The Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation (CDEF) has been supporting a new site, sponsored by the State of California, called Digital Chalkboard (https://www.mydigitalchalkboard.org), an online community of California public school and district educators. California educators can collaborate through group participation and discussions and upload educational classroom and administrative resources that help other educators access what works best in California schools and districts. Both featured content providers from select non-profit organizations and approximately 19,000 California educators continue to contribute resources and collaborate. With the fall 2014 launch of the new site, over 370,000 digital resources are present. It is an incredibly rich site that allows educators and school leaders to:
- Upload and Share Resources – Find lessons and online activities, videos, and other resources for use in the classroom, as well as share resources with others. Resources can be searched by name, keyword, subject, topic, or standard.
- Join the Community – Connect with colleagues near and far to share a wealth of expertise and best practices, and join specific groups of interest. You can opt for notifications to alert you to activity in your groups or interactions with other members.
- Access Training – Access training from local, regional, and statewide sources across the entire state.
Digital Chalkboard also features thousands of digital educational materials from sources including the National Archives, Smithsonian Education, and many others. Anyone with a school-based e-mail address (e.g. “.k12.ca.us”) is able to register on the site. Accounts are free!