Summary
In this session, participants will investigate authenticity and e-learning and connect them to create meaningful experiences for their students. We know that authentic teaching engages students in real-world problems and situations. When teachers incorporate their knowledge of authentic learning with e-learning in their classrooms, they can maximize student engagement and learning. While working in cooperative groups, our participants will uncover the mysteries of age-appropriate tech tools that support cross-curricular learning.
Essential Question
What is digital literacy?
Learning Goals
Investigate ISTE standards.
Deduce the meaning of digital literacy.
Draw conclusions to determine which tech tools promote digital literacy.
Snapshot
Engage
Participants begin the session by self-assessing their comfort level with the ISTE standards.
Explore
Participants brainstorm questions—that should ask themselves—to help determine which tech tool would be the best.
Explain
Participants work in small groups and use ISTE resources to identify key components of a standard, how the standard might look in a model classroom, and tech tools that support the standard they found to be their most challenging.
Extend
Groups share the information they compiled using the instructional strategy 30-Second Expert.
Evaluate
Participants demonstrate their understanding by defining “digital literacy.”
Materials List
Session Slides (attached)
Note Catcher handout (attached, 2-sided, one per participant)
ISTE Standards Posters (attached, print on legal paper, one copy)
Legal-sized paper
Stickers (any kind or size)
Table Tents (attached, one copy)
Student ISTE standards (print from link, one per participant)
Copy of ISTE Canva presentation (click link to make copy)
Engage
5 Minute(s)
As participants come in, display slide 2 of the attached Session Slides and ask them to participate in a modified Magnetic Statement activity. Have participants place a sticker on the ISTE Standard Poster that they find most challenging.
Once participants have placed their sticker on a poster and found a seat, formally begin the session by displaying slide 3. Introduce the session name and the presenters. Move to slide 4 and explain to the participants that they will be working to answer the essential question, “What is digital literacy?” Display slide 5 and share the learning goals for this session. Direct participants’ attention to their Note Catcher and encourage them to use it throughout the session.
Display slide 6 with the Menti word cloud. Ask the participants to consider what the words and phrases on this word cloud could represent. Inform them that their job is to “put on their detective hat” and solve this mystery by the end of the session. Do not yet reveal that this is a “digital literacy” word cloud. Ask for a handful of volunteers to briefly share what they think the word cloud represents.
Explore
10 Minute(s)
Display slide 7, which lists the seven student ISTE standards. Ask the group, “Who is familiar with these standards? Who has already been teaching them in their classroom?”
Inform the participants that you will be modeling how to make lessons more authentic and engaging during this session while incorporating the ISTE standards.
Display slide 8. Ask participants to think about the seven ISTE standards they just discussed and which one they might be most comfortable with teaching. Share the link or QR code for participants to access the Canva presentation. Direct participants’ attention to page 2 of the presentation. Preview the activity by explaining that they are to first consider the ISTE standard they feel most comfortable teaching. Then following the directions in the presentation, they are to go to page 3 and click on the standard they are most comfortable teaching.
Display slide 9 and direct participants to add a sticky note to the Canva presentation (by selecting the Elements tab and searching for “sticky note”) with the question they should ask themselves when determining which tech tool is the best to use. Model for the participants how to use the sticky note feature. Start the timer on the slide and have the participants answer the question “What are some questions we should ask to determine if a tech tool is the best solution?”
Explain
25 Minute(s)
Display slide 10 and remind participants about the activity they completed when they first walked in the room. Inform participants they will be working in groups of 4-6 (depending on the size of the session) to create a short Canva presentation on the ISTE standard that they feel is most challenging. Share with participants that the instructions for the activity are also on page 11 in the Canva presentation. Once they are clear on the activity, direct them to the pages that correspond to the standard they are working on. Note that each standard is easily identifiable with a distinct color for quick identification. They can also use page 12 in the Canva presentation which has each standard hyperlinked to send participants to the first page of their mini-presentation.
1.1 Empowered Learner pages (13-15) are red.
1.2 Digital Citizen pages (16-18) are orange.
1.3 Knowledge Constructor pages (19-21) are yellow.
1.4 Innovative Designer pages (22-24) are green.
1.5 Computational Thinker pages (25-27) are blue.
1.6 Creative Communicator pages (28-30) are purple.
1.7 Global Collaborator pages (31-33) are gray.
Once participants have chosen a standard, have them regroup by standards. This will enable all participants working on Standard 1 to sit at the same table, the same for the other six standards.
Then display slide 11, share expectations for working on the slides and show participants the questions they will answer:
What are the key components of this standard?
