Connection Learning Report

Inequities in skills attainment, achievement gaps among ethnicities, and a disconnect between classroom learning and the everyday lives and interests of young people are troubling trends that signify the need for a new framework of learning, according to a report released by the Connected Learning Research Network. The report proposes a framework for learning called "connected learning", which seeks to address inequity in education, engender 21st century skills and literacies in all youth, and attune to the learning possibilities of a networked society. The researchers state that such a model would take advantage of the Internet and digital technology, helping to close the gap between the “no-frills” learning that too often happens in school and the interactive, hands-on learning that takes place out of school.