University of Michigan Center for Digital Curricula explained

University of Michigan Center for Digital Curricula
Research Field:Education
Directors:Elliot Soloway, Cathie Norris
Address:2260 Hayward St.
City:Ann Arbor
State:Michigan
Country:United States
Zipcode:48109

The University of Michigan Center for Digital Curricula is an educational research center at the University of Michigan, College of Engineering, in Ann Arbor, Michigan dedicated to the development of deeply-digital, open educational resources.[1]

History

In 2019 professors Elliot Soloway and Cathie Norris founded the Center for Digital Curricula under the auspices of the University of Michigan, College of Engineering, for the purposes of building deeply-digital open curricula.[2] These curricula, composed by the Center's team of educators, are designed to be delivered through the Collabrify Roadmap Platform, [3] a software platform first developed in the mid 2010s.

Roadmaps - the visual format for the deeply-digital lessons - have been produced at the University of Michigan College of Engineering. Currently, the Center provides standards-aligned curricula for K-5, all 4 core subjects (ELA, math, science, social studies). The Roadmap lessons use the Collabrify Suite of Productivity Tools in supporting highly-interactive, engaging, lessons. The Suite includes: Collabrify Multimedia Writer (writing with text, video, audio, images), Collabrify Flipbook (drawing, animating), Collabrify Venn (Venn diagramming, Collabrify Chart (spreadsheeting), Collabrify Map (concept mapping), Collabrify PDFpal (editing PDF files). All apps are "collabrified" - they support synchronous collaboration.[4]

Due to the demand for digital education as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Center for Digital Curricula began offering their products freely to school districts across the United States.[5]

Notes and References

  1. News: Gallemore . Denise . September 26, 2019 . Using Roadmaps To Create Deeply Digital Lessons For Students . Michigan Virtual . . July 31, 2020.
  2. News: Gewertz . Catherine . June 2, 2020 . How Technology, Coronavirus Will Change Teaching by 2025 . Education Week. . July 31, 2020.
  3. News: Norris . Cathie . Soloway . Elliot . June 16, 2020 . The Lesson of COVID-19: Learning at School and Learning at Home Must Be Seamless . T.H.E. Journal. . July 31, 2020.
  4. News: . April 23, 2020. K-12 online learning platform from U-M sees dramatic rise in use. Michigan News. Ann Arbor, Michigan. July 31, 2020.
  5. News: Zalaznick . Matt . May 20, 2020 . How one university supports K-12 online learning (for free) . District Administration . . July 31, 2020.