About Future Ready Nebraska
Nebraska has adopted the Future Ready framework as a structure of organizing and communicating the Future Ready Nebraska (FRN) plan. The Future Ready framework was developed by the Alliance for Excellent Education, a Washington, DC-based national policy and advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring that all students, particularly those who are traditionally underserved, graduate from high school ready for success in college, work, and citizenship. The research-based framework is based on a vision oriented, pedagogy driven and children focused approach.
The Nebraska State Board of Education recently developed the 2017 – 2026 Strategic Vision and Direction for Nebraska education. A portion of the vision addresses digital learning and access in Nebraska. To assist in the implementation of the Strategic Vision, the Nebraska Department of Education reached out to leaders, education advocates, and experts in Nebraska to develop the Future Ready Nebraska Council (FRNC). Members of this council represent strategic partner groups and are committed to use their expertise and knowledge to shape and communicate the vision, strategic objectives, and actions intended to transform the digital education and education systems of Nebraska schools.
A primary goal of the FRNC was to develop Nebraska’s first ever statewide Digital Learning and Ed Tech Plan. Using the council’s expertise and feedback gathered from stakeholders throughout Nebraska a plan was written and shared publicly in the spring of 2018. In the summer of 2018 the council formally approved the final draft of the plan and presented its plan to the Nebraska State Board of Education in June 2018. The finalized version of the 2018 Digital Learning and Ed Tech Plan is shared digitally through this Future Ready Nebraska website and can also be downloaded as a PDF using this 2018FutureReadyPlan link.
The FRNC meets quarterly throughout the year. Below is a summary of the work that has been completed to date.
Future Ready Nebraska work summary:
- Spring/Summer 2017 – FRNC is created and creates vision & purpose statements, FRN logo developed, Future Ready Presentation at Administrator Days
- October 2017 – State Board of Education votes to approve Digital Education Position Statement
- Late Fall 2017 – FRNC sets goals, priorities and recommendations, Digital Learning & Ed Tech Plan survey developed and administered, Draft Digital Learning and Ed Tech plan developed
- Winter 2017/18 – Further development of Digital Learning & Ed Tech plan using data collected by the statewide survey and other stakeholder group feedback to finalize the plan.
- Spring 2018 – First draft of Digital Learning Plan (link above) is published and shared, Presentations of plan details begin, Implementation of the plans action steps begins.
- Summer 2018 – Final draft is a approved, implementation of action steps continues, Digital version of the plan is created for the website and presentation to the Nebraska State Board of Education is shared.
- Fall 2018 – Nebraska OER Commons Hub is released, Training begins with Nebraska Physical Education Teachers, Information and training on copyright begins
- Winter 2018/19 – Planning for Future Ready Conference begins, Nebraska joins the Student Data Privacy Consortium with A4L, Future Ready Librarians share Rule 10 Proposed changes
- Spring 2018 – OER Toolkit released, Continued preparation for FR Conference
- Fall 2019 – NEP page includes Technology Profile Data, 2nd year of Future Ready District Technology Profile data collection