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Create your own Star Wars opening crawl. You type your text, replace the Star Wars logo and play it directly on the website. You can request to Download your video, check the download options, you can replace the final image with any image you want to.

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The overarching theme that connects our TIG members’ curriculum is the way people consume and share content has changed because of evolving digital media, both in and out of the classroom, and how we can enhance students’ critical media literacy skills.

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"The goal of critical media literacy is to engage with media through critically examining representations, systems, structures, ideologies, and power dynamics that shape and reproduce culture and society."

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Teaching critical digital literacy - Folgerpedia

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Critical digital literacy is a set of skills, competencies, and analytical viewpoints that allows a person to use, understand, and create digital media and tools. Related to information literacy skills such as numeracy, listening, speaking, reading, writing and critical thinking, the goal of critica…

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Digital literacy concepts... What is Digital Literacy / Why is it important? 

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Digital literacy concepts... What is Digital Literacy / Why is it important? 

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Cheryl Brown

Overview

In this chapter, you will be introduced to the concept of digital literacy and what new skills are needed in order to engage with the digital world responsibly and effectively. Drawing on your own digital experiences you will think about your digital literacy and digital footprint, developing positive strategies to proactively take control of your own digital identity.

Chapter Topics

1. Introduction

2. Taking Stock of Your Digital self

3. What is Digital Literacy?

4. Why is Digital Literacy Important?

5. Improving Your Digital Literacy: Becoming a Digital Citizen

Introduction

As digital technology has become more common, affordable, and portable, more and more people from all parts of society are starting to increase their online and digital participation. Understanding the new opportunities, rules, and potential pitfalls of the digital world doesn't necessarily come automatically with long-term use. Not everyone using digital technology knows how to handle the range of available tools to their best extent, and even experienced digital technology users can fall prey to hackers, lose control of how they are represented online, or otherwise fail to maintain their digital identity in an optimal manner.

Digital literacy is a relatively new concept that emerged in the 1990s during the era of the Internet revolution. Before that, people talked more about "computer literacy." But in 1997, Paul Gilster, a historian and educator first coined the term "digital literacy," arguing that digital literacy went beyond just skills in using technology. He said it is about "mastering ideas, not [computer] keystrokes" (Gilster, 1997, p. 1).

Gilster (1997) further defined digital literacy as "the ability to understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide range of sources when it is presented via computers" (p. 1). For him, digital literacy involves the ability to critically evaluate information (presented in different formats) and make decisions about how to use this information in different real-life contexts.

By the end of this chapter you will be able to define the concept of digital literacy and its many different components, reflect on your own digital literacy, engage with the digital world responsibly, and be empowered as a digital citizen capable of helping others learn and develop their role in the digital world.

Taking Stock of Your Digital Self

You probably already use a range of technologies and digital tools in different aspects of your life. You might use mobile technologies, like a phone or tablet, to download materials or information from the Internet, or you may use them to communicate with friends and family. You may use information and communication technologies (ICT) mainly for work or for learning, or you might use it primarily for entertainment. In reality, people often use different technologies and tools for a mixture of purposes.

What is Digital Literacy?

The Concept of Literacy

Let's first start with "What is literacy?" Dictionaries define literacy as the ability to read and write. Within education, literacy is understood as the ability to read, write, and use arithmetic; the emphasis is on proficiency with language and numeracy.

It is important to pause and note that the term literacy has always held a degree of status. Globally, countries are often ranked in terms of literacy rates, compared by what percent of the adult population can read and write, for example. There is more complexity to the terms literate or illiterate, however, and a lot depends on context. "New literacy studies" view literacy as a situated practice; as in it all depends on where you come from and what your purpose is.

Much of what you find in your search will probably suggest a relationship between literacy and words. This may be attributed to the fact that the concept has traditionally been associated with language-i.e., alphabetic literacy. In popular use, the word literacy has increasingly become a synonym for skill, competence, and proficiency-for example, emotional literacy and spiritual literacy, etc.

Whatever your view of the word literacy, what is less questioned is the relationship between literacy and technology. Until quite recently, literacy has, for the most part, been associated with print technology. The increasingly important role that digital technology has taken in shaping our world has led to another defining moment in the evolution of literacy.

The Concept of Digital

So what is digital? When you thought about your digital self in Activity 1.1, you probably thought about the digital tools and technologies that are available to you. For example: "Oh, I use text messaging on my cell phone to communicate with friends." Or: "I use email at university on my laptop or in the computer lab to communicate with faculty." But the digital part (just like literacy) depends on context. The technology that you use and may even take for granted is not the same technology that your grandparents use or that students in another country use. This is why the concept of digital literacy is more often now referred to as digital literacies as a plural, acknowledging the variability of what is both available and relevant.

Digital Literacy

Since the pioneering introduction of computers into education in the 1960s, four key concepts that have dominated the literature on literacies related to digital technology include: information literacy, media literacy, computer literacy, and digital literacy (Brown, Czerniewicz, Huang & Mayisela, 2016). These four literacies are not competing, but in fact are necessary components of what it means to be literate in the twenty-first century. The table below presents an outline of the different terms and how they intersect:

Information Literacy Media Literacy Computer Literacy Digital Literacy

Definition
the ability to locate, identify, retrieve, process and use digital information optimally (UNESCO, 2011)

the ability to access the media, to understand and to critically evaluate different aspects of the media and media content, and to create communications in a variety of contexts (European Commission, 2007)

a set of user skills that enable active participation in a society where services and cultural offerings are computer supported and distributed on the Internet (UNESCO, 2011)

those capabilities which fit an individual for living, learning and working in a digital society (JISC, 2015)

Primary Focus
information retrieval and assessment of quality

evaluation and production of media texts

skills in the use of computer-related technology

innovation, collaboration, lifelong learning

The concept of digital literacy only started to gain attention in the last decade. Initially digital literacy was viewed primarily as the functional skills and competencies that people needed in order to use computers and the Internet. However in the last decade this has been expanded to consider the broader capacity needed to participate in a digital environment. UNESCO (2011) views digital literacy as a life skill that not only increases employability, but serves as a catalyst that "enables the acquisition of other important life skills" (p. 1).

The view of digital literacy offered by Jisc (2015) is even more comprehensive, defining digital literacy as "the capabilities which fit someone for living, learning and working in a digital society" (para. 3). The capabilities outlined by Jisc:

information, media, data literacy (critical use);

digital creation, scholarship and innovation (creative production);

digital communication, collaboration and participation (participating);

digital learning and personal/professional development (learning); and

digital identity and wellbeing (self-actualising).

(JISC, 2015)

Beyond functional and critical skills, the definitions and digital capabilities identified here propose a particular mindset, a way of being. In particular, the last three capabilities outlined-the abilities to engage in participatory culture, to be a lifelong learner, and to manage a professional digital identity-render digital literacy remarkably different from the initial views of digital literacy simply as mastery of technical skills.

Why is Digital Literacy Important?

You might be familiar with the concept of a "digital native" or the "net generation." These terms refer to the idea that a person who has been born or brought up during the age of digital technology will be familiar with computers and the Internet from an early age.

In fact, this generational desire to be constantly connected has even been inserted into Maslow's hierarchy of needs as the ultimate foundation of basic human needs. This psychological model is depicted as a pyramid with people's basic survival needs as its foundation which need to be satisfied before people can realise their full potential (Figure 1.3).

However, there has been a lot of criticism about the concept of the digital native because it assumes many things, not least that somehow all young people have access to technology, that older people don't have the same level of digital literacy as younger people, and that having access to technology automatically means you know how to use it.

So if young people are so adept at using digital technologies, why do they (and perhaps you for that matter) need to improve their digital literacy?

There are many answers, and hopefully this introduction has already hinted at some of them. One is that it's not enough in this globally connected world to just be able to use technology. You need to be able to develop socially responsible digital practices and also to contribute to digital practices in your own personal, work, and learning lives.

One way of visualizing this is Sharpe and Beetham's (2010) digital literacy development model (see Figure 1.4).

The pyramid represents a cyclical process for developing digital literacy skills. At the base of the pyramid is awareness of technology and access to it. However, just because you have a piece of hardware or software doesn't mean you have the ability to use it effectively. As you spend more time using technology, you become more confident in your technical, information, communication, and learning skills. You can then begin to apply those skills to make informed decisions and choices about how to use different technologies. As you move through the cycle, your experiences and practices contribute to the formation of your digital identity, while your identity informs your practices and drives the creative and appropriate use of technology.

Improving Your Digital Literacy: Becoming a Digital Citizen

This book is aimed at helping you develop your digital literacy in a range of areas in order to become a digital citizen.

Explore Your Digital Identity

Digital identity refers to your "online self," the side of you that people see on the Internet. We all have different identities in different contexts and one of the things about being a digital citizen is the ability to control the representation of yourself in the online environment.

Were you happy with the results of the search in Activity 1.5? Is there something you would like to change? One of the problems with information online is that once it is there, it is often very difficult to delete. Being aware of what you share online is a very important digital skill.

Using the image below (Figure 1.5), reflect on your digital footprint. Decide on some SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound), and identify how you want the virtual "you" to look to the various people who might see you online: friends, family (including your grandmother!), teachers and professors, coaches, neighbours, potential employers, potential dates, or complete strangers.

This book is aimed at helping you develop your digital literacy in a range of areas in order to become a better digital citizen. By the end of this book, you will be able to more effectively and responsibly:

Engage in digital practices.

Critically evaluate information, online interactions, and online tools.

Manage and communicate information.

Collaborate and share digital content.

References

Brown, C., Czerniewicz., L., Huang, C-W., & Mayisela., T. (2016). Curriculum for digital education leadership: A concept paper. Burnaby, BC: Commonwealth of Learning. Retrieved from http://oasis.col.org/handle/11599/2442

European Commission (2007). A European approach to media literacy in the digital environment. Retrieved from http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM%3A2007%3A0833%3AFIN%3AEN%3APDF

Gilster, P. (1997). Digital Literacy. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

JISC. (2015). Developing students' digital literacy. Retrieved from https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/developing-students-digital-literacy

Sharpe, R. & Beetham, H. (2010) Understanding students' uses of technology for learning: Towards creative appropriation. In R. Sharpe, H. Beetham and S. de Freitas (Eds.) Rethinking learning for a digital age: how learners shape their experiences, (pp. 85-99). Routledge Falmer, London and New York. Retrieved from https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/4887c90b-adc6-db4f-397f-ea61e53739e0/1/

UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education. (2011, May). Digital literacy in education policy brief. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002144/214485e.pdf

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Chapter 1: Introduction to Digital Literacy

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Cheryl Brown In this chapter, you will be introduced to the concept of digital literacy and what new skills are needed in order to engage with the digital world responsibly and effectively. Drawing on your own digital experiences you will think about your digital literacy and digital footprint, developing positive strategies to proactively take control of your own digital identity.

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Creating critical thinkers using media literacy

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Creating critical thinkers using media literacy

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Creating critical thinkers through media literacy: Andrea Quijada at TEDxABQED

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In ELA classes, the ways in which we consume and share information is constantly evolving. More than ever before, students and educators are able to foster critical media literacy skills by participating in online discussions, collecting and examining digital information and its sources, and using these technologies to challenge power structures and dominant ideologies.

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Understanding and Developing Digital Literacy

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Understanding and Developing Digital Literacy

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In regards to physical education, digital media literacy is a critical component in spreading ideas to the PE world. Sharing ideas across multiple media platforms connects not only people, but ideas that can be taught to the youth of the world. Sharing videos of successful lessons, helpful articles, and so much more are great ways to use digital media in the PE world.

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ELA - Using Digital Media & Popular Culture to Identify Rhetorical Devices in Advertising

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ELA - Using Digital Media & Popular Culture to Identify Rhetorical Devices in Advertising

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This is a video lesson that describes how educators can have their students analyze commercials and other popular digital mediums (i.e. television) in order to teach about rhetorical devices and persuasion. The skills students learn through this lesson will allow them to critically analyze digital media they encounter on their own, turning them into "social critics".

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Ethos, Pathos, and Logos in Persuasion/Advertising/Writing

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Educators can use this novel to connect to students' interests and reality of living with technology in order to teach about theme, identity, and power structures.

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I'd go along w/ Cwc in saying that it's a reflection of how our society is entertaining itself to death. That so many fail to see beauty and wonder inI'd go along w/ Cwc in saying that it's a reflection of how our society is entertaining itself to death. That so many fail to see beauty and wonder in everyday life. That our collective imagination is dying. That we whine about inconvenience. I didn't like the MC, but I think Anderson's choice makes sense. I didn't ultimately like the book, either, but I fear that we step closer to its portrayal of the future. Kristen Dyer...more (less)

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I'd go along w/ Cwc in saying that it's a reflection of how our society is entertaining itself to death. That so many fail to see beauty and wonder inI'd go along w/ Cwc in saying that it's a reflection of how our society is entertaining itself to death.

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Technology can be integrated into any subject area. I love using technology in my ELA classroom to share assignments, reduce photocopying and to help students show off their creativity when completing assignments.

Check out how other teachers are using technology in their English Language Arts classrooms by reading the questions and answers below from our #2ndaryELA Twitter Chat on Tech in the ELA Classroom.

Q1: How has technology changed what and how you teach

Tech has allowed to me create more engaging lessons and differentiate my content more effectively.

Not sure about the what, but my lessons are def more streamlined and engaging. Forces me to think in diff contexts.

I feel I can be more innovative with LP, and Ss have a larger range of how they choose to learn.

Tech changed how I teach > what I teach, like using G.Classroom, Edmodo, Quizlet, Docs, etc.

Makes learning more fun and gives easier access to resources. Also improves collaboration. This year I'll be 1:1

Tech definitely makes interventions and differentiation easier, providing Ss reading passages at their level is invaluable

Technology has created a way for me to give instant feedback to students! It's also helped creation be normal in my class!

Being a 1:1 iPad school completely transformed my teaching & I could never go back! Ss still need me, but tech is an amazing tool.

Tech has changed the way we discuss in the classroom - I love having digital discussions using Padlet and GoSoapBox.

Q2: What's your most creative use of technology in your classroom?

I use tech to organize my lessons like a digital textbook see example https://t.co/KCf4sWU2Ka

Putting students in the teacher role more often, especially when they make their Grammar Videos (Screencast-O-Matic & Google Slides)

Theme project with To Kill a Mockingbird. Uses Google Sites & other Google apps for ed. challenging & meaningful.

I've used Twitter chats with my AP students. We discussed a poem with other Ss around the US - makes the world smaller!

Ss presented new vocabulary info in a format of their choosing. Some used Slides, Powtoon, Snapchat, etc. It was interesting.

I use digital interactive notebooks for our lit units.

The use of Numbers (spreadsheet app). I'm able to provide every Ss a personalized learning plan for each unit.

I edited live with my students when I was in the hospital We were on Google docs.

A2 & 3 Breakouts are my favorite and most creative. My planning process: https://t.co/btJccZOeDV

A2 & 3 And resources if you want to create your own digital breakout https://t.co/szGanoRSA5

Q3: What are your favourite assignments to give your students that incorporate technology?

My students enjoyed using Google Slides to create a digital graffiti wall about the novel we were studying

Book Snaps for annotation, collaborative Docs and Slides

They also enjoy using technology like QR codes. I am still learning a lot about technology in the classroom.

I have my Ss create Kahoots and other digital activities to help class review for vocabulary quizzes

Interactive presentations. Ss had to create an infographic using Piktochart and get the audience involved using tech.

I love assignments that encourage creativity and collaboration. Visual representations of thought. Makes Ss really think.

I had Ss research a Holocaust topic & create a presentation, which subbed an essay. Ss learned more w/o pressure of an essay.

Q4: What do you do when technology isn't working properly or the internet is down?

Always have a low tech backup!

If I can't work around the problem, it's bonus reading time. Always a go-to backup plan.

Read! Or have class discussions or do a mini-lesson. There's always a backup plan.

Independent reading time!

Class discussions, reading, stations

Lessons should always focus on standards. If tech isn't working I try to flip the lesson. I think quick and remain calm.

I go back to the "old school" techniques. When the technology goes down, our discussion increases significantly!

Always ALWAYS have a backup plan. Wifi goes down regularly.

I always try to be prepared with copies of texts and handouts. We have a lot of glitches with tech at our school.

Depends. Usually I try to have something that gets them interacting with each other (giant stickies on the wall for respond)

Remain calm!! Especially when starting integrating technology! Remember that ELA is the focus and tech is a tool!

Q5: Share your favorite free online technology resources.

All the free resources @ publishes

Google!! Padlet. Kahoot.

Lots of information in these blog posts https://t.co/5MkP7v1I0v

I loved using @ReadTheory this past year for reading interventions, exposure to test questions, and practice writing

I constantly follow a variety of hashtags on Twitter or FB groups for ELA and EdTech.

