Category:

Digital Literacy

Discover tools, tips, and strategies for teaching digital literacy. Equip students with skills to navigate and evaluate the digital world effectively.

Mastodon Magic: Five Tools Shared by Educators

by Miguel Guhlin December 26, 2022

written by Miguel Guhlin

Looking for magical tools to use with your students? You’ve come to the right place. In a series of toots, educators have shared some amazing tools on Mastodon. Let’s take a moment to explore those in this inaugural edition of Mastodon Magic! I’m going to present you with five favorites I’ve discovered so far.

What Is Mastadon?

Like an email service for social media, Mastodon provides people with places to connect. What makes Mastodon unique is that it is run by volunteers who create communities of people. People are welcoming and respectful. And there are no ads in Mastodon. Be sure to read TCEA’s How To Get Started with Mastodon.

What’s more, each community has a different address. You can connect to people in different communities, much the way you do via email – you need only know their address.

Here are some of the addresses for names that may be familiar to you:

You can find a list of educators online (take a look at how to add yourself to the list). Many educators are now joining Mastodon and connecting with others. Here are some tips for using Mastodon, and you can watch the video walkthrough series below to help you get started. A group to follow to stay up to date is @edtech@chirp.social once you get your Mastodon account.

Here’s an invitation to join the Mastodon.Education instance

Did You Know? Video Series on Joining Mastodon from Educators' Perspective
Want a little more information on Mastodon and how to get started there? Watch my video series on making the transition. These four videos will start you off right! They include: 

-> Part 1 - Introductions and Selecting a Sastodon Instance That Is Focused on Education

-> Part 2 - Exploring Mastodon Preferences

-> Part 3 - A Discussion of Apps to Use on Smartphones and Tablets

-> Part 4 - Migrate From One Mastodon Instance to Another

-> Part 5 - How to Set Up Your Profile, Bio, and Pin a Post

-> Part 6 - Importing the EduTooters List

Now, let’s explore some takeaways shared by educators on Mastodon.

Takeaway #1: Create Your Own Custom Map

You may recall I’ve written about the amazing ways maps can facilitate learning. I can’t wait to share this new tool with you! If you want to create your own map of the world, Europe, the United States, or other places, with MapChart, you can color code countries or states, fill in the legend, and save the map to your device. MapChart is the tool to use.

There are many maps to choose from, including:

World maps
Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia, Oceania
US states and counties
Subdivision maps (counties, provinces, etc.)
Single country maps (the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and 20+ more)
Fantasy maps

What’s even more exciting? The created maps are licensed under a Creative Commons license. This means your high-quality PNG formatted image can be made for free and shared. Here’s a quick map of the two places I’ve lived most of my life:

Takeaway #2: Time for Inclusive Education

Looking for resources to educate on subjects that address stereotypes and stigmas? Then the TIE website provides a variety of resources you can use. The Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) describes itself this way:

Image Source: **Time for Inclusive Education (TIE)**

We take an educational approach to tackling homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic bullying and prejudice in schools. Fundamentally, we believe that LGBT history, role models, and equalities education should be taught within all schools. Education is the most powerful tool we have to tackle prejudice.

Only an educational approach can fully address the stereotypes and stigma which can lead to homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic bullying. We work with teachers and national decision makers, produce resources and curriculum materials, and deliver services in schools to raise awareness, heighten knowledge, and foster good relations.

TIE offers curriculum resources, including lesson plans and learning activities. These include mathematics worksheets, role models lesson plans, discrimination learning activities, and infographics. Although Scottish educators may find this of most use, there are resources any educator or institution can use.

Takeaway #3: Shared Piano Lab

A fun, browser-friendly tool you can use is the Chrome Music Lab. Although I lack musical aptitude now, I hope to someday add it to my repertoire.

If you know how to play the piano (I don’t), and have a couple of friends, you can play the piano in tandem with them. Isn’t that cool?

Takeaway #4: Technology Resources and Info

On Mastodon, you can find a rich, growing community of educators sharing resources. Also, people are generous. This New Hampshire educator from Pinkerton Academy has some great resources for you.

