Imagine a world where education quickly adapts to the advances in the technological world around us, where educators, students, parents, and policy makers are empowered to initiate positive changes within the education community, and a place where children become lifelong learners, eager to develop the skills that will help them prosper in their ever-changing environments.

This world is right around the corner with Edutopia leading the way.  The George Lucas Educational Foundation’s Edutopia was created to address the issues of the slowly-adapting education system to the fast paced world and constantly improving technologies students are growing up in and with.   Their vision is powerful, but expressed simply:

“Our vision is of a new world of learning. A place where kids and parents, teachers and administrators, policy makers and the people they serve, all are empowered to change education for the better. A place where schools have access to the same invaluable technology as businesses and universities — where innovation is the rule, not the exception. A place where children become lifelong learners and develop the technical, cultural, and interpersonal skills to succeed in the twenty-first century. A place of inspiration, aspiration, and an urgent belief that improving education improves the world we live in.”

Through Eutopia’s magazine, website, and videos, they are able to “spread the word about ideal, interactive learning environments and enable others to adapt these successes locally”.

Helping them to reach their goals of creating a better world of education are Edutopia’s six core concepts – comprehensive assessment, integrated studies, project learning, social and emotional learning, technology integration, and teacher development. Each provides specific direction that will surely help them to achieve their goals. Each concept certainly deserves more attention than what is presented here, so please click over and discover more about each one!

The reason we want to feature them in our “We Celebrate Learning” series should be pretty obvious! They are education leaders, connecting educators, and essentially improving the world we all live in and share. We, too, are passionate about helping students get the most from their educations and are excited to see the once imagined technologically advanced educational tools becoming a reality.

How can Edutopia help you and your classroom? Read the articles they provide, watch the videos, connect with the bloggers. Look into all of their resources and use them. But then, go a step farther and begin creating your own “edutopia” – start making positive changes in your classroom, introducing new technologies to your students, and helping them connect with the world around them. This can be done at any level and in countless ways.

To find out more about Edutopia, check out their very informative About Us page. Or, just look around the website to discover over 2,200 helpful features and 150 informative videos. And, if you’re interested, check out the exciting webinars they have coming up, or subscribe to the e-newsletter to stay connected.