Socrative, TED talks, NY Times Room for Debate

I also love @! The free version is great and the pro version is better. Tool for article of the week!

Quizizz, Autocrat extension, everything Google

Padlet, GoSoapBox, Piktochart, Vocaroo, CommonLit, Newsela, ReadWorks, Dogo News, TED talks

[&lt;a href="http://storify.com/2peasandadog/technology-in-the-ela-classroom-59939161fdbe0546fc83399f" target="_blank"&gt;View the story "Technology in the ELA Classroom" on Storify&lt;/a&gt;]

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Integrating Technology Into The English Language Arts Classroom

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Technology can be integrated into any subject area. I love using technology in my ELA classroom to share assignments, reduce photocopying and to help students show off their creativity when completing assignments. Check out how other teachers are using technology in their English Language Arts classrooms by reading the questions and answers below from our #2ndaryELA Twitter Chat on Tech in the ELA Classroom.

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ELA - Integrating Technology and Literacy

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ELA - Integrating Technology and Literacy

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This includes techniques and strategies for integrating technology into any classroom, and how digital tools such as online annotations and digital feedback can provide differentiation to a variety of students.

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When teaching with digital natives in a digital world, one question facing many educators revolves around integrating technology to help facilitate learning: How do you work technology into the pedagogy, instead of just using something cool? That task can be especially daunting in language arts literacy classrooms where reading and writing skill development is the crux of daily lessons. However, as 1:1 technology initiatives roll out, integrating technology into the classroom is our reality.

With hundreds of sites, apps, Chrome extensions, and platforms available, choosing the right ones can seem overwhelming. As an eighth-grade language arts teacher, I've experienced this myself. Following are four tools that can help provide immediate formative assessment data as well as top-of-the-rotation feedback to help students develop personal learning goals.

If, like my school, you're in a "Chromebook District," these suggested tools will work well because all integrate perfectly when you sign in with your Google ID, limiting the need for multiple passwords. This saves a lot of student confusion, too.

1. Online Annotations via Scrible

Annotating texts is an evidence-based literacy strategy to help students understand and navigate complex texts, and a large part of my district's schoolwide literacy initiative. Annotating digitally as part of our 1:1 Chromebook program was something that I wanted to incorporate, and Scrible has proved to be a valuable tool for my students.

Registering is quick and free, whether via Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, or your own email account. Upon registration, users should select an educator account, which allows them to create libraries where they save the annotation for future reference. The one drawback is that Scrible doesn't yet support .PDF files. Among the highlights and benefits:

Students can work collaboratively on the same file.

Students and teachers can share annotations with each other.

Teachers can use annotations as formative assessment and comment back to students, allowing for immediate feedback.

Users can share annotations online via Facebook or Twitter.

With the sharing option, teachers can share any in-class modeling with students who were absent.

Annotating digitally allows for greater student choice as students find their own online texts.

There is a Google Chrome extension that you can add to your toolbar.

2. Video Annotations via VideoAnt

Digital literacy and using video as "texts" can create a myriad of issues for students who don't take effective notes. Developed by the University of Minnesota, VideoAnt allows users to annotate videos and save them to their own virtual "ant farm." The benefits:

Users can timestamp important parts of a video, allowing for easy access later.

Users can type notes with the timestamp, creating a quasi two-column note-taking tool.

Users can share video annotations with others.

3. Feedback via Kaizena Shortcut

Formerly known as Kaizena mini, Kaizena Shortcut is a Google extension that allows teachers to provide actionable, detailed feedback in a streamlined fashion. Typing out feedback in Google Docs comments boxes can get cumbersome. Even limiting feedback to three or four items takes time. Also, what happens when you need to address grammar errors? With Kaizena, teachers and students can:

Provide feedback in the form of typed comments.

Record comments verbally so that students can hear their teacher's voice on playback.

Insert links to grammar lessons.

The last bullet point is clutch for teachers who tire of providing feedback about the same grammar errors over and over. For example, many of my students commit that cardinal sin known as the comma splice. In Kaizena, I created a lesson on comma splices in which I typed a detailed explanation of what they are and how to correct them, as well as a link to a YouTube video about them. This lets teachers provide effective feedback that appeals to students with diverse learning styles. The drawback is that you have to manually create the lessons for each topic. But once you have them, the work is done, allowing you to differentiate grammar lessons based on individual students' errors.

4. Formative Assessments via EDPuzzle

Teachers of language arts and all content areas try to differentiate learning to reach a diverse group of learners by using video clips. But how do you know if students are really focusing and engaging in active learning during videos? EDPuzzle helps collect formative data that can drive instruction.

Users simply register for an account and then create classes. Each class gets its own code that students use for joining. Teachers can search and upload videos from YouTube, TED-Ed, Vimeo, KhanAcademy, and other sites. Then you create a lesson by embedding questions in the video that provides immediate formative data and allows you to check for understanding. Questions can be multiple-choice or open-ended.

I've used this when differentiating lessons, and it has worked flawlessly. For example, when working with theme, I broke the lesson into three levels. The first was for a basic understanding of the definition of theme. The second was for analyzing text to explain theme. The third focused on the crafts that writers use to create a theme. Students came in and completed an entrance slip via Socrative. I then used the data to determine where they were in the process of learning about theme, and assigned them appropriate videos in EDPuzzle.

As students completed the videos, I was able to check for understanding based on the data from their completed questions before moving them to the next level. I could also provide real-time feedback to the questions, explaining concepts further if needed.

While there are hundreds of technology tools out there to help language arts teachers, these four have helped me enhance my use of formative data and feedback to further student achievement in a diverse and differentiated classroom.

What technology tools work well in your language arts class?

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When teaching with digital natives in a digital world, one question facing many educators revolves around integrating technology to help facilitate learning: How do you work technology into the pedagogy, instead of just using something cool? That task can be especially daunting in language arts literacy classrooms where reading and writing skill development is the crux of daily lessons.

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ELA - Jamboard Templates for the ELA Classroom

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ELA - Jamboard Templates for the ELA Classroom

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Jamboard is a digital platform that allows online collaboration and can promote a sense of classroom community. These templates can be used as a tool for teachers of any discipline by building relationships between students and teachers'.

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Inspired by an enthusiastic coworker who's been using Jamboard to teach virtually, I recently tried and jammed out on some Jamboard templates in the classroom. The reason I put off using Jamboard for so long is because I thought Jamboards were too similar to Padlet which I've used for years, and too difficult for my Microsoft students to cross over on a Google classroom account.

I was wrong and have been missing out! Though Jamboard is similar to Padlet, you get unlimited FREE boards while gaining more functions. As far as accounts go, students DO NOT need a Jamboard login or an account to use Jamboard! YAYAYAYA *Plays Space Jam sound track and dances around an empty classroom. All you need to use Jamboard as a teacher is a personal or professional Google account (I'll give a quick tutorial for teachers at the end of this post!).

Therefore, I'm now about to do that annoying thing where I rave about something that is old news to everyone else because this blog post is going to have my recent Jamboard obsession on BLAST. I'm going to show you all the creative ways I've used Jamboard in my virtual and hybrid ELA classroom so whether you are an advanced Jamboard user or the last one to know about this amazing EDU tech tool, I hope you'll have plenty of takeaways from these Jamboard ideas!

Key things to know about Jamboard:

What is Jamboard? Jamboard is a free Google app that allows you to create a digital whiteboard and invite others to collaborate on it.

If you are not 1:1, there is a Jamboard app that you may choose to allow students to use on their phones.

Jamboard templates go in as an image under "set background"

If you want student names associated with answers, they must add their name to their sticky.

Jamboard for collaboration works best with 25 students or less. From what I've read, it has issues with more than that. To fix this, create two Jamboards per class.

Most of the Jamboard ideas I'm about to show you are color-coded. If you have a colorblind student, number off the colors for a guide.

You must set your Jamboards to allow EDITING for students to be able to add sticky notes (see tutorial).

You must set expectations for the Jamboard because when you allow editing, well, they will edit it. Students may mark on the board, change the sticky notes of other students, delete sticky notes, etc. A few tricks to combat this: set expectations, be on the board with them, tell them it tracks edits, switch off of edit mode as soon as the lesson is finished so that students can still see it but not edit it.

You can make your own Jamboard templates in PowerPoint or Google Slides, or you can download the ones I show you here: ELA Jamboard Templates

If you would like to test out a couple of FREE Jamboard templates before committing, you can get those here!

Watch the full tutorial here!

Relationship Building Jamboard Templates:

My very first day back with students this semester was the day after the attack on the US Capitol. Since we are on a block schedule, I had all new students that I had never met before and was feeling extremely anxious (even more so than normal first days!). Knowing that I didn't want to ignore what had just happened or put on an inauthentic first-day face, I quickly made a simple Jamboard template to let students process the event before we moved on.

This only took a few minutes, but it set the tone for this class, provided a safe place to talk (I told them to keep their sticky notes anonymous), and gave me some insight into how they are handling this moment in history.

Other ways to use Jamboard to build relationships include:

Would you rather grabbers - To pique students' interest before reading while also keeping it personal, think of a "would you rather" question that relates to the text. For example, before reading Of Mice and Men, you might ask: Would you rather have a big dream but never accomplish it or never allow yourself to dream at all?

Four corner replication on Jambaord- Teachers love using the four corner strategy in the classroom because it creates both movement and engagement. However, when that's not possible or when you want to provide a board to record answers, Jamboard is where it's at! For example, suppose you are going to play one of my Valentine's Day podcast recommendations (wink, wink), you could hook students with something like this that would not only get them interested but also build community. Students would simply place their sticky notes over the dog they most relate with and explain why. I would make this one an anonymous Jamboard activity which is one pro over the traditional classroom strategy!

Group Work Jamboard Templates:

I recently presented (on Zoom) to a group of teachers in New Jersey about using podcasts in the classroom, and when it was over, they were like that's cool but let's talk about those Jamboard templates you used haha. Kidding, they were really into my podcast ideas, but were also impressed by my Jamboard activities for collaboration! 😊

A big pro over Padlet is that Jamboard will allow you to have multiple sides going at the same time. This means you can have one group of students working on one slide of the SAME Jamboard while others are on their own assigned slide. This is GAME CHANGER for facilitating collaborations in a virtual or Covid classroom setting.

For my presentation, I put teachers into breakout rooms and told them which slide they should focus on. Breakout room one worked on slide 1 etc. HOWEVER, this was a semi-fail because of this Jamboard con: links are not clickable in a Jamboard (if you know a workaround, please fill me in!), therefore, it took much longer than needed for such a simple task (read an article and find 3 key points), but I reflected and somewhat solved this before recommending it to the masses.
Here's the solution:
Tell students exactly what to Google and what their article should look like (get image by using a snipping tool then control v to paste into the Jamboard)

OR, get the links to them via the chat feature on Zoom.

OR, have the links posted in Canvas or whatever LMS you use.

Now, once students read the article or section you want them to read, they will use a color-coded sticky note to write down their thoughts. There are 5 sticky note colors in Jamboard, so you can have up to 5 groups.

After that, you can put students into multi- colored groups to replicate the classic jigsaw reading strategy where they report to others.

Here is a funny way to group students:

Reading Response Jamboard Templates:

There's absolutely nothing worse than prompting for reading responses to black squares or masked silent faces, am I right?

Jamboard is my edu hero for non-awkward student engagement and interaction during Covid.

Speaking of heroes, here's a Jamboard example.

When I teach Beowulf, I use the acronym E.P.I.C. to help students define what the Anglo-Saxons valued in a hero. E- Embodies the values of the time, P- P ossesses supernatural traits, etc. Next, I have them connect this to the real world by discussing what we value in a hero today. Well this year, the "discuss" aspect bombed until I jumped on the Jamboard chariot.

Here you can see how full their EPIC discussion turned out:

Since Jamboard is a digital whiteboard, there are unlimited ways to use it. Here are some more Jamboard template ideas:

Color-coded annotations: If you use reading signposts, you can assign each one a color (the fiction set has six, so you'll need to use the "no color" sticky note option). When students close read a passage or do their reading response, they can use the sticky notes in the Jamboard template to show what they know.

Otherwise, you can make your own color key and for a colorful commentary session!

Virtual Discussion Jamboard Templates:

I'm hearing from teachers that classroom discussions are one of the things they miss the most during this challenging teaching year. I've found that if I prompt in the right way and give students lots of thinking time, they are more apt to participate in a virtual or masked setting. With Jamboard, students already "put themselves out there" on the app so it's easier for them to speak up and elaborate with their voices when the time comes. Here are some Jamboard discussion templates:

Check for Understanding Jamboard Templates:

If you are looking for a quick way to check for understanding or give a digital exit ticket, a Jamboard can do it! It can be as simple as asking students to post one thing they learned in a "what stuck with you" digital sticky note, or a little more advanced with Jamboard templates like the target one below where you place your target standard in the middle and have students use stickies to show what they know. You as the teacher can move the stickies around to show which responses best hit the target.

You can also use Jamboard templates for test prep (don't even get me started on the fact that some states including my own are still drilling state testing this year). Here are a couple of ideas:

Abstract Thinking Jamboards Templates:

Creative thinking is a skill that I value and practice daily in the classroom. Because of their blank slate nature, Jamboards make the perfect tool for generating abstract thinking. Here are some Jamboard ideas:

The "no wrong answer" template helps students think outside the box. For example, if you are reading Lord of the Flies, you can put Ralph, Piggy, Simon, and Jack on the Jamboard. Students would then articulate who doesn't belong based on their thinking.

The book bar graph is a fun way of thinking that I've used with teaching The Great Gatsby and Animal Farm. You can find detailed examples by reading those posts, but essentially, you can use the bar graph method to track anything from color symbolism to propaganda techniques to author's craft.

Writing Jamboard Templates:

When it comes to teaching writing, I've always found that a little friendly, yet not embarrassing competition yields better writing. One of the perks of using Jamboard in the classroom is that you can choose to make the stickies named or anonymous (just make sure to tell them each time!) Similar to the target idea above, you can have students write a thesis statement and you as the teacher can drag the stickies over to the award. The ones on the award serve as mentor thesis statements for the ones around the edges that need revision. You can also model this revision right there on the Jamboard as a teaching tool.

Brainstorming Jamboard Templates

Much of the time when you ask students to brainstorm, they will write down two or three things and call it day. However, I've found that when I give them a fun brainstorming goal, they fire off more ideas. For example, simply using the alphabet can spark brainstorming answers they may have never thought of! Or, like in my latest creative Jamboard idea, I have them finish a pixel picture using stickies in specific colors. They work to fill the board up so that the image is revealed (see the flower pixel picture above). It's a little cheesy, but there's just something in our brains that likes to see things finished. 🙂 I have added 5 pixel images to my Jamboard pack!

I hope that this post has inspired you as my coworker did me to try Jamboard in the classroom. I've provided lots of Jamboard ideas, but if you need a Jamboard tutorial for teachers that gets into the HOW, then this short video will help!

Lastly, if you want to see if Jamboards are your ... JAM.... don't forget to grab this free tester pack which is a sample of my large Jamboard template bundle.

Enjoy!

Grab the ELA Jamboard pack here!

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Creative Jamboard Templates for the ELA Classroom - Building Book Love

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Inspired by an enthusiastic coworker who's been using Jamboard to teach virtually, I recently tried and jammed out on some Jamboard templates in the classroom.

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ELA - Perusall as a Tool for Collaboration

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ELA - Perusall as a Tool for Collaboration

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This is an overview of the digital tool Perusall which provides a platform for collaborative annotation so students can dissect a text or video together. This promotes relationship building skills in a digital space and teaches students how to use netiquette when engaging as global citizens.

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Perusall | Increase student engagement, participation, and collaboration

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Would you like your students to be engaged? Perusall, a free social annotation platform, increases student engagement with your favorite course content.

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ELA - Student-Paced lesson or activity in Pear Deck

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ELA - Student-Paced lesson or activity in Pear Deck

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This is an example of a Peardeck lesson and the ways that this online tool can be used to create a collaborative environment in the classroom and connect students through digital means. They are able to access these slides, activities, quizzes, and homework in and out of the classroom.

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How to lead a Student-Paced lesson or activity in Pear Deck

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ELA - How to Use Technology to Engage Multilingual Families

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ELA - How to Use Technology to Engage Multilingual Families

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This includes strategies for digitally engaging multilingual families in their child’s education. Teachers and schools can create Facebook discussion groups for parents and hold collaborative Zoom meetings where students' progress and achievements can be discussed.

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Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools have had success in using technology to communicate with families of English language learners (ELLs).

