21st Century Learning

Alliance for Excellent Education Celebrates Digital Learning Day With Live Broadcast and Film Screening

• By Christopher Piehler
• 03/12/15

The Alliance for Excellent Education has announced that NBC News Chief Education Correspondent Rehema Ellis and PBS NewsHour Education Correspondent and filmmaker John Merrow will play key roles in the fourth annual Digital Learning Day national celebration in Washington, D.C., on Friday, March 13. Created by the Alliance for Excellent Education, Digital Learning Day is a nationwide celebration that demonstrates how technology can improve student outcomes.

Ellis will serve as the moderator for “Digital Learning Day Live!,” a 75-minute live broadcast to an in-person audience of more than 3,000 teachers and administrators from around the country, as well as thousands more who will be watching online via live.DigitalLearningDay.org, NBCLearn.com and NBC News’ ParentToolkit.com. The broadcast will feature national leaders in education technology, as well as school leaders, teachers and students from four innovative school districts: Baltimore County Public Schools, Houston Independent School District, Huntsville School District(AR), and Vista Unified School District (CA).

Directly following “Digital Learning Day Live!,” the Alliance for Excellent Education will screen the world premiere of John Merrow’s new PBS documentary film, School Sleuth: The Case of the Wired Classroom. The film’s message is that computers cannot replace teachers, but that the combination of strong teaching and modern technology can transform schools into vibrant places where students have control over their own learning and move at their own pace.

Also on Friday, thousands of teachers will meet in Washington, D.C., for the national Digital Learning Day celebration, while tens of thousands of teachers, librarians, administrators and students in all fifty states and the District of Columbia will celebrate and showcase the best uses of technology through hundreds of local events in their schools and classrooms. 

For an interactive map highlighting local events nationwide, click here.