Collaborating on Digital Curriculum in Minnesota

In a session at the eLearning Summit held last week at MCTC, I learned a lot about how teachers and educators in Minnesota are collaborating on digital curriculum through MPCC (Minnesota Partnership for Collaborative Curriculum).  Marc Johnson, Director of ECMECC (East Central Minnesota Education Cable Cooperative), presented a session titled, "Minnesota's (K-12) Digital Curriculum."  ECMECC works with people in schools to provide opportunities for kids.  For this particular session, Marc was speaking on behalf of MPCC, who has a partnership with ECMECC.  This partnership has been around for just about two years.  MPCC began with a few schools/districts that got to talking at an education-related conference and it has grown to over 185 schools and districts collaborating together to create and promote an open digital curriculum that aligns with Minnesota Academic Standards for grades 3-12 in core content areas.   This group, in its infancy, wanted open resources that were free and open to all.  They also discussed design knowing that the curriculum would have to be designed around standards.  The Minnesota Department of Education is aware of, but not driving this partnership.  Minnesota educators are creating materials for Minnesota educators.   If you're interested in learning more about MPCC including information on joining, visit https://sites.google.com/site/innovativeinstruction/home.