Benefits of this outreach include the following:

families can receive information in their own language

families can attend school events from home (or another location) without having to arrange transportation, child care, or different work schedules

archives of school events can be posted for later viewing.Strengthening Partnerships with ELL Families: 15 Strategies for Success

The following article offers some ideas for using technology to support ELL family engagement and examples of success stories and lessons learned from educators. See additional ideas in our related article, Strengthening Partnerships with ELL Families: 15 Strategies for Success.

Increasing Language Access for Multilingual Families

Before jumping into the nuts and bolts of the tools schools are using, it's important to remember the broader goals of increasing language access for all families. Keep the following in mind:

Families are legally entitled to information in their home language from their children's schools.

As schools must continually adjust to new developments in the pandemic, it is critical for families to have updated, accurate information in real time from schools in their home languages.

Providing information from an official interpreter or presentations from a speaker who is fluent in the home language is the best way to ensure that families get accurate information, even when using technology to get the message out. (See our note on translation tools at the bottom of the article.)

As you review different tools, here are some additional tips to keep in mind:

Start small! This will take some trial and error; you can try new platforms with small groups of families before rolling something out more broadly to see what works best.

Find out what tools and platforms the families are already using and how they want to receive their information. Engaging families in this process will increase your chances for success.

You can learn more about the ways to expand families' language access through our related article, Equity Through Language Access: Best Practices for Collaborating with Interpreters.

A note on privacy

Families may have questions and concerns about privacy when using technology. Please take a look at these privacy and security considerations for ELLs and immigrant families if you are considering using any of the following platforms.

Related videos

Partnering with families in the service industry

Juliana Urtubey, the 2021 National Teacher of the Year, talks about the importance of flexibility and good communication when partnering with families in the service industry, such as her students' families in Las Vegas.

What does appropriate language access mean for multilingual families? This interview features Dr. Jennifer Love, the Supervisor of Language Access and Engagement in Prince George's County Public Schools, Maryland.

Using Facebook for Community Outreach

Roseville, MN Area Schools ISD 623 is a school district in the greater Twin Cities area serving many diverse communities. The district has developed a series of Facebook pages for its families, including immigrant communities, African American families, and American Indian families. The pages serving ELL families include translated messages and posts from family liaisons and educators. These pages have been critical outreach platforms during COVID-19.

How it started

Kristina Robertson, English Learner Program Administrator at Roseville Public Schools, realized early in the pandemic that families were getting inundated with bilingual robo-calls, often multiple messages in a day. It wasn't an efficient way to communicate. In consultation with the district cultural liaisons, the EL team created a series of cultural Facebook pages as many families use this social network platform. Facebook posts allowed families to view and respond to messages at their convenience if they had questions or comments.

It's important to note that many of the Roseville Public Schools multilingual communities are refugees who did not have an opportunity to develop literacy skills in their first language or English. It was critical to have visual and audio messages for the families as an alternative to written translations. The cultural Facebook pages became a source not only of posts and updates but of video sharing through Facebook Live sessions on important topics.

The data shows that videos are viewed by hundreds of people after the events, showing how easy it is to share the information with others. For example, one of their first Karen Facebook Live videos was seen by 3,000 people. Kristina notes that it was so rare that the community could find information presented in their own language that they just kept sharing it with others. She says, "We only have about 350 Karen students in our district so it definitely went beyond our district boundaries. I call that a win if it helps others! Families and community members can receive the information and don't really need to navigate much or register."

Creating community Facebook pages

The most important things to consider when developing cultural Facebook pages are:

Audience: What communities will these pages serve?

Name: The name should be inclusive, consistent, and specific to your particular school and location. For example, there are many Roseville Schools in the U.S., so all of the district's Facebook group names include ISD 623.

Content: Will this include school events, information updates, cultural events, and external resources? Can different departments post on it?

How information will be translated: Who will post the content and how will you provide it in families' languages? It's important to have frequent content posted to keep families aware of the site and information. Information translated by an official translator or interpreter, or presented by someone fluent in families' home languages, is best.

Page administrator: Who will be the administrators of the Facebook page? Who can post content or change settings? In Roseville, the schools communications director set up the FB pages and gave Kristina administrative access so she could add cultural liaisons and leaders from other departments to post directly.

Security settings: You want your page to be secure from trolls, but not so secure it prevents families from accessing information. Monitor the pages to ensure there is no malicious activity. In a year of managing cultural Facebook pages, Roseville schools has not had any troll incidents.

Finally, bring in guests to provide interesting content. It's best if video presentations are short (15 minutes or less). If you can do the presentation in the native language rather than having an interpreter, that is best, but don't hesitate to use interpreters. The families will appreciate the information in their languages

Roseville's Facebook pages

To see what this outreach looks like, take a look at the pages below. On the Spanish page (Familias Latinas), you will see numerous presentations from middle school ELL teacher Alonso Jaque-Pino on topics ranging from hand-washing to hybrid schedules. Alonso is just one of the many staff members working actively to share information on these pages.

You can also learn more from our Share My Lesson webinar that features these resources!

Town hall meetings on Zoom

In addition, the district has used Zoom more for school-based town hall meetings. Kristina notes that it can be challenging for families to navigate Zoom. It takes a lot of staff time on the ground to provide direct support for families who want to attend. The other issue is getting Zoom info and log-in information to families. Most people register for events through email and receive a link. That won't work for many of the district's multilingual families who aren't regularly using e-mail, so the district needs to rely on staff to connect with those who express an interest in attending.

One benefit, however, is that Zoom allows for simultaneous interpreters (secured by the district) through a language channel, and so the district has used that feature when possible.

In short, with practice and support, families can get familiar with Zoom and the district can take advantage of the simultaneous interpretation features. More broadly, though, Roseville has found that the Facebook Live events are more public and easily accessible, so the meetings focus on community or district-wide information that families can share with others. As noted above, however, the events will need to include interpretation if bilingual speakers aren't available to present.

Creating Grade-Level Groups on Facebook

Dr. Karen Woodson is the former principal of Mother Jones Elementary School in Adelphi, MD, a school with a large number of ELLs. In this excerpt from her Colorin Colorado article on creating equitable access for ELL families during COVID-19, she shared the following lessons learned from her experience.

"Working to our advantage was our new Facebook page, established one week after the closing of schools. Through our interactions with families, we were aware that many of them were already using Facebook on their cell phones...It was gratifying to see the families interacting with their teachers and counselors by sharing pictures and stories about their experiences living in our new normal."

Teachers and counselors used private grade-level groups to:

communicate with families around instructional expectations

post videos showing families how to log into various portals used for instruction

provide encouraging communication related to self-care and social-emotional health

offer schoolwide activities, such as a spirit week and a dress up day.

In addition, the school used the Facebook channel to broadcast back-to-school nights and parent workshops. Critical lessons learned from their bilingual virtual town follow below:

Use the Facebook chat window and the Q&A window on Zoom, WebEx, or other online meeting platforms, to interact with families and address their questions in real time.

Communicate to families the dates and language to be used for the presentation. Explain that the other language will still be used on both dates, but in a closed caption format. This give families the flexibility to choose the linguistic environment that best suits their learning preference.

Streaming live to Facebook or Youtube creates a recorded archive on your school's page. Families and community members can revisit the information, in the language of their choice, as their schedules permit and as many times as they wish.

Use a platform that enables the presentation to be streamed live to the school's Facebook page (or the school's Youtube page) as it is being presented by school staff.

In addition, Dr. Woodson shared their approach on presenting bilingual information. It's important to take time to figure out what will work best for your families given your staff and technology available. Here are the steps they used:

Their team developed a slide presentation containing the information to be shared in English and Spanish (or any target language) on the same slide. They planned to do the presentation twice, once in English and again in Spanish (or any target language).

When they delivered the presentation in one language, they had it translated to another language via closed caption.

Texting Apps

Finally, it's worth mentioning that many schools are using texting apps to communicate with families. In some cases, this might be WhatsApp, which is popular among many immigrant communities.

It might also include translation apps like Talking Points, which translates messages between teachers and families in many different languages.

Here's how Talking Points works:

Parents receive the messages as a text message and do not need to download an app.

It's free for individuals and can be purchased for broader use by districts.

Translations are done automatically but human interpreters are available if needed.

You can send mass texts as well and teachers' numbers are protected.

Illinois multilingual education administrator Sarah Said notes, "It's an application that works as a text message on parents' phones. It enables two-way translation communication with families. You can send mass texts for free! It has been a LIFELINE."

The Talking Points app (or other similar apps) can help give individual teachers more options in reaching out to families directly rather than relying on an intermediary.

When to use what method of contact

Keep in mind that some information may be more suitable for texts (shorter messages, reminders, and check-ins) than lengthy or sensitive information, or information that is legally required to be translated. Please take a look at these privacy and security considerations for ELLs and immigrant families if you are considering using any translation app and review the product carefully before recommending it.

A note on translation

Keep in mind that translation tools such as those in Talking Points, Google Translate, or Facebook's translation tool are not fool-proof; they should not be considered a wholesale substitute for professional, knowledgeable translators and trained language staff who are familiar with:

the language and culture of the families

technical school terms, especially for special education

strategies that can help build trust and community among ELLs and their families.

Building on Successes

The ability to reach more multilingual families through tools that schools are using more widely is a valuable opportunity. That outreach will continue to be critical as schools adapt and adjust to realities on the ground. Families will appreciate the efforts to communicate with them in their languages, even if there are some bumps along the way, and they will let you know what's working. By keeping your eyes on those broader goals of reaching more families, you will chart the course that works for your school community. Bon voyage!

Recommended Resources

For more tips on how to communicate effectively with multilingual families and help them keep their contact information up to date, please see the following:

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How to Use Technology to Engage Multilingual Families

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Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools have had success in using technology to communicate with families of English language learners (ELLs).

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ELA - How Technology can Increase Student Engagement

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ELA - How Technology can Increase Student Engagement

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Technology can increase student engagement at the elementary, middle, high school, and college levels when teachers intentionally provide students the opportunity to use tech tools in a blended learning environment. Lesson plans and PLCs must address how to successfully plan and implement technology to meet the needs of all students. Blended learning includes a combination of print and tech tools for students to learn and explore new academic content or extend learning about existing content.

Technology can also be used to front load new content prior to teaching synchronous lessons. As teachers compete with social media, they must learn to effectively use technology to increase student engagement in a productive way. Engaging students in the learning environment with technology provides opportunities for a sense of community, accessibility, support, motivation, interest learning, and self-regulation ( Bond & Bedenlier, 2019).

Support Differentiation

All students learn at different levels and need scaffolded supports to master subject content, which can include technology as a key source of instructional delivery. Educators can implement learning stations using iPads or laptops in their daily lessons. Aside from learning stations, teachers can use software apps to help students to solve math problems, read complex text, or explore real-life simulations in science and social studies.

Technology has made it easy for educators to simply search a topic and platform that you want students to explore such as roller coaster simulations, inference PowerPoints, audible books on particular subjects, and Wikipedia resources for research projects. Many topics can be googled for a plethora of resources to provide students with instant access to information. However, educators also have to teach students how to ensure information is authentic.

As students work at their pace and skill level, it is important for teachers to assign students technology sites that they can navigate at their various learning levels to ensure students stay purposefully engaged with content. School districts may also have a list of databases for teachers to access such as RAZ Kids, Education Galaxy, IXL, Myon, Prodigy, Edusmart, Mentoring Minds, Khan Academy, Brainpop, Starfall, etc. Many technology vendors with a variety of products at different learning levels are available for educators to use.

Address Different Learning Styles

Students should be afforded the opportunity to explore content in a variety of ways. Teachers can use technology to address the auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learning styles of students. Devices coupled with headphones can help students who may need text-to-speech services, graphics organizers, and additional visual supports such as highlighted and bold text of difficult words.

Interactive whiteboards are also helpful for engaging students needing visual and tactile supports ( Beeland, 2002). For kinesthetic learners, there are websites that get kids moving. Students can learn their alphabets and vocabulary using YouTube dance videos and work out videos such as GoNoodle for break time.

Support Students of Special Populations

Technology supports have evolved to assist our most sensitive populations such as special education students, ESL learners, and at-risk students. Special education students can use assistive technology to help them if they have sight, auditory, and physical disabilities ( Hasselbring & Glaser, 2000). Software platforms and robotic tools have given students the opportunity to explore content at the same pace and level of their general education peers. Special education students have access to digital tools to create new products, explore content at a deeper level, and can enrich their learning by providing feedback to teachers about their learning experiences.

English language learners are required to explore content in two languages in many dual language programs. Technology can help them explore cognates and understand the context of print in various languages using auditory devices.

Last but not least, technology can help at-risk students explore parts of the world they may not be able to travel to or experience based upon their economic means. They are able to take virtual field trips to make connections to content beyond their current opportunities within their communities. Educators must maximize the use of technology in the classroom to give all students the opportunity to equitably learn content.

Increase Social and Emotional Supports

Many students hold on to their anxieties, family problems, and insecurities with them in school and need ongoing social and emotional support to focus on academic content. Technology can be used to encourage play via content video games such as Coolmath, Funbrain, ABCmouse, etc. Students can have fun while learning content and mentally escape obstacles they may be facing outside of school.

Video software or applications can be used as an introduction to social circle conversations to help students and their peers solve issues they are currently facing. Students can also create media albums and recordings as they present topics that may be pressing or helpful to others. As educators consider nonpunitive ways to help students cope with behavior and personal problems creatively, using technology can help to fill the voids that students may experience in their personal lives.

Manage Classroom Operations

Now that teachers have access to many facets of technology, students can assist with the daily operations of the classroom to help teachers manage daily classroom tasks. QR codes can be used for students to record their daily attendance, take lunch, and report concerns or bullying. Media portfolios can be used to track student progress overtime.

Teachers can also have students track and monitor their daily and weekly data to take ownership of their learning. Using technology to manage classroom operations allows the teacher to focus more on academics than daily housekeeping tasks.

Conclusion

"Today's generation of students is growing up in the information age. Access to a variety of technology and the internet is not only accessible, but necessary" (Francis, 2017, p. 24). Overall, increasing student engagement using technology is beneficial to students and educators. Students' academic performance can improve and educators can be more productive.

Every child deserves to become highly engaged in technology as they prepare for the workforce. Our world is embodied with social media, digital processes, robotics, machines, and software apps to increase productivity and business management processes. Technology not only increases student engagement, but it also enhances students' opportunities to be successful and productive citizens.

Bond, M. & Bedenlier, S. (2019). Facilitating student engagement through educational technology: Towards a conceptual framework. Journal of Interactive Media in Education 11, 1-14. Doi: https://doi.org/10.5334/jime.528

Francis, J. (2017). The effects of technology on student motivation and engagement i classroom-based learning. University of New England.

Hasselbring, T. S. & Glaser, C. H. W. (2000). Use of computer technology to help students with special needs. Children and Computer Technology, 10(2), 102-122. Doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/1602691

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How Technology can Increase Student Engagement - TeachHUB

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Technology can increase student engagement at the elementary, middle, high school, and college levels when teachers intentionally provide students the opportunity to use tech tools in a blended learning environment. Lesson plans and PLCs must address how to successfully plan and implement technology to meet the needs of all students.

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ELA - Helping Students Find Their Voice in Your Classroom

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ELA - Helping Students Find Their Voice in Your Classroom

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This overviews some technologies educators can use to peak student interests in the ELA classroom. Educators can use these strategies and tools such as blogging, Storify, and podcasting in their classroom to both engage students and speak to their interests. These strategies also help students find their voice and become global citizens while engaging with digital media.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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ELA - Using Music and Technology to Engage Students

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ELA - Using Music and Technology to Engage Students

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This explains some ways that music, specifically in ELA, can be used to incorporate technology and analytical skills in the classroom. Educators are able to use the activities defined in the article to engage the interest of their students while also connecting digital media that they already engage with to classroom learning.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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ELA - Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom: A Guide for Educators

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ELA - Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom: A Guide for Educators

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Technology has done more to change school curriculum and practices than nearly anything else-and in such a short amount of time! While it can be hard to keep up with every trend in educational technology, the mindset you have when it comes to classroom tech matters just as much as which ones you use. By learning to view it as a means of enhancing your lessons and resources, you can provide your students with tools and opportunities they may not otherwise access.

So, why and how should you use technology in your classroom? Read on to discover the impact of technology in education and how to get the most from its unique benefits.

What Is the Proper Role of Technology in the Classroom?

If you struggle to use technology in your classroom, you're not alone. Many educators aren't motivated to use digital resources in class, often because they're unsure how to use them effectively or are unaware of the benefits.[1] In such cases, it's easy to question not only how to make technology useful, but also whether technology should be used in schools at all.

Even with the latest and best digital technology, classrooms will not benefit unless the students and faculty understand how to use it.[15] In fact, educational technology should never be viewed as a perfect resource to teach your students everything they need to know to succeed. Instead, view it as a tool that can inform and supplement lessons, and even then, only if teachers and administrators are well trained in its use.