Christina DiMicelli (@MrsDi@qoto.org) shares some great slide decks you can swipe and use. With her permission, I share them with you and all #EduTooters who may find these resources useful.

How amazing is that?

Takeaway #5: Native Land Digital

As I began this list with maps, it’s only fair that I should end it with the most exciting takeaway on this list. It may be serious, though, since it relates to the imprecise history of Indigenous Peoples. Upon arriving, the website immediately points out:

This map does not represent or intend to represent official or legal boundaries of any Indigenous nations. To learn about definitive boundaries, contact the nations in question.

Also, this map is not perfect – it is a work in progress with tons of contributions from the community. Please send us fixes if you find errors.

If you would like to read more about the ideas behind Native Land or where we are going, check out the blog. You can also see the roadmap.

As someone who grew up in the Republic of Panama with the stories of Urraca, an Indigenous warrior who fought the Spanish off until his death, this is an exciting revelation. Combine this map with the The Latin American History Podcast, and you can see travel back in time.

The Latin American History Podcast shares the story of Spanish and Portuguese America. It starts with its beginnings and continues until the present day. You can find other history podcasts here. Learn the history of the Taino, who were wiped out by conquistadores. When you see how far the Taino territories extended and their erasure from the land, it is quite sobering. The Native Land Digital website seeks to accomplish the following:

We aim to improve the relationship of people, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, with the land around them and with the real history and sacredness of that land.

This involves acknowledging and righting the wrongs of history, and also involves a personal journey through the importance of connecting with the earth, its creatures, and its teachings.

Let the connecting begin. I hope you’ll find your way to the Fediverse, where Mastodon instances abound. You’ll find many educators ready to welcome you there. This blog entry, How To Get Started with Mastodon, can aid you in your journey.

Feature Image Source

Screenshot by author, Native Land Digital

December 26, 2022 2 comments

Content Creation Digital Literacy Online Tools and Apps

How to Use Canva’s Text to Image Feature

by Dr. Bruce Ellis December 23, 2022

written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

Canva is a platform that allows users to easily create visually stunning images using artificial intelligence. One of its standout features is the artificial intelligence (AI) text to image function that was recently deployed. This feature allows users to input a block of text and generate an image based on its contents. This can be super useful if you are looking for content-specific images but coming up empty handed.

One of the biggest benefits of the AI text to image feature is that is highly customizable. The more detailed your request, the better it can create photos to match what you might want. But this tool isn’t perfect, so be prepared to tweak your input text and try again. And, as the AI improves, you can expect fewer cases of having to tweak your text in the future. Also, you can reach your image quota for the day, though no specific information can be found as to how many requests you can make before this happens. As their servers and processing power scales, you may find that this is no longer a limitation of using their tool.

Five Steps for Using Canva’s Text to Image Tool

Open Canva, and start a new project.
The first time you use Canva’s text to image tool, you will need to scroll down on the left-hand menu to locate it in the Apps directory.
As shown below, you will need to describe the image you’re looking for as best you can in the text box.
Next, scroll through the styles to select the one you are interested in, or you can just leave it as “Surprise me.”
When you are ready for Canva to generate four options for you to consider, click the “Generate image” button. To use an image, just click it or click and drag it to the stage area. You can then use the image as you would with any other graphic!

Screenshot of Canva's text-to-image tool — Screenshot by author

Four Best Practices to Optimize Image Output

When using Canva’s AI text to image feature, there are a few best practices to keep in mind in order to maximize its impact.

1. Carefully plan the content of your text.

The AI algorithms in Canva will use the words in your text to generate the image, so it’s essential to choose your words wisely. Make sure that your text clearly conveys your intended message and uses language that will be easily understood by your audience. If the images aren’t created as you intended, consider how you can tweak your text input and try again. You may need to be more specific or more generic in your input.

2. Consider the context in which your image will be used and choose a style that fits.

In Canva, you can choose from several options: Surprise me (which will create a variety of styles from your input), Photo, Drawing, 3D, Painting, Pattern, and Concept art (associated icons shown below in order).

