PORTLAND, Maine - A new statewide effort to promote year-long learning and life-long skill building officially launched Thursday. It's called the "Maine State of Learning," an initiative emphasizing so-called competency learning, which focuses on what a student knows rather than how well they test.
Educate Maine Program Director Jay Collier says the effort will allow learners to collect "digital badges" at a number of locations around the state, including after school programs and camps. The badges are designed to serve as verifiable records of learning.
"It's an initiative to help learners of all ages demonstrate what they're learning no matter where it is," Collier says, "so that others can find out about what they're learning both at school, after school, at camps, anywhere they learn."
More than 10 learning providers around the state are already working with the initiative, including Portland public schools, Maine 4-H, and the Maine Discovery Museum. The Maine State of Learning was launched as part of Maine Startup and Create Week, a conference in Portland celebrating startups, innovators and entrepreneurs.