While technology can be an excellent resource in a classroom, it's important to set limitations. Technology-no matter how good-should never be a substitute for face-to-face interaction with a teacher or classmates.[4] Technology is best used to augment non-digital lessons rather than the other way around. The goal when using technology should be to enhance your teaching rather than replace it.[6]

Benefits of Using Tech and Digital Media in Education

With the help of technology, you can introduce your classroom to opportunities and resources they may not otherwise be able to access.[5] In fact, this is one of the greatest ways technology has changed education. You may not be able to take your students to one of NASA's space centers to witness a rocket launch, for example, but you can teach them all about rockets using resources on NASA's website. Video clips, educational games, and virtual simulations are just a few examples of technology resources you can use to engage and educate in the classroom.

Plus, the vast majority of today's careers require at least some digital skills (which include anything from complex skills like coding to simpler ones like composing and sending emails). Using tech in class can prepare students to successfully enter the workforce after graduation.[4] Even though the technology is likely to change from their early school years to the time they start their first career, teaching digital literacy in elementary school is a great way to get students started.

Why else is understanding how to use technology in the classroom important? Using technology alongside non-digital lessons can have many academic and behavioral benefits for your students, including:[2,7,11,12]

Longer attention span

Increased intrinsic motivation to learn

Higher classroom participation and student engagement

Greater academic achievement

Stronger digital literacy

And finally, the benefits of classroom technology can expand far beyond the classroom and right into your students' homes.[4] Rather than handing out paper worksheets, you can send your students online lessons or activities to complete at their own convenience. This practice provides better flexibility, plus the opportunity for you to provide audio or video clips alongside homework assignments. Additionally, if you have under-resourced students in your classroom, you may be able to supplement the resources available to their families by providing take-home technology.

How to Get the Most from Technology in Schools

One of the major concerns parents and educators have with classroom technology is how to limit excessive screen time. The American Association of Pediatrics suggests the following screen time recommendations by age. Keep these guidelines in mind when you teach lessons that involve screen time in your classroom:[17]

2-5 years old: No more than one hour of high-quality digital activities or programming

6 or older: Consistent limits to prevent screen time getting in the way of sleep, physical activity, or other healthy behaviors

It's important to keep in mind that older students may have differing needs in comparison to the youngest students, where one hour of high-quality digital activities is always the limit. Regardless of your students' ages, set consistent limits to keep technology as effective as possible and limit distractions.

Whenever possible, prioritize active digital screen time over passive.[16] Active screen time, like playing an educational game or learning a new digital skill, engages a student's mind or body in a way that involves more than observation. Passive screen time-think watching a video or listening to an online lecture-involves limited interaction or engagement with the technology. Active digital activities are more likely to help your students experience new concepts, and they encourage your class to work together during the lesson.

Although teachers at under-resourced and rural schools are less likely to use technology, any tech you have available can greatly add to the opportunities you provide your students.[13, 18] Technology can remove some of the physical or financial barriers to educational resources and experiences.[17] If you're unable to go on a field trip, for example, you can access plenty of virtual field trips at no cost.[16] Use the technology you do have to supplement your lessons and provide students with information you may not otherwise be able to access.

And finally, use school technology to teach your students digital citizenship.[14] Broadly defined, digital citizenship is the safe, ethical, informed, and responsible use of technology.[16] It encompasses skills like internet safety, setting healthy screen time habits, and communicating with others online. Lessons that involve digital citizenship can help a student use technology responsibly well beyond their elementary school years.

6 Quick Tips for Using Technology in the Classroom

The benefits of technology in education can revolutionize your classroom, but only when used intentionally. All it takes is a little time and personal training to help you understand the ins and outs of useful classroom tech.

Keep these six strategies and ideas in mind to help you get the most out of your classroom technology:

Always use technology or learning programs yourself before trying it with your students so you can troubleshoot any issues in advance.[9]

Most of today's students are digital natives and have grown up around technology for their entire life. Listen to what your students know about technology and ask them for tip. They may just teach you something new![8]

Use digital resources (like apps, texts, or social media groups) to keep parents informed about class activities and upcoming assignments.[5]

Prioritize active digital activities, like online learning games or interactive lessons, over passive activities (like watching a video).

If you're an administrator, schedule a faculty training session on how to use your school's technology and answer any questions.[10]

Focus your technology-based lessons on teaching your students digital citizenship, or skills that will help them thoughtfully and effectively navigate digital media.[14]

Sources:

1. Groff, J., and Mouza, C. A Framework for Addressing Challenges to Classroom Technology Use. AACE Journal, January 2008, 16(1), pp. 21-46.

2. Levy, L.A. 7 Reasons Why Digital Literacy is Important for Teachers. Retrieved from usc.edu: https://www.rossieronline.usc.edu/blog/teacher-digital-literacy/.

3. Van Dusen, L.M., and Worthen, B.R. Can Integrated Instructional Technology Transform the Classroom? Educational Leadership, October 1995, 53(2), pp. 28-33.

4. Rosenberg, J. Technology in the classroom: Friend or Foe? Retrieved from huffpost.com: hhttps://www.huffpost.com/entry/technology-in-the-classro_2_b_2018558..

5. Venezky, R.L. Technology in the classroom: steps toward a new vision. Education, Communication & Information, 2004, 4(1), pp. 3-21.

6. Buckenmeyer, J.A. Beyond Computers In The Classroom: Factors Related To Technology Adoption To Enhance Teaching And Learning. Contemporary Issues in Education Research. April 2010, 3(4), pp. 27-36.

7. Bester, G., and Brand, L. The effect of technology on learner attention and achievement in the classroom. South African Journal of Education, 2013, 33(2), pp. 1-15.

8. Reissman, H. 7 smart ways to use technology in classrooms. Retrieved from ted.com: https://ideas.ted.com/7-smart-ways-to-use-technology-in-classrooms/.

9. Edutopia Staff. How to Integrate Technology. Retrieved from edutopia.org: https://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-guide-implementation.
Winters-Robinson, E.How Tech Can Engage Students, Simplify the School Day and Save Time for Teachers. Retrieved from edsurge.com: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-10-15-how-tech-can-engage-students-simplify-the-school-day-and-save-time-for-teachers.

10. Couse, L.J., and Chen, D.W. A Tablet Computer for Young Children? Exploring its Viability for Early Childhood Education. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 2010, 43(1), pp. 75-96.

11. Filer, D. Everyone's Answering: Using Technology to Increase Classroom Participation. Nursing Education Perspectives, 2010, 31(4), pp. 247-250.

12. Friedman, S. How Teachers Use Technology in the Classroom. Retrieved from thejournal.com: https://thejournal.com/articles/2019/04/15/how-teachers-use-technology-in-the-classroom.aspx.

13. Mace, N. 8 Strategies to Manage the 21st Century Classroom. Retrieved from education.cu-portland.edu: https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/using-classroom-technology/.

14. Keswani, B., Patni, P., and Banerjee, D. Role Of Technology In Education: A 21st Century Approach. Journal of Commerce and Instructional Technology, 2008, 8, pp.54-59.

15. The Office of Educational Technology. Reimagining the Role of Technology in Education: 2017 National Education Technology Plan Update. Retrieved from tech.ed.gov: tech.ed.gov/files/2017/01/NETP17.pdf.

16. Courville, K. Technology and its use in Education: Present Roles and Future Prospects. 2011 Recovery School District Technology Summit, 2011, pp. 1-19.

17. Klopfer, E., Osterweil, S., Groff, J., and Haas, J. Using the technology of today, in the classroom today: the instructional power of digital games, social networking, simulations, and how teachers can leverage them. The Education Arcade, 2009, pp. 1-20.

18. American Academy of Pediatrics. American Academy of Pediatrics Announces New Recommendations for Children's Media Use. Retrieved from aap.org: https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/American-Academy-of-Pediatrics-Announces-New-Recommendations-for-Childrens-Media-Use.aspx.

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Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom: A Guide for Educators - Waterford.org

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Technology has done more to change school curriculum and practices than nearly anything else-and in such a short amount of time! While it can be hard to keep up with every trend in educational technology, the mindset you have when it comes to classroom tech matters just as much as which ones you use.

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Educators can use this novel to connect with students and their reality of living in a technologically-reliant world. They will be able to question power structures as well as the positive and negative use of technology in the novel.

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Read 113k reviews from the world's largest community for readers. A masterpiece of rebellion and imprisonment where war is peace freedom is slavery and Big...

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ELA - Teaching Students to Identify Bias and Misinformation in Digital Texts

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ELA - Teaching Students to Identify Bias and Misinformation in Digital Texts

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This addresses teaching students how to identify bias and misinformation in digital texts which they will encounter frequently as they enter the digital world.

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How can you teach students to identify bias and misinformation in digital texts?

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Learn how to foster digital literacy and critical reading skills in your classroom by teaching students to identify and evaluate bias and misinformation in digital texts.

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How Technology effects Social Interaction of Teacher and Students in PE

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How Technology effects Social Interaction of Teacher and Students in PE

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-How digital technology can be used to enhance further learnering for teachers and students.

social interaction

personal feedback

maximize time in lessons

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Recently we have seen a dramatic increase in the amount of digital technologies available to use within educational environments, though there is debate around whether they are being used effectively (Casey et al., 2017); (Fullan , 2013). Whilst capitalising on the significance of digital technologies and their ability to engage learners, it is important to consider both the strengths and potential pitfalls of using these tools within the environment of primary PE.

There is an increasing body of knowledge surrounding the role social interaction plays in physical education (Acquaviva et al., 2013). Literature has highlighted the importance of social interaction within primary PE in particular (Cremin and Burnett , 2018), and the negative impact that an ever-growing focus on digital technology may have on students' development (Casey , 2011). It is, therefore, important that digital technology does not take away from the social element of learning; instead, it should be used to enhance interactions to develop learning further.

Digital technology can provide opportunities for social interaction (e.g. using slow motion video to allow a performer to identify errors in their technique through conversation with a teacher or peer observer) (Fabian and Maclean , 2014). Using technology in this way also allows for more effective personalised feedback for students, alongside maximising time for physical activity within lessons. The practical nature of PE reduces opportunities for reflective tasks due to a lack of tangible evidence of work. Video can therefore be used to record student work and capture assessment evidence in PE lessons (Lee et al., 2001). For example, using video to capture a before and after of the performance of a skill can allow students to identify how they have used feedback in order to develop.

However, whilst there are a range of benefits to using digital technologies within PE, few schools use ICT routinely within lessons (Casey, 2011); (Rosenthal and Eliason , 2015). There are various reasons for this, including barriers associated with teachers' understanding of the technologies available and how they can be integrated within existing practice.

Barriers to the use of technology in practice

There is little time allocated to ICT training within primary initial teacher education (ITE) (Juniu , 2011), which can leave teachers with a limited understanding of how best to integrate technology into their teaching. This can often mean that when digital technology is included in teaching, it is in isolation (e.g. a game on an iPad) or as an add-on to existing teaching practice (taking pictures of students' work to display or post on social media). Similarly, a limited availability of continued professional development (CPD) in this field (Casey et al., 2017) can leave many teachers lacking in support.

The use of digital technology potentially raises a host of logistical issues, such as the time taken to set up applications. Internet connectivity can also cause problems with speed and access to resources (Fabian and MacLean, 2014); (Franklin and Smith, 2015). The security of student data (Fabian and MacLean, 2014), including images of students, alongside new GDPR (general data protection regulation) guidelines, may also discourage teachers. These hurdles may make using devices to record students' performances in PE more challenging, even for those who are committed to integrating ICT into their current practice.

The overarching argument against using technology within PE lessons is the potential for reducing the amount of time that students are physically active (Casey, 2011); (Weir and Connor , 2009). Casey et al. warn of the potential for ICT to reduce PE teaching to a surveillance of activity levels and performative measures if used incorrectly (Casey et al., 2017). Teachers may be encouraged to only deliver content that can be easily compared to technical models and which can be easily quantified in terms of success, meaning that activities such as rock climbing or cycling may be avoided due to greater difficulty in using video technology to record progress.

To complement learning instead of detract from it, teachers can integrate simple technologies into their existing practice and experiment with different teaching approaches. Tasking students with using apps such as Coach's Eye (a video analysis app) or Dartfish EasyTag (a tool that enables teachers and students to create their own video highlights during a game or performance) will give insight into how students are able to use these to develop their own learning. Both can be used to give feedback on individual and team performances and are a valuable way to include students who are not able to participate due to injury, as well as to develop evaluation and analysis skills within a lesson.

If the aim is for digital technology to improve outcomes across the curriculum (Livingstone , 2012), it would appear that interactive devices offer the potential to facilitate this, allowing for quality assessment to happen 'in the moment' (Franklin and Smith, 2015). It is important that subject experts begin to investigate how technology can be used appropriately to support learning within the context of PE, whilst also maximising physical activity in lessons.

References

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The use of digital technology in primary physical education

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Recently we have seen a dramatic increase in the amount of digital technologies available to use within educational environments, though there is debate around whether they are being used effectively (Casey et al., 2017); (Fullan , 2013). Whilst capitalising on the significance of digital technologies and their ability to engage learners, it is important to [...]

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How Digital Literacy Connects Children Across Cultures

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How Digital Literacy Connects Children Across Cultures

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Digital literacy for children - 10 things to know

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Digital literacy goes beyond technical know-how. It refers to the knowledge, skills and attitudes that allow children to be both safe and empowered in an increasingly digital world. This encompasses their play, participation, socializing, searching and learning through digital technologies. What constitutes digital literacy will vary according to children's age, local culture and context.

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P.E. - Using Technology to Connect Cultures in the Classroom

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P.E. - Using Technology to Connect Cultures in the Classroom

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P.E. - Integrating Technology in Physical Education

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P.E. - Integrating Technology in Physical Education

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Integrating Technology In The Classroom For Physical Education

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In this article, we will explore the different ways physical education teachers can go about integrating technology in the classroom.

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digital media in education videos - Yahoo Video Search Results

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The search engine that helps you find exactly what you're looking for. Find the most relevant information, video, images, and answers from all across the Web.

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P.E. - How Digital/Social Media can be used to Connect Teachers and Students 

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P.E. - How Digital/Social Media can be used to Connect Teachers and Students 

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-Empowering effects

-Implementation in schools

-How can teachers penetrate the online world

-Stronger community through social media

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by Lori Wade

There's no denying that, ever since social networks and social media made way into our lives, everything is different. Beginning with the way we socialize, interact, plan for parties or even how often we go out. We won't go into a debate regarding the ethical aspects of the way Social Media is influencing our lives. Instead, this article proposes to focus on the numerous ways in which social media is changing the way the education system works. So, stay tuned to find out what effects does social networking have on the way our children are educated both at school and outside of it.

Empowering Effects
Starting from elementary school up until university graduation, social media has the role to empower parents, students and teachers to use new ways of sharing information and build a community. Statistics show that 96% of the students that have internet access are using at least one social network. What's even more extraordinary is that, even though some of the students use the social networks for entertaining and other purposes, there are a lot of them that actually use it to promote a lot of positive and useful activities. From finding a summer internship, promoting a success story about how to win the student-loan battle or collaborate on international projects, everything is made possible.

Implementation in Schools?
When it comes to social media, schools tend to adopt different positions. It's a general consensus that they're useful when it comes to sharing information or organizing the school tasks. And at the same time, the social networking is blamed for the lack of attention in students during classes.

But an increasing trend of adopting social media in school is starting to show. And since students already devote a lot of time for social media and connecting with others outside school hours, why not do it during school as well?

It's a matter of practicability, really, because it makes perfect sense to use the online universe to communicate with your students since they're already there most of the time. There's no need for another case study about the usage of social media in schools. You simply need to walk through the hallways of any school or colleague to see kids of all ages totally immersed in their smartphones. Browsing their news feed, sharing photos on Instagram of sending Snapchat messages has become a part of their daily routine.

How Can Teachers Penetrate the Online World?
Moodle and Blackboard are just two examples of learning management system that involves online learning for more than 10 years now. Slowly but steady, such systems will lead to the actual implementation of social media within classrooms. And the best tool available for teachers is social media itself. Only by being open-minded and using the technology themselves will they be able to really reach out to students.

" The best teachers I've ever had have used technology to enhance the learning process, including Facebook pages and events for upcoming projects" - Katie Benmar, Freshman

As the above statement emphasizes, students also react very positively when a teacher is willing to use their methods and adapt them as part of the educational process. And it makes perfect sense since a homework has a certain strictness about it, but an online chat discussing a certain book gives students the ability to open up and share their opinions.

Daring Teachers
Of course, the examples of teachers already implementing social media in classes are far numerous that we can know of, however, there are a few that did such a great job that their students almost made them viral. For example, a biology teacher from Bergen County proposed a challenge to his students. They had to debate over the subject of meiosis on Twitter by using a specific hashtag. This is a great opportunity for students to have fun and learn at the same time. As you need to know your meiosis in order to compress it into 140 characters.