Screenshot of Canva's image style options — Screenshot by author

3. Keep your audience in mind when using the AI text to image feature.

Think about what your audience is looking for and tailor your images to meet their needs and preferences. That may mean you have to tweak the wording to include specific objects, colors, locations, surroundings, people, feelings/emotions, etc.

4. You cannot go back to previously generated images, so add images you think you may use to the stage area.

This will allow you to also compare images from several tries. Then, you can just delete the ones from the stage that you choose not to use. Additionally, you can add each image to a separate page so you can go back to them at a later date. Doing this will allow you to save each image individually when you save the file as a JPG or PNG file.

Examples of AI-Generated Images in Canva

Canva offers several ideas to prime the pump in case you aren’t sure what to try first. They include:

A panda riding a bike through a city with a depth of field
A light watercolor painting of koi fish in a pond
A photo of a magical forest city from the future

For the following images, I chose the Surprise me style. Above each set of photos is the text I used to generate the images.

“Settlers traveling across Texas plains in covered wagons during winter“

Various images created by author in Canva

“Phileas Fogg Rides an Elephant as led by a young Parsee guide into the jungle” (in reference to chapter 11 of Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne)

“A scientist mixing chemicals from two different flasks. Smoke rising up from one flask. Liquids are red and blue.”

Be sure to visit and bookmark Canva’s Free AI Online Image Generator page to stay up with the latest info on this fabulous tool. You can also find more exciting news and info by following Cana on Twitter at @Canva!

What will you create with Canva’s new AI text to image tool? How will you use it to support vocabulary and language acquisition, comprehension, critical thinking, and other skills that benefit from having visual supports?

If you don’t already have one, I encourage you to sign up for a free Canva for Education account.

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December 23, 2022 0 comments

Accessibility Blended Learning Content Areas Digital Literacy English Language Arts Reading (ELAR)Good Teaching Learning Management System (LMS)Math Planning and Preparation Science Social Studies

Interactive Digital Notebooks: Examples, Tips, and Templates!

by Deanna Williams December 1, 2022

written by Deanna Williams

Students and teachers finally return to face-to-face learning to what is a seemingly “normal” start of the 2022-2023 school year. While there is not a hard and fast definition for “blended learning,” oftentimes educators struggle with student experiences and expectations in this regard. In the spring of 2020, those in education, both students and teachers alike, were thrust into a digitally immersed classroom. There were learning curves and positive outcomes, but there were also experiments and failures across all grade and content areas. Since then, students are accustomed to being greatly immersed in technology-rich lessons and activities. And they are embracing the ever-changing technology tools available. While educators have also seemingly embraced available technology, the learning curve is still there. In my district, digital interactive notebooks are paving the way for student success across the curriculum.

What Are Interactive Digital Notebooks?

Interactive digital notebooks are an innovative way for students to engage with and organize course material. Digital notebooks can be individually assigned to students or to the class as a whole. It may seem odd to have a class notebook; however, there are important lessons that students can learn through them. And for teachers, there are many different tools you can use to incorporate digital components. When first using interactive digital notebooks, it may take a little getting used to. But you quickly become accustomed to the ease of grading and appreciate not having to lug a bunch of heavy journals home. Let’s explore a couple of detailed examples!

Digital Notebooks for Literature Circles

During the height of the pandemic, and with lots of trial and error, as the technology integration specialist in my district, I designed an interactive digital notebook for AP English IV students to use with their literature circles. They learned about digital citizenship, hyperlinking, and several other skills that are needed for college and career readiness. I worked closely with the classroom teacher and the students to ensure all the components worked properly and student expectations were clear. It was exciting to see all participants eagerly engaged in feedback! Additionally, the digital notebook could be tweaked at a moment’s notice. The students were even invited to speak about their experience with interactive digital notebooks in front of school board of education members at the TASB Governance Camp (Texas Association of School Boards) in the spring of 2022.

