The summer of learning is on its way

Education in America needs to be more powerful if we want to prepare all our children for the real world. We need a learning approach designed for our times – one that builds on the basic “three Rs” of education to add what is, and always has been, the fourth R: Relevance. Today that means preparing young people for an ever-changing world where higher-order skills are in demand and learning never stops. We call this learning approach Connected Learning.

This summer, major advocates for the potential of the Internet – including theJohn D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Mozilla, the National Writing Project, and others – are putting Connected Learning into practice. The Summer of Making and Connecting organizes hundreds of events, projects and programs in communities across the nation, around the world, and online to help youth connect learning to their interests and to enable teachers to learn from and network with their innovative peers. The campaign will engage hundreds of thousands of people in creating things on the web, with hardware, and on paper—working in schools and community spaces and at kitchen tables. The campaign brings together organizations from the worlds of DIY, making, writing, and learning to build the Connected Learning movement. (from the "about" page at the Summer of Making and and Connecting website)