" We live in a digital ecosystem, and it is vital that educational institutions adapt "

Carla Dawson - Digital Marketing Professor at the Catholic University of Cordoba

Professor Dawson really has a valid point there as history showed us all that, no matter how strong the resistance, technological progress and new trends will eventually become a standard. Of course, this applies to developed countries that already have a well-structured traditional educational system. It's a totally different situation when it comes to developing countries that are still struggling to find their way.

A Stronger Community Through Social Media
The benefits of social media in the education process doesn't have to stop at the teacher-student relationship. There are a lot of other benefits that can be extracted from the use of social networking at higher levels as well. For example, principals or administrators can find a new way to integrate social media. Like sharing school news via social networks, holding online meeting with the parents or even starting fundraising for different projects.

And social media can quickly become the only channel of communication since we're living fast-paced lives, parents are usually busy with work and cannot attend school meetings. But this doesn't mean they shouldn't be in touch with events or be able to check on their kids every once in awhile. Just like in every other field, communication is vital and if it can be done easily with the help of social media, why not go for it?

It may not be criteria just yet, but soon enough questions like 'Does this school have a Facebook page?' could become just as important as the things that parents are asking right now. Like, how well equipped the library is or what are the optional classes their child can be part of.

Conclusions
The bottom line is that social media is a big part of our day to day life and there's no point of keeping it away from the education process. School, college and university staff should be encouraged to make use of technology for student and parent communication. This could easily turn into an argumentative essay topic for college. But the benefits are obvious, starting with healthier parent-teacher relationships and all the way to permanently changing the way our children will learn.
Lori Wade is a content writer who is interested in a wide range of spheres from education and online marketing to entrepreneurship. She is also an aspiring tutor striving to bring education to another level like we all do. If you are interested in writing, you can find her on Twitter or Google+ or find her on other social media. Read and take over Lori's useful insights!

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How Social Media is Reshaping Today's Education System - Center for Social Impact Communication

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by Lori Wade There's no denying that, ever since social networks and social media made way into our lives, everything is different. Beginning with the way we socialize, interact, plan for parties or even how often we go out. We won't go into a debate regarding the ethical aspects of the way Social Media is influencing our lives.

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P.E. - How Technology is Beneficial in Physical Education

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P.E. - How Technology is Beneficial in Physical Education

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-Phone applications

-Online Videos

-Virtual Classes

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For most students, working out or being physically active is a chore.

This is one good reason why PE teachers are turning to a plethora of electronic devices to energize their students and motivate them. They are getting more creative and innovative as their students have changed.

Incorporating technology into physical education classes produces an individually oriented experience for students who feel reluctant about the subject. Additionally, it also has the potential to reduce stress on the students' bodies, improves their confidence, and makes them more efficient and prepared for their classes. It enhances their strategies and skills as well.

Technology makes it possible to incorporate other studies, like geography or math, into physical education to produce optimal challenges for the students. With technology, particularly mobile technology, physical educators now have a wide range of tools they can use to examine and improve their students' physical skills. The list includes wearable tech, physical education apps, gaming systems, virtual classes, and monitors and trackers.

Phone applications in physical education

Almost everyone has a smartphone, and PE teachers can use such devices to their advantage in encouraging their students to work out and exercise. Although they won't probably like their students to be constantly glued to their mobile phones throughout their classes, when educational benefits are obvious the use of mobile phones and phone apps should be encouraged.

There are a lot of phone apps available these days designed to track movements and offer nutritional guides. Students can access important information regarding their fitness and diet with just a few clicks. And the best part is that most of those apps are free. While there are apps that require some form of payments or monthly fees, the cost can be worth the health benefits associated to well-informed workout and diet programs.

Online videos

With faster and more reliable internet, streaming videos is more accessible than ever before. PE teachers can take advantage of this technology to encourage their students to enhance their skills by checking out online videos and demonstrations. With the depths of information available online, PE instructors won't have a hard time searching for videos that can fit every student's needs.

Teachers, however, need to be careful in choosing videos. They need to make sure that the videos are age appropriate to the class and grade they are teaching.

Additionally, to encourage better learning, teachers can also encourage their students to create their own instructional videos of any workout they are passionate about doing. This is more engaging than having students sit and watch videos that are already on the internet.

Virtual classes

Physical education isn't just about being "physically active." It's still a learning process, so students are expected to engage in discussion with their teachers about their learnings, challenges, and other necessary information for them to reach a deeper level of understanding.

Virtual classes allow students to express their opinions and views about their activities. They are also valuable in developing students' writing and communication skills. They enable students to blend into media and enhance their creative thinking.

There are a lot of video chat programs that can hold virtual classes. There are many video conferencing software platforms to choose from.

Gaming systems

Video games can change the way students think and feel about being physically active and competitive. They appeal to their love of video games and spark their interest in their application to physical education. They even make a great solution to keeping kids active in bad weather.

With gaming systems applied to gym classes , students can take an activity associated with inactivity and turn it into something productivity. They keep students immersed and engaged which can be continued at home.

Monitors and trackers

Since not all students have the same physical capabilities, it's essential for teachers to be aware of what their students can and can't do. It is important to adapt a program to a particular student's body, thus heart rate monitors have become critical for assessing students' physical stamina and in setting realistic and reasonable goals for them.

Creating goals that are suited for an individual student will make it easier for them to feel motivated, and encouraged to stay active and committed to their fitness routines.

Apart from heart-rate monitors, pedometers have also become an indispensable tool in physical education. They are excellent and reliable when it comes to tracking steps.

They can keep track of how active a student is even when they're not engaged in a workout or exercise. Apart from that, pedometers work even when used in running errands and doing chores at home.

And if a student's step count is low, a pedometer can remind that student to keep walking and going. It makes students more aware of their progress and to stick to their goals.

Smartwatches

Smartwatches make a great alternative to the traditional pedometer as a step counter. They may be more expensive, but they offer more functions.

For example, some smartwatches can let students access their favorite music and listen to it while working out. Other models have apps that can remind students to take any medication they are on, track their sleeping hours, or log their moods. Some smartwatches can log students' running distance as well as their speed.

One problem with smartwatches is that they tend to be expensive. And the more features they have, the higher their price gets. In essence, this simply means that although smartwatches are handy in physical education classes, they may not fit every student and instructors need to be aware of that.

Conclusion

Technology, in general, has positively reshaped physical education classes. With apps, online videos, monitors, and trackers, physical education teachers are able to create customized and reasonable goals for their students. In the process, students felt more engaged and committed to being physically active which is essential in developing healthy habits.
Incorporating technology into schools shouldn't stop at physical education classes. Discover the top education technology trends more schools should be thinking about.

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How Technology Changes Physical Education Classes

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Gym glass has changed drastically in recent years. Learn how new technology is being used in physical education.

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This is an overview of Kahoot in regards to how it can be used to connect people at work and school.

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P.E. - Tips to Introduce Technology in Physical Education

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P.E. - Tips to Introduce Technology in Physical Education

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5 Tips To Technology Use In Physical Education

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Sean Fullerton explores 5 research-based strategies for technology use in physical education. Check it out!

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Digital media has evolved in how we used to be able to consume information. The internet has become a place where most of the time you are being sold something. It is important to have this in mind when reading new information.

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Introduction to Digital Literacy | Digital Literacy 101

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P.E.- Re-inventing Digital Media in Education 

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P.E.- Re-inventing Digital Media in Education 

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digital media in education ted talk - Yahoo Video Search Results

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The search engine that helps you find exactly what you're looking for. Find the most relevant information, video, images, and answers from all across the Web.

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History: Digital Literacy & Misinformation

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History: Digital Literacy & Misinformation

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Digital Literacy is not just about understanding the information you are consuming, but also distinguishing credible sources. This article discusses being conscious of online misinformation and how it can spread.

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Just because you can spot falsehoods doesn't mean you won't share them

By Nathaniel Sirlin & David Rand

There has been tremendous concern recently over misinformation on social media. It was a pervasive topic during the 2020 U.S. presidential election, continues to be an issue during the COVID-19 pandemic and plays an important part in Russian propaganda efforts in the war on Ukraine. This concern is plenty justified, as the consequences of believing false information are arguably shaping the future of nations and greatly affecting our individual and collective health.

One popular theory about why some people fall for misinformation they encounter online is that they lack digital literacy skills, a nebulous term that describes how a person navigates digital spaces. Someone lacking digital literacy skills, the thinking goes, may be more susceptible to believing-and sharing-false information. As a result, less digitally literate people may play a significant role in the spread of misinformation.

This argument makes intuitive sense. Yet very little research has actually investigated the link between digital literacy and susceptibility to believe false information. There's even less understanding of the potential link between digital literacy and what people share on social media. As researchers who study the psychology of online misinformation, we wanted to explore these potential associations.

To begin, we needed to establish clarity on what "digital literacy" means in this context. The term is used in many different ways, and the first step to studying it rigorously was to define it. We landed on two definitions: Digital literacy is the possession of basic digital skills required to effectively find information online, such as using the Internet to answer questions like "What is the capital city of Malawi?" or "What is the only U.S. National Park that begins with the letter T?" The other is focused specifically on social media, asking whether people understand how platforms decide what to show in the newsfeed.

With these measures in hand, we surveyed 1,341 Americans who matched the national distribution on age, gender, ethnicity and geographic region; in this way, they were representative of the U.S. population. We first showed them two dozen news headlines about politics or COVID-half of which were accurate, and half of which had been shown to be false by professional fact-checking Web sites. Then we measured their digital literacy by having them report their familiarity with various Internet-related terms and answer a question about how Facebook decides what to show in their newsfeeds. We examined the association between these digital literacy measures and two different outcomes: belief in, and willingness to share, accurate versus false news about these topics.

Our study found that digital literacy is indeed a good predictor of one's ability to discern accurate information from falsehoods. Both of our digital literacy measures were independently predictive of the tendency of study participants to rate factual news as more accurate than false news. The result was the same, regardless of the subjects' political affiliation and regardless of whether the news headlines were about politics or COVID.

When we looked at the connection between digital literacy and the willingness to share false information with others through social media, however, the results were different. People who were more digitally literate were just as likely to say they'd share false articles as people who lacked digital literacy. Like the first finding, the (lack of) connection between digital literacy and sharing false news was not affected by political party affiliation or whether the topic was politics or the pandemic.

Most surprisingly, even people with high digital literacy were not immune from clicking "share" for false news. This sounds odd. If you are digitally literate and can better tell the difference between true and false news, why wouldn't you be less likely to share falsehoods? A potential answer comes from prior work of ours on why people share misinformation. We found that although most people don't want to spread misinformation, social media is distracting: people are scrolling quickly, and their attention is drawn to social validation and other feedback, such as how many likes their posts will get. This means we often forget to even ask ourselves if a story is true or false when considering, however quickly, whether to share it.

Our latest study adds to these prior findings by suggesting that believing and sharing are not one and the same. Just because a piece of false information parading as "news" has been shared millions of times doesn't necessarily mean that millions of people believed it to be true; it could just be that the sharers never considered whether the news was true or not. And just because someone is better at distinguishing fact from falsehood if they stop to think about it does not necessarily mean that they will share more accurate information.

The bottom line is that, surprisingly, digital literacy may not be a key factor for predicting who spreads misinformation on social media. No one is immune from the potential to spread misinformation -so be sure to stop and ask yourself whether the news you see is accurate before you click "share."

This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

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Digital Literacy Doesn't Stop the Spread of Misinformation

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Just because you can spot falsehoods doesn't mean you won't share them

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This online source provides lessons and resources to guide students to think critically about the history they are learning.

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History: How to find Historical Resources online

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History: How to find Historical Resources online

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Resource on how to get started in finding historical articles, primary or secondary sources.

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Critical thinking and good research skills are fundamental curatorial skills.

Our CRC Guide on how to do research online will be useful to anyone wanting to methodically pursue a research topic but has limited or no access to physical libraries and collections. However, the research methodology applies whether you are researching digitally or directly with documents, books and media, or both. Whether you are a curator, librarian, archivist, scientist, genealogist, do family history, house history, oral history, local history, exhibition research, or want to decolonise, these resources will help you make a start. They are compiled primarily from a UK-based perspective but the resources each have international relevance. The research style is historical enquiry, rather than contemporary social research, say, on attitudes and opinions.

What you will need to get started:

Laptop or computer with an up to date web browser such as Safari (Macs), Chrome or Firefox

Experience of web searches

Experience of taking screenshots

Experience of bookmarking or converting web pages into PDFs

Somewhere to keep notes

Somewhere to keep files, including screenshots and images.

Part 1: Research methodology

Curatorial Research Centre's research method for online historical enquiry.

1. Starting points

These are the who, what, when, where, how of your research topic and are important for framing your research. A simple research question starting with these words can do wonders for keeping you on track, e.g. What was William Colenso's role in taking Cornish and British plant specimens to New Zealand, and vice versa?

My starting points are about looking for connections between people and places.

2. Make a list of keywords

Use paper and pen, a note app on your phone or computer, whatever you are comfortable with. Make a list of names of people, places - including different spellings or old names or names in relevant languages, dates - especially the life dates of a person to make sure you have found the right person, things and types of object or material and events. These will form the basis of your search terms. Keep refining as you go along:

William Colenso, printer, publisher, missionary, plant collector, botany, Penzance

1811-1899

Penzance Dole

Waitangi Treaty, NZ; Māori Bible

PZ Natural History and Antiquarian Society

Plants

Morrab Gardens, NZ specimens e.g. Pohutukawa

Ask yourself, "Where did they get that information from?"

3. Follow the trail

By now you will have a few references and links from your starting points. Academic-style articles usually have footnotes or endnotes that you can follow, ask yourself, "Where did they get that information from?" What articles, books and websites are included in the bibliography? Follow links from websites (always keep a record, see below), look for citations especially from directly and indirectly quoted material, have a look at book indexes too for new keywords you can use. Your classic place to follow a trail of references, links and citations is Wikipedia. Does the article use decent sources of accurate information? Don't go too far down this trail before stopping to collect and document.

4. Filter and refine

By now you will have probably started with a simple web search and been able to corroborate your initial starting points. Have you got the right person? Have you checked the dates? Are you in the right place? This is especially important when conducting comparative research across countries and regions. At the filter stage, begin refining your keywords, make a new list to pursue next, or use a 'parking space' in your note of keywords and ideas to research at a later date.

5. Save and collect

Researching online can get messy with many open tabs in your web browser, perhaps a desktop full of screenshots. Time to save and organise the most relevant information you'd like to return to when it comes to compiling your research into a blog post, article, application or whatever. Web pages, including pages of search results can be bookmarked via your browser. In your bookmark manager, usually found in the menu of your web browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox etc) you will have the ability to create a new folder. Create a new folder and name is something related to your topic, then save each page to that bookmark folder. For images you want to download, keep a note of their source (web address or URL) and if possible the photographer or creator of the image for later crediting and captioning.

Screenshots can be treated like you would cuttings in a scrapbook, rename the files to something meaningful, save them in a folder on your computer, Dropbox, OneDrive, GoogleDrive or wherever is convenient to you. You can also treat the screenshots as images and import them into your Photos or Camera Roll app if you have them. I then create an album related to my research so I can easily browse them. Some web browsers like Safari enable you to export an entire web page as a PDF which you can later save as a document. In all and any of these cases keep a record of the web address or URL and the date you accessed them.

6. Document and annotate

The best place to annotate the sources you have downloaded, clipped and shot is on those files themselves. Many online digital books and articles will already contain their citations on the documents themselves so in this case just keep a note of the date you have accessed them for your own references. Where relevant, include specific page numbers e.g. in PDF articles or books. For short runs of text you wish to excerpt or for transcriptions of, for example, newspaper articles, keep a note of the date of the article or excerpt, author and its publication, like newspaper name, book name. Copy and pasting works well from online PDFs that have undergone OCR but this is easiest from text on web pages. Warning: It is very easy to forget where you got a particular excerpt from so do not neglect recording the source before you move on.

Part 2: Search and discovery

7. Effective web searching

A web search will most likely be your where you will start your online historical research. Using your list of keywords (stage 2 above) you will most likely use Google.com as your search engine. Google searches are governed by all sorts of algorithms that can privilege certain web pages over others in the search results, and not necessarily based on those most relevant to your research. Be patient with your search results and look beyond the first three or four results. Alternative search engines are DuckDuckGo.com who operate a privacy-first policy that won't track you across the websites you end up visiting. Others are Bing.com and Yahoo.com. There are other alternative search engines you could try too. Try a combination of 2-4 keywords. If you are searching for a person's name try adding a keyword related to place, e.g. William Colenso Penzance or a keyword related to a theme or topic, e.g. William Colenso plants.

Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia, not a place where original research is published, but rather synthesises existing research published elsewhere.

8. Identify search results

Individual search results may take you directly to other repositories of information such as a Wikipedia article or a published article in an online library such as JSTOR or articles from specialist organisations and local history groups. To keep track, open up each search result in a new tab of your web browser and then make notes, bookmark, screenshot, export as you need. You are looking for well-referenced material, unless you are collecting opinions and ideas from specific people and organisations. Identifying digitised books, journal articles, blog posts written by knowledgeable people (which will or should contain references of some sort) will all help you on your way to following the trail. Remember: Wikipedia articles can be a great springboard. Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia, not a place where original research is published, but rather synthesises existing research published elsewhere, so bear this in mind when citing Wikipedia articles in your published research. Follow references and citations and see if you can get to the original source of that fact.

9. Navigating tl;dr

If you struggle to read an entire web page or online article because of its length and you are just curious about finding mention of your keywords, try the 'search and find' function on your computer. On a Mac this will be cmd-F and on a Windows PC this will be ctrl-F. Where a text has not been digitised with underlying OCR, try and locate the index. Historical journals will usually index contents of a run of journals covering several years.

Digitised by Google, found via the Internet Archive, a book about Penzance published in 1845.

10. Digital libraries, books and catalogues

The single best digital library on the web is the Internet Archive which also incorporates the Wayback Machine, an archive of defunct websites going back to the 1990s. You can access millions of digitised books, journals, magazines, videos, sound files, radio transcripts, documents and collections. It is definitely worth using the Internet Archive as your next base after general web searches, and if you see an archive.org search result, follow the trail. It is particularly useful for locating antiquarian journals and books now long out of print. A similar digital library of books in particular is the Hathi Trust. Google search results will also include digitised books relevant to your search. Although Google no longer engages in digitising books, there are millions that are still available and you could head straight to Google Books search to find out.

Many national libraries now have comprehensive catalogues of their holdings, and some of them digitised and directly accessible. To find UK-based holdings head to the catalogues of the British Library, National Library of Scotland and National Library of Wales. The Linen Hall Library maintains a catalogue of book holdings related to Northern Ireland. National Library of New Zealand, Library of Congress and National Library of Australia all provide free access to extensive holdings of digitised books, images and documents. The national libraries of other nations are also worth finding, depending on the topic you are researching. Remember, not everything to do with a region or area in the UK is necessarily held in UK collections, and vice versa. For a quick search of holdings across the UK's academic and special collections libraries (many run by universities) head to Jisc's Library Hub Discover, formerly known as Copac.

Note: Access to specific institutional and publishers' repositories of any kind usually require a college, school or university login for free access, however you can still search the holdings and there are paid options. You should also check your local county or regional public library service to see what digital reference resources you can access via those.

Excerpt from the British Newspaper Archive, later marked up to help remember references. The filename contains the name of the newspaper, date and page number where shown (credit: British Newspaper Archive).

11. Archives, manuscript and newspapers

National library catalogues will usually also search across archive and documentary (unpublished) material too, however most regionally-related archives and manuscripts will be found in county-specific or special collections-specific repositories. For example in Cornwall, the combined Cornish studies library and archives are held at Kresen Kernow. Public archives and records are usually under the auspices of the local authority so it's worth starting there to see what catalogues and digitised material are available. For UK-based official records you will need to consult The National Archives where you will also be able to search across much of England's other archives through Discovery (but the listings are not comprehensive so always follow up with a direct search at the relevant record office or archive service).

A huge body of British newspapers have been digitised and made searchable by content by the British Newspaper Archive. The archive is a phenomenal resource for primary source material on all manner of topics covered by regional and national newspapers. You can search for free but to download sheets you need a subscription. It is comparatively reasonable for around £80 per year. The Times (UK) maintains its own archive for which you need a separate subscription to the paper.

12. People, family and address research

Family history and genealogical research resources have exploded online over the last 20 years, with everything from birth, marriage death data, embarkation data (useful for any migration research), armed forces, participation in wars and campaigns. As a consequence of resources run commercially such as Ancestry.co.uk and FindMyPast.co.uk effective web searches will identify specific records from the website, such as a record of a baptism or marriage. However for research prior to 1911 (shortly it will be 1921) try searching the UK census which can help identify people at specific addresses, and also occupations and relationships. The National Archives links to publicly accessible census data from England, Wales, Channel Islands and Isle of Man from 1841. National Records of Scotland provide links to historical Scottish census data freely available also from 1841.

Researching an artist, painting or similar? There are many art and artist's databases on the web based on schools, styles, countries, institutions and regions (credit: Curatorial Research Centre).

13. Picture research

Art or object-led research may require you to get interested in picture, sound and video research alongside your documentary word-based research. All major search engines now include image and video results, either naturally in your search results, or by selecting a tab that homes in on images, e.g. Google image search. Repositories for historical and historically-relevant imagery include Flickr.com which includes Flickr Commons, a searchable catalogue of photographs and imagery from public archives that are no longer in copyright and are freely given by custodian institutions such as the British Library or Library of Congress. Wikimedia Commons is another similar source. Search engines like Google include tools to help you filter out images according to their usage rights, which can be very helpful if you are looking for free to use imagery that just requires attribution. Individual institutional repositories for imagery, including paintings and photographs are worth heading to directly, such as ArtUK for art in UK public collections, National Portrait Gallery for portraits and images of people.

Look for specialist art and artists databases online, such as those based on schools, styles or regions, for example the Cornwall Artists Index. Some apps and image search engines enable searching by using an image, and like artefact research below, this could be, and will be, a useful tool when trying to find comparisons or confirm an identification.

14. Finding film, sound and music

For film and video footage head to YouTube or Vimeo. Libraries of film and video use these platforms to publicise their collections and provide clips or even whole videos, such as Pathé, BFI, defiant TV stations such as Thames TV. As film is generally more tightly controlled by owners of those items than images, it's a good idea to get hold of them before contemplating any public use, but for your own research or teaching, please continue. For sound libraries, Soundcloud may have something for you, although it tends to be used by individuals sharing their own recordings of music and podcasts. However some oral history projects have used Soundcloud to provide access to recordings so worth a browse. The British Library Sounds Collection is an incredible resource to find historical recordings of language and accents, performances, music, nature and oral histories. Duke University maintains a list of repositories for research databases aimed at music research. Search for online film and sound collections in the region you are interested in too, e.g. cornishmemory.com contains over 36,000 photographs, sound clips and films related to Cornwall.

15. Historical maps, buildings and sites

Historical maps in the UK are dominated by the Ordnance Survey who tightly control access to modern-day and historical, now out of copyright, maps. However thanks to the National Library of Scotland, most of the 19th and early 20th century UK's OS maps at 6″ and 25″ scales are available to search, as well as many others by other map-makers of the 17th to 20th centuries. Old Maps is also worth conducting a geographic search, particularly if you need to identify a specific building, field, river or street as its interface is more user-friendly than NLS's. However you can't download for free. If you are interesting in historic features such as listed buildings, scheduled monuments and sites in the landscape, try a search on Heritage Gateway (England), Archwilio (Wales) and Historic Environment Scotland and Northern Ireland Buildings Database.

16. Regional and political research

If your research has a large geographical focus and is based in the UK, try British History Online as a place to find historical editions of books such as some Victoria County Histories, maps, guides, calendars and other sources going back to the Middle Ages. These are normally publications which have or have had some connection with Government or Parliament and can provide a useful way into topics around local governance, colonialism, monarchy, constitution and specific political events. This digital library is based at the Institute of Historical Research, London, UK. Hansard is the official source of Parliamentary debates in the UK going back 200 years and cover debates in both the House of Commons and House of Lords. Historic Hansard 1803-2005 lets you search and browse chronologically. The History of Parliament Online might also help you research constituency history and MPs going back to the 14th century.

A more left-field idea that we have found useful in historical artefact and ephemera research is eBay.

17. Museum collections and artefacts

Museum objects, specimens and collections may not be the first thing that springs to mind when undertaking historical research, but if one of your starting points is a type of object or material, online museum collections can help identify and better understand the people and industries behind them. For art, we have already met ArtUK in no. 14 above. Large museums and cultural organisations such as the British Museum and the National Trust provide extensive object records via their websites. Other large and national museums have done the same so head to their websites to see what collections information they readily provide access to. Some have also contributed to Flickr Commons and this link goes to the list of institutions who have taken part. A superb source of knowledge for archaeological artefacts is Finds.org.uk, a database of items reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme in the UK.

An aggregator of online museum collections across Europe is Europeana. The UK used to have its own version called Culture Grid, maintained by Collections Trust. However it has been neglected for about a decade, and Collections Trust has recently announced its retirement, which is a shame as it is the only means we have of searching across several hundred UK-based public collections and was largely built from the efforts of mass digitisation projects in the early 2000s. Well worth using it now before it goes, although be aware of its limitations in terms of search.

Researching silver hallmarks to identify makers, place of creation and year (credit: Curatorial Research Centre).

A more left-field idea that we have found useful in historical artefact and ephemera research is eBay. Ebay has been around since the early days of the web and there is a veritable repository of past sales and listings. Use an eBay search and filter with 'completed listings'. Also look out in your web search results for historical auction sales information via auction house websites. Many of these are restricted to subscriptions but some information about sales of art and artefacts is usually available, sometimes with useful photography.

In addition to databases of online sales or collections and aggregators of collections, there is significant reference information online that can help with the identification of materials, techniques and dating, such as for UK hallmarks on silver and gold. Makers marks for studio pottery might be found on the British & Irish Studio Pottery Marks website. For natural specimens such as geological minerals, try mindat.org. For any specialist type of material or object include the word 'database' to see if anything comes up relevant to your topic.

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How to do historical research online - Curatorial Research Centre

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Our guide on how to do research online will be useful to anyone wanting to methodically pursue a research topic but has limited or no access to physical libraries and collections. Whether you are a curator, librarian, archivist, scientist, genealogist, do family history, house history, oral history, local history or want to decolonise, these resources will help you make a start.

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ASL: This website helps to look up signs that students may have forgotten, and may need to build a relationship in the target language

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ASL: This website helps to look up signs that students may have forgotten, and may need to build a relationship in the target language

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The sign language site is one of few most reliable resources and references highly recommended by Deaf native signers, including ASL instructors.

"Even though I'm Deaf with ASL as my native language, I still use Handspeak a lot in the last few years for reference. I also frequently recommended this website to hearings/ASL students I met. It's amazing how you contributed so much, so I just want to let you know how much I appreciate that. -- Theo, 2020."

"This website is AWESOME! I always refer it to my students. -- Denise (Deaf ASL instructor), 2021"

"This website is a godsend. Your work is amazing and I just wanted to thank you. Without it, learning ASL would have been much harder. -- Le, 2021"

"I just wanted to let you know that you are the reason I've been getting A's in my ASL classes and to say thank you. I use your website multiple times a day, and it has fleshed out so much information about the language of ASL and the Deaf community. You have truly made a difference in my life!" -- Angie DiNardo, February 4, 2022.

Thank you Handspeak!! You were an invaluable resource for me during my interpreter education program. I came to the conclusion that your dictionary of signs were one of the best and I relied on it immensely.

"I have been struggling to figure out signs for my class. It was really beginning to wear down on me and I was getting nervous about how the rest of the semester will go. A problem that was haunting me was found in short order using the sign and contextual reference from the assignment. THANK YOU!!!! You have blessed me for sure! -- Nita"

"THANK YOU SO MUCH. This site is amazing. I am just learning ASL, and I keep this tab open on my computer and check in several times a day to form words and sentences. Very blessed for this incredible project of yours. -- A.S."

"Your website has helped me to learn ASL and about Deaf culture, both when I studied in University and now as I continue to practice and learn. I just wanted to express that I am so grateful for you and for handspeak.com- you are wonderful, thank you for creating this project!! -- Kat"

"Your website is a blessing! I often refer my ASL students to the tutorials on this site as an extracurricular resource when they needed help. -- a certified ASL instructor and Deaf native signer."

"... thank you for making such an important and useful resource for those of us on the path to fluency in the language and art of American Sign Language. Your Handspeak website has provided me with countless hours of invaluable insight and dare I say entertainment. You're a beautiful person, and your work is thoroughly appreciated." -- Patrick Ryan (Minnesota), 2015.

"Handspeak is such a great online ASL lexicon, and it is very helpful. My TA's recommended it over other online ASL dictionaries. Thank you again! -- J.Y., 2017"

"Our daughter is so much happier that she can tell us what she wants and needs. Much less crying, much more laughing! Thank you for this site, the best of its kind on the web."

"We use the site in our homeschooling, as a second language, for our 9-year-old child who does really well with homeschooling. He's exceptionally bright, very active, inquisitive and challenging. Your site has captured his interest and he is intrigued."

"I scuba dive, and being able to use sign language while diving would expand the experience greatly. -- L. Niles"

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Sign Language resources online including ASL dictionary, tutorials, grammar, sentences, alphabet, Deaf culture, baby signing, and more.

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History: Digital Literacy Skills TED Talk

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History: Digital Literacy Skills TED Talk

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When using the internet, it is important to know what skills to use and keep in mind before posting or downloading information.

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Digital Literacy Skills to Succeed in Learning and Beyond | Yimin Yang | TEDxYouth@GrandviewHeights

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History: Finding, Evaluating and Using Digital Literacy Skills

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History: Finding, Evaluating and Using Digital Literacy Skills

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This website has steps on where to find quality information along with evaluating the information you find. This resource can be used with teachers or students.

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How to find quality digital content

Finding information is an important component of digital literacy. Finding digital content that is meaningful is about:

employing various search strategies to help source quality information

using multiple search engines to challenge personal filter bubbles

using written, visual, and audio resources to navigate information in a variety of modes

collecting a range of information that can then be evaluated to meet your requirements.

Planning

Before you begin searching for relevant digital content, consider:

Effective searching for digital content

You find better results using precise keywords and search strategies.

1. Think of keywords from your inquiry question or topic, including synonyms. Dictionaries and a thesaurus are useful for compiling a list of keywords.

2. Look at the question or topic you want information on and choose the most relevant source for your search, for example, search engine(s) and/or online databases.

3. Try using different keywords and search techniques to broaden or narrow your search. Common search techniques for the internet include:

Exclude words from your search: Put - in front of a word you want to leave out. For example, jaguar speed -car.
Search for an exact match: Put a word or phrase inside quotes. For example, "tallest building".
Search within a range of numbers: Put .. between two numbers. For example, camera $50..$100.
Combine searches: Put "OR" between each search query. For example, marathon OR race.
Search for a specific site: Put "site:" in front of a site or domain. For example, site:youtube.com or site:.gov.
Search for related sites: Put "related:" in front of a web address you already know. For example, related:time.com.
- Source: Refine web searches, Google

It's very likely that your search will retrieve a large amount of information so you'll need to develop skills in evaluating and filtering information to suit your purpose.

This guidance provides useful information about effective searching:

Where to search for digital content

The National Library provides a range of quality, curated digital resources, including:

Topic Explorer - provides quality, curated resources on a range of topics that inspire and support inquiry. Each topic set contains a wide range of resources a particular topic area or subject.

Teaching and learning resources - offers a range of free, online teaching and learning resources, tools, and guides to support teaching and learning.

You could also start with:

Open Education resources

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning and research materials in any medium - digital or otherwise - that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions.
- UNESCO

Open Education resources include:

OER commons - allows you to search by subject and level, create lessons and modules.

TEDEd - videos to create customised lessons.

Project Gutenberg - useful for digital copies of classic books.

CK-12 - provides a library of free online resources in versions for teachers and students.

How to evaluate digital content

Evaluating information is an important part of the digital literacy process. To evaluate digital content to ensure it's meaningful:

look critically at information to determine its relevance, suitability and reliability

be critical and sceptical about sources and information to ensure authenticity

check for accuracy, validity and currency as measures of information quality

make sure all information and resources are fit for purpose.

Why evaluate information?

Anyone can put information online and for any number of reasons. Digital content - blogs, wikis, websites, social media - can contain misinformation.

Digital literacy is about being able to identify good quality digital content. Critical evaluation is key to assessing authorship, reliability and authenticity.

Tools for evaluating digital content

The following are examples of tools that are often used to evaluate digital content:

SIFT (the four moves) - SIFT stands for stop, investigate the source, find better coverage, trace claims, quotes, and media to the original context.

5 Ws of website evaluation (pdf, 28KB) - poster showing: who, what, when, where, why.

Evaluating information: applying the CRAAP test - CRAAP stands for currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose.

RADCAB - your vehicle for information evaluation - RADCAB stands for relevance, appropriateness, detail, currency, authority and bias

Evaluate it - a guide from Community College of Baltimore Library in the USA.

