Freedom to Learn (FTL) is a statewide education program in Michigan helping schools create high performing, student-centered learning environments by providing each student and teacher with direct, consistent access to 21st century learning tools.
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The program was started in 2002 when the Michigan Legislature and governor dedicated state and federal (Title II, D) funds to a Demonstration Phase. Seeing the positive early results, the state expanded the program in 2004. Michigan has allocated over $30 million in federal and state funds to include over 23,000 students in 100 school districts and 191 buildings - primarily middle schools.
Don't be afraid ! There will be Latin and rhetoric, and they will exist in another hundred years, simply because the medicine is bought, so we must drink it (as a patient said). I doubt whether the thoughts which I have expressed perhaps indistinctly, awkwardly, inconclusively, will become generally accepted in another hundred years; it is not likely that within a hundred years all those ready-made institutions-schools, gymnasia, and universities -- will die, and that within that time there will grow freely formed institutions, having for their basis the freedom of the learning generation.
Primary goals of FTL
- Enhance student learning and achievement in core academic subjects with an emphasis on developing the knowledge and skills requisite to the establishment of a 21st-century workforce in Michigan.
- Provide greater access to equal educational opportunities statewide through ubiquitous access to technology.
- Foster effective use of the wireless technology through systematic professional development for teachers, administrators and staff.
- Empower parents and caregivers with the tools to become more involved in their child's education.
- Support innovative structural changes in participating schools and sharing of best practices among Program participants.
FTL offers the training and resources necessary to transform schools—and it is doing just that. A rigorous and comprehensive evaluation is gauging the impact of the program to assemble lessons learned and best practices – early results are available on the Freedom to Learn website.