Gov. Doug Burgum announced Sept. 12 the creation of the Innovative Education Task Force. The objective is to improve the public education in the state in order to advance North Dakota’s commitment to being a leader in the innovation of education.

The task force will attempt to improve and better the best practices North Dakota educators are using and provide the government with direction on policy creation that aligns with current educational needs.

“State and educational leaders across North Dakota recognize that a traditional teaching model, where knowledge transfer happened almost exclusively through books in a classroom, isn’t reflective of the 21st century,” Burgum said.

Kristen Baesler, North Dakota superintendent of Public Instruction, and other community leaders joined the governor at the State Capitol. They announced the Task Force would be made up of people who have backgrounds in education, youth development, business and community leadership.

It also is being assembled to better represent 21st century technology and economies.

“With most of the world’s expanding, abundant and real-time information available online, knowledge transfer can happen anytime, anywhere, and in a variety of ways. In order to help our students succeed in a global economy driven by dramatic, rapid and powerful changes in technology, we need to harness new approaches and new possibilities to provide students with innovative, project-based, experiential learning opportunities that better prepare them to be global citizens and lifelong learners.”

The task force will accept 11 to 15 member applications who will represent people across North Dakota as leaders of education. The group will meet for the first time Oct. 12 at the State Capitol.

“I’m very excited to see how this innovative task force will better inform our work for our students of North Dakota,” Baesler said.

Anyone interested in serving on the Innovative Education Task Force should submit an application via the Boards section on www.governor.nd.gov by Oct. 4.