Evaluating resources - a comprehensive guide from Berkeley University in California for both print and digital resources.

Truth, truthiness, triangulation: A news literacy toolkit for a 'post-truth' world - a blog post by Joyce Valenza for the School Library Journal.

Using digital content in meaningful ways

When using digital content for teaching and learning, it's important to consider:

Why use digital resources?

Quality digital content can provide rich, varied information for teaching and learning, and be:

Choosing digital resources

When choosing a digital resource focus on whether it:

aligns with learning objectives

matches the curriculum

has learning value and not just a 'nice to have' extra

is appropriate for the students' learning level

is inclusive and accessible

engages learners and promotes effective learning

encourages innovation.

Creating digital content

You can create digital content in any number of formats, including video, audio, Powerpoint presentations, blogs, wikis and animations.

To create meaningful digital content, you need to:

Creating content is not new. Librarians have been creating content for a long time. Within the digital environment, there are now a vast number of tools available. Educators, students and library staff can all be active creators of digital content.

Libraries as content creators - American Libraries magazine.

Why create content

Content creation enables students to:

Tools for content creation

There is an enormous range of content creation tools that support teaching and learning. It is important to actively look for new and better tools all the time.

Use the following websites as starters to find some useful creation tools to use in your library or classroom:

Responsible use - copyright and attribution

When you use any digital content be aware of its copyright and any usage restrictions. These are usually made clear.

If you use digital content created by someone else, it's important that you acknowledge or attribute them in your work. Check if your school has guidelines for responsible use of other people's work.

If you're unsure about how to use digital content responsibly, ask your librarian or refer to:

If you create digital content, you can also licence under Creative Commons to make it available for others to distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work. You can require them to attribute you or not.
Creative Commons licences

How to find quality digital content

Finding information is an important component of digital literacy. Finding digital content that is meaningful is about:

employing various search strategies to help source quality information

using multiple search engines to challenge personal filter bubbles

using written, visual, and audio resources to navigate information in a variety of modes

collecting a range of information that can then be evaluated to meet your requirements.

Planning

Before you begin searching for relevant digital content, consider:

Effective searching for digital content

You find better results using precise keywords and search strategies.

1. Think of keywords from your inquiry question or topic, including synonyms. Dictionaries and a thesaurus are useful for compiling a list of keywords.

2. Look at the question or topic you want information on and choose the most relevant source for your search, for example, search engine(s) and/or online databases.

3. Try using different keywords and search techniques to broaden or narrow your search. Common search techniques for the internet include:

Exclude words from your search: Put - in front of a word you want to leave out. For example, jaguar speed -car.
Search for an exact match: Put a word or phrase inside quotes. For example, "tallest building".
Search within a range of numbers: Put .. between two numbers. For example, camera $50..$100.
Combine searches: Put "OR" between each search query. For example, marathon OR race.
Search for a specific site: Put "site:" in front of a site or domain. For example, site:youtube.com or site:.gov.
Search for related sites: Put "related:" in front of a web address you already know. For example, related:time.com.
- Source: Refine web searches, Google

It's very likely that your search will retrieve a large amount of information so you'll need to develop skills in evaluating and filtering information to suit your purpose.

This guidance provides useful information about effective searching:

Where to search for digital content

The National Library provides a range of quality, curated digital resources, including:

Topic Explorer - provides quality, curated resources on a range of topics that inspire and support inquiry. Each topic set contains a wide range of resources a particular topic area or subject.

Teaching and learning resources - offers a range of free, online teaching and learning resources, tools, and guides to support teaching and learning.

You could also start with:

Open Education resources

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning and research materials in any medium - digital or otherwise - that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions.
- UNESCO

Open Education resources include:

OER commons - allows you to search by subject and level, create lessons and modules.

TEDEd - videos to create customised lessons.

Project Gutenberg - useful for digital copies of classic books.

CK-12 - provides a library of free online resources in versions for teachers and students.

How to evaluate digital content

Evaluating information is an important part of the digital literacy process. To evaluate digital content to ensure it's meaningful:

look critically at information to determine its relevance, suitability and reliability

be critical and sceptical about sources and information to ensure authenticity

check for accuracy, validity and currency as measures of information quality

make sure all information and resources are fit for purpose.

Why evaluate information?

Anyone can put information online and for any number of reasons. Digital content - blogs, wikis, websites, social media - can contain misinformation.

Digital literacy is about being able to identify good quality digital content. Critical evaluation is key to assessing authorship, reliability and authenticity.

Tools for evaluating digital content

The following are examples of tools that are often used to evaluate digital content:

SIFT (the four moves) - SIFT stands for stop, investigate the source, find better coverage, trace claims, quotes, and media to the original context.

5 Ws of website evaluation (pdf, 28KB) - poster showing: who, what, when, where, why.

Evaluating information: applying the CRAAP test - CRAAP stands for currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose.

RADCAB - your vehicle for information evaluation - RADCAB stands for relevance, appropriateness, detail, currency, authority and bias

Evaluate it - a guide from Community College of Baltimore Library in the USA.

Evaluating resources - a comprehensive guide from Berkeley University in California for both print and digital resources.

Truth, truthiness, triangulation: A news literacy toolkit for a 'post-truth' world - a blog post by Joyce Valenza for the School Library Journal.

Using digital content in meaningful ways

When using digital content for teaching and learning, it's important to consider:

Why use digital resources?

Quality digital content can provide rich, varied information for teaching and learning, and be:

Choosing digital resources

When choosing a digital resource focus on whether it:

aligns with learning objectives

matches the curriculum

has learning value and not just a 'nice to have' extra

is appropriate for the students' learning level

is inclusive and accessible

engages learners and promotes effective learning

encourages innovation.

Creating digital content

You can create digital content in any number of formats, including video, audio, Powerpoint presentations, blogs, wikis and animations.

To create meaningful digital content, you need to:

Creating content is not new. Librarians have been creating content for a long time. Within the digital environment, there are now a vast number of tools available. Educators, students and library staff can all be active creators of digital content.

Libraries as content creators - American Libraries magazine.

Why create content

Content creation enables students to:

Tools for content creation

There is an enormous range of content creation tools that support teaching and learning. It is important to actively look for new and better tools all the time.

Use the following websites as starters to find some useful creation tools to use in your library or classroom:

Responsible use - copyright and attribution

When you use any digital content be aware of its copyright and any usage restrictions. These are usually made clear.

If you use digital content created by someone else, it's important that you acknowledge or attribute them in your work. Check if your school has guidelines for responsible use of other people's work.

If you're unsure about how to use digital content responsibly, ask your librarian or refer to:

If you create digital content, you can also licence under Creative Commons to make it available for others to distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work. You can require them to attribute you or not.
Creative Commons licences
Find out more

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Digital content - finding, evaluating, using and creating it

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Digital literacy is about finding, evaluating, using, and creating digital content in meaningful and responsible ways. It requires thinking skills and technical abilities. You can use a range of strategies to develop digital literacy in your school.

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ASL: Students connecting with each other in short videos in the target language

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ASL: Students connecting with each other in short videos in the target language

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A resource to use for Deaf and Hard of hearing students in class, or to just have your students be in an open discussion.

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Slotkuni : Situs Slot Gacor Gampang Menang, Resmi & Terpercaya

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Slotkuni adalah situs bermain slot online auto spin!, Permainan slot gacor terbaru 2025 yang Resmi & Terpercaya serta gampang jp maxwin setiap jam.

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In History, digital literacy skills play a big role in knowing how to access resources. Whether it's misinformation or finding credible resources, it is crucial to distinguish what narrative is being shared or left out. Being able to find proper and credible resources is an important skill students must practice so that they can avoid biases when learning history.

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Digital media literacy used in the language of American sign language is used in a sense of sharing information. We use ASL to help build a bridge to connect information from English to ASL so that the Deaf community has equal access to the same information that hearing people have. This is done in this language by interpreters being on the media, captionists creating captions in the media, and through people knowing ASL and sharing stories on the internet.

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ASL: Building relationships within the Deaf community and CODAs

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ASL: Building relationships within the Deaf community and CODAs

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ASL: Building their fingerspelling foundation so that the students can understand what others would be fingerspelling to them

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ASL: Building their fingerspelling foundation so that the students can understand what others would be fingerspelling to them

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You can learn Sign Language (ASL) at "American Sign Language University" which is an online curriculum resource for students, instructors, interpreters, and parents of deaf children. ASL U is located at Lifeprint.com. It is much more than just an online sign language dictionary. You can find lesson plans and teaching tips. For a fingerspelling chart, visit: Lifeprint's sign language alphabet area where you can find some excellent signing-related graphics.

What is ASL (American Sign Language)?

Defining ASL: A popular definition is: "American Sign Language is a visual-gestural language used by 500,000 members of the North American Deaf community." According to dictionary.com we have: American Sign Language n. Abbr. ASL. The primary sign language used by Deaf and hearing-impaired people in the United States and Canada, devised in part by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet on the basis of sign language in France. Also called Ameslan.

If you look at Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (www.m-w.com) we get: Main Entry: American Sign Language: Function: noun. Date: 1960: a sign language for the deaf in which meaning is conveyed by a system of articulated hand gestures and their placement relative to the upper body. Notice the date of that entry from Merriam-Webster? 1960! Signing hasn't been "recognized" as a language for very long has it? Oh sure, ASL has been developing and in use since the early 1800's but it wasn't until 1960 that "experts" started recognizing it as a full-blown autonomous language.

This sign language website is intended to be a free place to learn signing.

The main topics for this site are: sign language classes, history of American Sign Language, ASL phrases, American Sign Language letters (fingerspelling), American sign language for babies (baby signing), and a sign language chart. ASLU is an online curriculum resource for ASL students, instructors, interpreters, and parents of deaf children. I'm a Deaf (Hard of Hearing) Associate Professor of Deaf Studies at a large state university in California who prefers to communicate in ASL (American sign Language). I put together this site to provide a place to discuss American Sign Language (ASL), interpreters, deafness, and signing. Note: Interpreting is a broad field that involves more than just "signing and body language." I also take a look at how ASL qualifies as a foreign language.

When I'm around "Hearing people" I tend to use a hearing aid. If I'm in a meeting I will either use an interpreter or, depending on how close I am to the speaker and how quiet the room is I'll lip-read and use my hearing-aid. My wife and I have had four babies and we taught them all to sign ASL (not just baby signs).

I also write a bit about Deaf education and baby sign / baby talk using sign language. "Baby signing" (for children of Hearing parents) is sort of new to Deaf culture. Deaf children have, of course, used sign language but it is (was) new for Hearing children. One of your our kids is "Deaf/hard of hearing" and attended the Utah School for the Deaf pre-school program.

ASL

Remember, ASL is so much more than just "Deaf communication" -- it is truly becoming a world language. In this website I also talk about Deaf services agencies, some of which provide "Interpreters for the Deaf."

I don't discuss BSL much. (British Sign Language) The fingerspelling is different (two-handed manual alphabet) and not used by the American Deaf Community.

It seems so many people these days want to learn sign. However, I notice many bloggers (and my students in their research papers) don't even know how to spell it. This is a personal pet peeve of mine. All of the following are WRONG: sign langage, american signs language, american sign languages, american sign langage, signs languages, etc. And don't get me started on what they call fingerspelling (e.g. lettering alphabets). Plus there are the weird old names for ASL that never caught on, like "Amslan." One time I saw someone calling it auslan but I reckon that would be Australian Sign Language (ha).

I've also set up an area of this site that deals with ASL Linguistics (linguistic signs/linguistic sign). Use the links to jump around and check out the site.

We should say "at least" 500,000 people use ASL. That is an OLD statistic from the 1980's. My estimate is more along the lines of: 2 million people are using ASL on a daily basis and at least 500,000 of those people are using it as their primary means of communication. Millions more people know "some" sign language and use it "once in a while." For example -- a grandmother of a deaf child. She may have taken a six-week community education course and now she knows just enough to offer her grandson candy and cookies.

American Sign Language

"ASL is a visual gestural language." That means it is a language that is expressed through the hands and face and is perceived through the eyes. It isn't just waving your hands in the air. If you furrow your eyebrows, tilt your head, glance in a certain direction, twist your body a certain way, puff your cheek, or any number of other "inflections" --you are adding or changing meaning in ASL. A "visual gestural" language carries just as much information as an oral/aural (mouth/ear) language.

Is ASL limited to just the United States and Canada? No. ASL is also used in varying degrees in the Philippines, Ghana, Nigeria, Chad, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Zaire, Central African Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Mauritania, Kenya, Madagascar, Benin, Togo, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong. Is ASL a universal language? No. Those countries I just mentioned have their own signed languages. ASL is the dominant signed language in North America, plus it is used to some extent in quite a few other countries, but it is certainly not understood by Deaf people everywhere.

Did we get ASL from Native American sign language? Answer: No.

American Sign Language

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Dr. Bill Vicars’ American Sign Language (ASL) Fingerspelling Practice Site

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Free American Sign Language (ASL) Fingerspelling Practice Site

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ASL: Allows students to observe and create own bias from interpreting and hearing. 

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ASL: Allows students to observe and create own bias from interpreting and hearing. 

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This shows how interpreters work, if there are not interpreters in the class.

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White House Sign Language Interpreter Is a Trump Supporter

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Digital media has played a significant role in mathematics, especially during virtual learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital media in the form of learning platforms, games, and visual representations have transformed students' learning experiences. The benefits of using digital media in math include increased engagement and motivation, personalized learning, and collaborative learning.

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ASL: Students will have skill in keeping in the target language and create their own decision on what this poem could mean. 

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ASL: Students will have skill in keeping in the target language and create their own decision on what this poem could mean. 

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When connecting with another subject like English, and in their poetry unit finding resources on YouTube to help show Deaf poetry, for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing students.

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This collection of resources, including links to professional learning opportunities, was compiled in conjunction with the California School Library Association (CSLA) and KQED in fulfillment of the requirements set forth in Senate Bill 830 (2018) :

"...to ensure that young adults are prepared with media literacy skills necessary to safely, responsibly, and critically consume and use social media and other forms of media."

The resources for teachers, teacher-librarians, administrators, and others include media literacy curriculum, collections of media literacy lessons and other resources, media production resources, and links to professional development (PD) opportunities. These resources were chosen based on the CSLA's criteria:

Original

Accurate

Current

Technically sound

Easy to access and use

Inviting

Informative and useful content about media literacy aligned to the California Model School Library Standards (MSLS)

Understanding and teaching media literacy is the responsibility of all educators. Media literacy is best learned and practiced when integrated into the school's curriculum. Classroom teachers are encouraged to work with teacher librarians in exploring this collection of resources to develop media-rich contextual learning activities.

Additionally, the California State Library has contracted with Encyclopedia Britannica, ProQuest, and TeachingBooks.net to provide online, authoritative resources for free to public schools in California. Local educational agencies can sign up to take advantage of these free databases.

Currently, the California Department of Education is partnering with the News Literacy Project to host a series of eight webinars focusing on news and media literacy. To learn more about the series, go to California Educators Together and join the News and Media Literacy for All (free account required) group. In the group, you will find recordings, resources, and more.

K-12 Online Content

California is now offering, at no cost to local schools, districts, or students, three online databases for use by every kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) school and student in the state, with access starting at the beginning of the 2018-19 school year.

Online content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, ProQuest, and TeachingBooks.net will be available individually to all K-12 students in California, as well as all public schools in the state.

These content resources, commonly referred to as "library databases," provide teachers, school librarians, and students with a great deal of digital information: books, scientific research, newspaper articles, photos, videos and more-all aligned with the curriculum that California has created for its schools.

To sign up to receive information and resources from these online content providers, visit the California State Library .

Encyclopaedia Britannica -offers multiple tools for student research, including:

ProQuest -An informational resource company used by researchers and librarians around the world. Their content collection encompasses 90,000 authoritative sources, six billion digital pages, and spans six centuries. ProQuest has collections on culture, scholarly journals, general reference material, content for beginning researchers, eBooks, and more. A one-page summary of everything California can access is on Proquest's Teacher/Librarian Resources web page.

TeachingBooks.net -A suite of authoritative materials about children's and young adult books. Learn directly from an author about why a book was created. Download discussion questions to dig deeper into a book's meaning. Enjoy video book trailers and audio performances of a book to bring it to life. TeachingBooks is a treasure trove of instructional materials about the books read by children and teens, and is a PD for educators and families to identify and connect to culturally relevant, quality books for all content areas, prekindergarten through grade twelve.

Media Literacy

Media literacy and the concepts surrounding it evolve with changes in technology and society. These definitions, from SB 830 and organizations of experts, provide a foundation through which to understand media literacy and the ideas connected to it.

SB 830 states: Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and use media and encompasses the foundational skills that lead to digital citizenship.

