WASHINGTON, D.C. - A Coal Township native has been hired by the U.S. Department of Education as the first ever open education adviser to lead a national effort to expand schools' access to high-quality, openly-licensed learning resources.
School technology expert Andrew Marcinek, a native of Coal Township, will serve in the Office of Educational Technology (OET) and focus on helping both K-12 and higher education connect with teaching, learning and research resources in the public domain that are freely available to anyone on the web.
He will work with tool providers and developers, district and state leaders, and educators. Open educational resources are an important element of an infrastructure for learning and ranges from podcasts to digital libraries to textbooks and games.
"Creating a dedicated open education adviser position at the department will greatly enhance our ability to support states and districts as they move to using openly-licensed learning resources," said Richard Culatta, director of OET. "The use of openly-licensed resources not only allows states and districts to adapt and modify materials to meet student needs, but also frees up funding to support the transition to digital learning."
Marcinek, a son of Richard and Jean Marcinek, Coal Township, has worked on education technology and digital transitions in school districts in both Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. He's done extensive research on how to integrate technology at scale in school districts to create a system that is sustainable and equitable for all students.
Marcinek, who resides in Washington, D.C., is a 1998 graduate of Shamokin Area High School. He also is a 2003 graduate of the University of Miami in Florida.
The announcements were made during a visit to Williamsfield Community School District in Illinois, where U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan stopped as part of his annual back-to-school bus tour. The Williamsfield event included the previewing of 50 videos that capture best practices of effective district leaders who use education technology in their schools. The videos can serve as professional learning for district leaders and others.
President Barack Obama's ConnectED Initiative is a call to connect 99 percent of schools across the country to broadband Internet within five years. As part of that work, OET created a Future Ready Pledge to help school districts develop a culture where teachers harness the power of technology to personalize learning and provide quality digital content that fosters student inquiry and creativity. So far, committed Future Ready Leaders are approaching 2000 signatures.