How does this standard look in the classroom?
What tech tools support this standard?
How might you use this tech tool in the classroom?
Have participants work as a group to type the answers to all four questions. Pass out the Student ISTE Standards handout or provide participants with a link to a digital version as a resource. If participants struggle to answer the third question about Tech Tools, refer them to the back of the Note Catcher handout where the Tech Tool Resources are listed. Encourage participants to also use the information on the Canva presentation from the previous activity. Start the 10-minute timer and give participants time to complete their presentation.
Extend
15 Minute(s)
Display slide 12 and inform participants they will be teaching and learning about all the ISTE standards. Have participants choose one volunteer from their table to be the 30-Second Expert. This volunteer will stand up when it is their group’s turn and, in 30 seconds, share the most important aspects they learned about the ISTE standard they worked on. Give the groups time to decide what the volunteer will share with the whole group. Go around the room one group at a time giving each group a chance to share with the entire group.
Evaluate
5 Minute(s)
Display slide 13 to show the participants the same Menti word cloud from Engage. Ask participants to answer the following question: “Based on the words on the screen and what we have done today, what do you think the prompt for this word cloud was?” If participants need a hint, remind them about the essential question and learning goals.
Move to slide 14 and share the formal definition of digital literacy with the participants.
Display slide 15 and point out to participants how this concept has been modeled for them during this session. They found and consumed digital content as they looked at the ISTE Standards with the Canva presentation activity, they created digital content with their mini-presentations, and they shared information through a 30-Second Expert activity. This task is representative of what students would do when the ISTE standards are used authentically in an activity: students would find and consume digital content, create content, and then share it.
Display slide 16 and ask participants to look at the Menti word cloud one more time. Ask them “What is one phrase or word, something you can take with you to help you integrate digital literacy moving forward?” Have them write the word somewhere on their Note Catcher handout. Ask for a few volunteers to share what they wrote.
To end the session, ask the group if there are questions. Thank the participants for attending.
Follow-Up Activities
For more on authenticity and technology, consider the following professional developments:
K20 Center. (2021). Authenticity and chromebooks. Professional Learning. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/professional-learning/1055
K20 Center (2022). Interactive technology to support student-centered learning. Professional Learning. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/professional-learning/1730
K20 Center. (2021). ISTE standards & the exquisite educator. Professional Learning. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/professional-learning/1416
Research Rationale
ISTE Student Standards (2017) are designed to mirror the changes in the evolving technological landscape with a focus on using technology in the classroom to learn, collaborate, lead, and empower students. The President of ISTE, Torrey Trust, (2018) posits that the ISTE Standards have the potential to shape teaching and learning throughout the next decade. The ISTE Standards encourage and support teachers in becoming advocates for the use of technology to bridge the digital divide as well as empower all students to become digital citizens who positively contribute to society. ISTE Standards promote the use of diverse emerging technology tools that support student learning.
Through using emerging technology tools, students can showcase their knowledge and skills in a variety of ways. Additionally, emerging technology tools can be used by teachers to collect diagnostic, formative, and summative assessment data that can be used to inform teaching and learning (Trust, 2018). The ISTE Standards provide a road map so that educators can help students become empowered learners who are able to thrive in our constantly evolving technological landscape. Moreover, the ISTE Standards are designed to empower student voice and ensure that learning is a student-driven process (ISTE, 2017).
Resources
International Society for Technology in Education. (2017). National educational technology standards for students. https://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards-for-students
ISTE. (2019). https://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards-for-students
K20 Center. (n.d.). 30-Second expert. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/1048
K20 Center. (n.d.). Canva. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/612
K20 Center. (n.d.). Magnetic statement. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/166
K20 Center. (n.d.). Mentimeter. Tech Tool. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/645
K20 Center. (2021). ISTE standards & the exquisite educator. Professional Learning. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/professional-learning/1416
K20 Center. (2021, September 21). K20 Center 10-minute timer [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gy-1Z2Sa-c
K20 Center. (2021). Authenticity and chromebooks. Professional Learning. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/professional-learning/1055
K20 Center (2022). Interactive technology to support student-centered learning. Professional Learning. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/professional-learning/1730
Loewus, L. (2020, December 9). What is digital literacy? Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/what-is-digital-literacy/2016/11#:~:text=More%20simply%2C%20Hiller%20Spires%2C%20a,3
Trust, T. (2018). 2017 ISTE standards for educators: From teaching with technology to using technology to empower learners. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 34(1), 1-3.