SB 830 further states: Digital citizenship is a diverse set of skills related to current technology and social media, including the norms of appropriate, responsible, and healthy behavior.

These literacies closely relate to information literacy: the ability "to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information" ( American Library Association ).

UNESCO states that media and information literacy is a "combination of knowledge, attitudes, skills, and practices required to access, analyze, evaluate, use, produce, and communicate information and knowledge in creative, legal and ethical ways that respect human rights."

California's organize their standards around concepts of information literacy:

Students access information

Students evaluate information

Students use information

Students integrate information literacy skills into all areas of learning

What do media literacy skills look like? Here are three sample scenarios:

Elementary students use a library catalog to locate a book on recycling, which informs their task of photographing examples of recycling in their neighborhoods to share on their class wiki.
In this example, students are accessing information through the library catalog, using it to inform their task. They are then using media to share information through photography on their class wiki-this involves production, communication, and following norms of online behavior with digital citizenship.

Middle schoolers use a spreadsheet to organize data they collect about pets' exercise habits, which they will analyze for a science fair project.
In this example, students are using technology to use information effectively. They are then analyzing that information to arrive at conclusions for a project-that project will involve further skills in communication of that information to a particular audience.

High schoolers locate articles in a database about data privacy, which is the basis for the students' video production that gives recommendations for teens to protect personal information.
In this example, students are accessing information through the database, and then analyzing that information to produce a video, involving communication skills. The topic is data privacy, which includes elements of digital citizenship.

These example scenarios give only a small view into what students might be doing within the classroom that includes media and information literacy skills. View the resources located in the other tabs to see more examples of lessons to incorporate media and information literacy in all classrooms.

Curriculum

The following resources are ready-made curricula, usually consisting of scope and sequence learning outcomes and activities, for media and information literacy as well as digital citizenship:

California -K-12 information literacy outcomes

Resources/Lessons

Distance Learning Resources

Understanding how to safely access, evaluate, and use information has always been a necessary skill for students and educators. And, during the transition to learning in virtual settings, the critical nature of that skill has become even more apparent. The resources below are focused specifically on supporting media literacy in a distance learning context; however, many of the additional resources on this page can also be adapted for distance learning.

General Resources/Lessons

These collections include many high-quality lessons, units, videos and other learning aids, and supportive material. Several of these collections are searchable by grade or topic.
Multiple Literacies: Media Literacy: Digital Citizenship:
Information Literacy:

KQED Learn featuring Above the Noise videos
A safe, online space for students (grades 6-12) to practice civic discourse with peers nationwide. Free.

Media Production

An important way to gain media literacy is to produce media: learning by doing. These resources address media production tools and processes.

Professional Development

Several professional organizations address media literacy, providing valuable educational resources as well as PD activities.

Professional organizations that include PD:

Training:

Last Reviewed: Tuesday, November 14, 2023

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A collection of resources to support media literacy in the classroom.

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Math: Building Relationships with Students & Concepts 

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Math: Building Relationships with Students & Concepts 

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GeoGebra promotes teacher-student relationships with math concepts by providing visuals and encouraging collaboration.

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GeoGebra - the world's favorite, free math tools used by over 100 million students and teachers

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Free digital tools for class activities, graphing, geometry, collaborative whiteboard and more

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Common Sense Education provides educators and students with the resources they need to harness the power of technology for learning and life. Find a free K-12 Digital Citizenship curriculum, reviews of popular EdTech apps, and resources for protecting student privacy.

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Focus on geometry and how Desmos tools help things "make sense". Refining tools and expanding capabilities to unleash all students' inner mathematicians. Students will achieve high expectations if given the proper tools. Thus, teachers need to be updated on new platforms or traditional platforms with new updates.

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Math: Social Justice and Equity Through Math

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Math: Social Justice and Equity Through Math

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A social justice approach to teaching mathematics should include equitable and inclusive teaching practices, high expectations for all students, and access to rich, rigorous, and culturally relevant mathematics to promote a positive learning environment. We are helping to build a better future for all by empowering students to understand how to navigate the world around them and how to confront systemic inequities in all aspects of their lives.

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Teaching Social Justice and Equity Through Mathematics

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By the time students reach high school, they are already being streamed into different academic levels that often limit their full potentials for growth and development. This streaming pathway closes the door of opportunity for many underserved and racialized students. It is important that educators…

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Media can be a tool to learn and have fun with math. Digital resources provide students with unique ways to interact, increase math skills, and more enjoyable learning environment.

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Learning to Read | Math Media Literacy | Season 2023 | PBS

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Digital resources can help your child develop important numeracy and literacy skills.

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Tasks such as the one above promote students to become social critics. They get to examine the ways math is applied to everyday life and how their perspective on the area changes.

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ISTE resources on digital citizenship focus on creating digital citizens who can address ethical questions at the intersection of technology and humanity.

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Listen to this post as a podcast:
So there I am, right in the middle of a presentation on HyperDocs, showing a group of teachers how they could use this online framework to build all kinds of interactive lessons, differentiate instruction, get students caught up after an absence...I was basically touting it as the Swiss Army Knife of ed tech tools. I'm all, "You can do this, and this, and even this ..."

And then it happens. One teacher raises her hand and asks, "What if we only have two Chromebook carts for the whole school?"

Hear that Debbie Downer sound? Yep, that was my brain.

The teacher went on to describe her situation. Far too often, the Chromebooks at her school sat unused, because it was too much of a pain to sign them out and plan for short-term use. Teachers certainly couldn't use anything like the hyperdocs or self-paced learning on a consistent basis, because students could only get online every now and then.

While some schools have already gone 1:1-with a device for every student-others don't even have reliable Internet access, let alone enough devices for students to use, even if they share. This issue has a name: It's called digital equity. Just like with books, science equipment, extracurricular options, and healthy, fresh food in the cafeteria, technology is now another resource that's abundant in well-funded schools and lacking in underfunded schools, creating one more way low-income students will fall behind their more affluent peers.

When that teacher described her situation, I brainstormed a few possible solutions with her, but I knew better ones had to be out there. And they are: If you're in a school where the technology is in short supply, and you believe your students are falling behind their peers because of it, you have options.

I'm going to share eleven specific solutions you can choose from to start improving students' access to tech in your school. You can pick just one or mix up a few of them, but in this list, there's definitely something that can start to make a real difference in giving your students more of the opportunities technology has to offer.

Two Important Questions to Consider

Before we get into the specific solutions, ask yourself these two questions:

First, Does a regular classroom teacher have the power to give students more access to technology in a whole school?

I ask this one first because I suspect this is the thing that might be holding you back, the reason you haven't done more than shake your head at your school's lack of tech. You're "just a teacher." You have no control over the school's budget. You can't change the tax laws in your community.

I think you have more power than you realize. Your administrators are doing the best they can with the knowledge and money they have, but technology is just one small piece of all the stuff they're responsible for. If you and a small group of your colleagues committed yourselves to improving your school's tech infrastructure, to identifying which changes would make the biggest impact and figuring out how to fund them without cutting into the existing budget, your administrator would be crazy to turn you down.

I think it's definitely worth a shot. A serious, carefully planned shot.

Which brings me to my second question: Will having more technology automatically improve student learning at your school?

The answer to this one is definitely NO. Simply boosting your school's Internet bandwidth or adding more devices will not magically improve the education you offer.

You need a better plan than that.

Start by getting very clear on the learning goals you're hoping to achieve with more technology. What is the end goal? What will teachers and students be able to do with more tech that they can't do now?

Here are some important things technology can do to improve learning. Consider whether your plan embraces some or all of these:

Technology increases opportunities for students to take ownership of their learning through self-paced models, inquiry-driven projects, and authentic tasks that allow them to engage with content in ways that reflect how it is used in the real world.

Technology allows teachers to assess student learning more efficiently and effectively in order to differentiate instruction and challenge every student appropriately.

Technology provides students with more flexible options for learning, so they can learn at school and at home, developing habits that will allow them to become lifelong learners.

Technology gives students tools to create original products and share them with the world. Rather than simply doing tasks "for school," they can pursue their talents and passions and share their work in communities of real artists, writers, filmmakers, photographers, journalists, scientists, historians, designers, and engineers. (See some of these here.)

If your plan for increased technology doesn't allow for much of this, you may want to rethink things first. These standards for educators and students, put out by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), would be a good place to start when crafting a vision for your school.

So let's explore some of the creative ways schools are addressing the digital divide. I'm putting the solutions into three groups: work-arounds, fundraising ideas, and off-campus solutions.

Work-Arounds

These are the fastest to implement: Rather than attempt to change the amount of tech your school has, these work-arounds will help you make the most of what you do have.

1. Create centers or stations where students take turns using single devices. These might be permanent centers that students can access at any time, or centers that are part of a specific station-rotation model. You might have devices set to specific sites or programs or create a physical menu of options students can use during their time at that center. Even if your classroom only has a single computer, you can get a lot out of it by setting up guidelines and routines to make sure students know how and when to use it. These resources can get you started:

Blended Learning with Catlin Tucker: This 7-video series by McGraw-Hill Education provides an excellent overview of how to set up and run a blended learning environment in your classroom. Tucker walks the viewer through specific stations so you can get an up-close look at what students are actually doing at each one, along with how tech is integrated into some of them, which will help you imagine how you might do the same in your classroom.

Spruce up Your Centers with Technology: This blog post and video by Tony Vincent focuses on the specific things you can do to set up technology-driven centers, including which programs and tools you can use to create videos, provide instructions for stations, and give students opportunities to be creative.

2. Implement a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program that allows students to bring devices from home for use in school. This can quickly increase the number of devices in your school without the need for any increased funding. If you choose this route, do it carefully: Without a clear plan in place, a BYOD program can cause lots of problems. Two resources that can help are listed below. They include advice on getting buy-in from parents, creating an acceptable use policy, and making sure your school network can handle increased use by more devices.

3. Use Minimum-Tech Tools that only require the teacher to have a device:

Plickers allows teachers to scan responses that students hold up on paper sheets; only one device required.

GradeCam lets teachers create paper answer sheets that can be scanned with a single device.

Skype in the Classroom offers some incredible programs that only require one Internet-connected device.

4. Create a Tech Hub at your school where most devices are kept in one central location. Students then go to the hub to use the devices, which ensures they are put to maximum use and rarely ever sit idle.

Check out our story about the Learning Center at Big Walnut Middle School. What was once an underutilized library turned into an essential, active part of the school once tech resources were centralized and a system was created for teachers to send students there to work on specific tasks.

Fundraising Ideas

It might be that you just need to raise more cash to pay for the technology. Here are some ways to get that done.

5. Raise funds through crowdfunding sites like DonorsChoose. With this approach, teachers often target specific hardware that they'd like for their classroom, such as a collection of Chromebooks. See more examples of successfully funded projects here.

6. Partner with local businesses and organizations to raise funds and provide better access.

7. Apply for grants: This is one of the more difficult ways to go about raising funds, but if you learn how to do it, it can be a great source of funding.

Off-Campus Solutions

When technology is limited at school, it is often limited at home as well, which can put students at a further disadvantage. When addressing digital inequities in your school, think beyond the boundaries of your campus.

8. Portable Wi-Fi hotspots can be checked out by students, giving them Internet access in homes that otherwise wouldn't have any. Kajeet offers the SmartSpot, which can be filtered so that students can only access educational content. This Wisconsin high school uses Kajeet with students, and this public library in Prince George's County, MD, checks them out to the public.

9. Wi-Fi enabled school buses, also offered by Kajeet, allow students to get work done on the ride to and from school. This California district installed these systems on its buses, and has many of them park right in students' neighborhoods, so they can get access at home.

10. Summer device check-out programs allow students without devices to check out school-owned devices and continue their access over the summer months. Read about how this Kansas school district did it.

11. Build community connectivity. Districts can work toward setting up Wi-Fi kiosks in local neighborhoods. Organizations like EveryoneOn work to get low-cost Internet, refurbished devices, and computer literacy training to unconnected families. If you pull resources from everywhere in your community, like this North Carolina town did, you'll not only build greater capacity for student learning; you'll create more opportunity for everyone. ♦
Want to make smart tech choices for your classroom?
The Teacher's Guide to Tech is a user-friendly encyclopedia of tech tools, organized by category. Thousands of teachers have used it to quickly find just the right tools for their students. If you're feeling overwhelmed by all the choices out there, this guide will be a game-changer for you.

Learn more here.

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Listen to this post as a podcast: So there I am, right in the middle of a presentation on HyperDocs, showing a group of teachers how they could use this online framework to build all kinds of interactive lessons, differentiate instruction, get students caught up after an absence...I was basically touting it as the Swiss Army Knife of ed tech tools.

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Strategies:

Taking time for team-building activities

Facilitating immediate peer tutoring

Talking openly about mistakes and even celebrating them

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For one teacher, an effort to build strong relationships with his students resulted in higher test scores and lower math anxiety.

I vividly remember a mentor teacher telling me early in my career never to let my students see me smile, especially during the first month of school. The content I taught was my job, not getting to know my students.

Well, that was a lifetime ago, and today I smile on day one and work just as hard on building positive relationships with students as I do helping them understand and perform algebraic equations.

That's not to say this past school year was easy. I teach eighth-grade math-the grade and subject hardest hit by the pandemic, according to the Nation's Report Card. This year's National Assessment of Educational Progress data shows that math scores for 13-year-old students have dropped significantly and that pandemic learning gaps aren't closing at hoped-for rates.

My students, however, made significant strides this year, surpassing goals and expectations on school, district, and state assessments throughout the year. The kids showed up ready to learn at a time when behavioral disruptions are on the rise. In reflecting on the year's progress, I can say with confidence that it has less to do with the way I teach math and more to do with the way I relate to my students.

Developing positive relationships became a priority. I was fortunate that in the fall of 2021 my school adopted a new social and emotional learning program that I looked to for guidance. However, I believe all teachers can take steps to help students succeed.

OFF TO A GOOD START

taking time for team-building activities,

facilitating immediate peer tutoring,

assigning a student a leadership role during team activities, and

presenting a complex solution to the class.

I prioritize meeting each student at the door with a smile, a high-five or a handshake, and a quick hello at the start of every class. These interactions allow me to gauge what mindset my students are showing up with and flex my instruction to meet them where they are each day. Informed instruction can look like the following:

I also seek out intentional conversations with specific students who are struggling because there is plenty of evidence that a healthy climate and culture support student learning.

For example, one of my students arrived to class every day reluctant to even greet me. It took time, but I prioritized getting to know his interests and learned what motivated him to do his best. Throughout the year, his scores and his willingness to participate improved when he began to recognize that I cared about more than just his math ability. I cared about him as a person.

CULTURE COUNTS

A few minutes each day to talk about something positive going on at home, in school, in the community, or in class can go a long way, especially if the students lead these conversations. It's often not a math-specific conversation, but it develops our class culture and creates a welcoming environment.

Also, information gleaned from these conversations brings lessons to life. This year, I taught a lot of hockey players. I'm not a hockey buff, but I learned enough about the sport to embed examples like calculating the distance and angle of a hockey puck ricocheting off the boards and adding local club hockey references into word problems to pique student interest.

GET THEM TALKING... ABOUT MATH AND MISTAKES

Once you have students talking about life, it's easier to get them talking about math. Earlier in my career, I was nervous about letting students talk freely because I was worried about losing control of my classroom. But now, I understand that math discussions are essential to build reasoning and problem-solving skills and deepen understanding. Though it's still not always easy to do well.

Some of the ways I encourage students to engage in math conversations productively are through group collaboration and peer analysis. Talking openly about mistakes, and even celebrating them, encourages students to take risks and share their work without worrying about anyone's reaction.

This instructional strategy takes time. At the beginning of the year, students with low math confidence or anxiety are reluctant to engage. However, with time, encouragement, and a positive classroom culture, I have found that students can and will participate in this valuable learning tool.

I don't get a pass. Toward the end of the year, I numbered a test wrong. Boy, did we have a good time talking about Mr. Miller's mistake and problem-solving ways I could avoid repeating it. As always, it's good to set class norms at the beginning of the year, and update them as needed, to ensure that these conversations are respectful. In my class, the kids create and update those as needed.

LOOKING AHEAD

Until this year, I served on the national board that oversees the Nation's Report Card. I've been in a lot of conversations where people were worried about the future of middle or junior high students like those I teach. But I'm much more optimistic. Early teens, for the most part, want to do well-for their sake and for those who care about them.

One of my students, a girl who started the year off with terrible math anxiety, wrote me a note in May saying she still couldn't say that math was her favorite subject, but she really enjoyed my class and wasn't dreading math next year. I'll take that as a win, knowing that my instructional strategies served her well and my commitment to getting to know my students served us all well.

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Using Stronger Connections With Students to Boost Learning in Math

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For one teacher, an effort to build strong relationships with his students resulted in higher test scores and lower math anxiety.