - for living and learning in the digital age
6. Create trusted learning environments for children to keep them safe