Here is an example for you to explore:

Interactive Notebooks as Planners

Seeing student success and excitement while interacting with the digital notebooks made me want to take another step. I went further to provide the digital notebook to students for daily use instead of a paper planner. This would allow the students to stay organized while also allowing teachers and instructional interventionists the opportunity to utilize assistive technology to support student learning and success. Not only is the notebook easy to access, but students also commented on how their backpacks stayed cleaner and more organized, too. The notebook’s main tool was Google Slides, but also incorporated Google Sheets for class calendar access. Hyperlinks bridged connectivity and access for students and parents from home to the campus classroom. My district currently uses Schoology as our Learning Management System (LMS). The teachers are becoming more and more familiar with hyperlinking homework, calendar events, interactive tools, etc., to the digital notebook.

Take a look at this example for middle school:

***Middle School Example Notebook – All Subjects***

Digital Notebooks Increase Accessibility

There are many pros to using a digital notebook. For example, students have the ability to access their digital notebooks from virtually anywhere in the world. They just need to sign in using their school Google account. In addition to accessibility, there are also assistive technology tools within the Google Suite that students can use. Some of these tools include text-to-speech, voice typing, translation, and many others. Because there are numerous tools that can be incorporated into digital notebooks, occupational therapists in my district work with technology integration specialists to utilize assistive technology tools to ensure accommodations are effectively utilized. A couple of the main tools used outside of the Google Suite are Snap&Read and Co:Writer. Another great resource is an app called Slides Translator. It is user-friendly and includes over 60 language dialects.

Student Voice

When rolling out a project such as interactive digital notebooks, student voice is imperative when it comes to measuring success. I held a debriefing session with AP English students to take note of what worked and what did not.

Watch the video here.

Interactive Digital Notebook Templates

There are many wonderful websites that generously share their Google Slides journal templates. Some of the most notable are Slides Mania, Slides Carnival, Slides Go, and My Perfect Presentation. These sites offer a variety of templates to choose from, with several being journal-type options.

There is much to be said about the effectiveness of using interactive digital notebooks in the classroom. Both students and teachers will be positively impacted by the learning opportunities and use of technology they would not experience with a traditional paper journal. The personalization of student learning makes the trial and errors worth it in the end. The beauty of the interactive digital notebook is that one size doesn’t always fit all, but with a couple of clicks and tweaks, the notebook is perfect for the end user, the student.

December 1, 2022 7 comments

Cybersecurity Digital Citizenship Digital Literacy

Three Resources to Boost Kids’ Digital Safety

by Miguel Guhlin October 21, 2022

written by Miguel Guhlin

Wish someone had your back as a parent or educator when it comes to cybersecurity so that when you had questions, you knew where to go to find the answers? Or do you wish that someone suggested the questions and answers because you don’t even know what to ask? If so, you’ve come to the right place. TCEA.org’s TechNotes blog offers a lot of suggestions and resources for cybersecurity. What’s more, we’ve rounded up some information sources you don’t want to miss.

Let’s take a look at three amazing resources– all available for free. These resources can help you deal with tough topics. And they can offer suggestions for safeguarding your digital life.

Resource #1: Firefox for Families

The makers of the Firefox browser, Mozilla, have put together an incredible resource. Designed for parents, it has the following objectives:

To make awkward tech conversations with kids less awkward
To offer starter topics to get things rolling

The topics include a host of easy to read issues you need to know about:

Privacy
Mental Health
Bullying
Public wifi
Passwords
Private Mode

One of the most important components is The Super-Official Family Tech Agreement. This agreement is a PDF that resembles a contract between the child(ren) and the parent(s) or caregiver(s). It addresses various key tenets of digital citizenship without engaging in pedantry. Its four main tenets include:

Be yourself and stay safe.
Talk to me!
Oh, the places you’ll please never go.
The endless suckiness of time sucks.

As you can imagine, Firefox for Families worked hard to keep the content light-hearted. And they covered a wide variety of tough topics, offering parental tips along the way.

Some of the parental tips they offer?

Turn off location services for apps.
Talk with children about how their social apps make them feel.
Agree to report online bullying to school administrators.

The Firefox for Families TechTalk website also offers great factoids, such as:

Sixteen percent of students in grades 9–12 have experienced cyberbullying. (Source: Stopbullying.gov, 2019 US Study)
Data harvesters have captured more than 72 million bits of personal data. This is by the time children turn 13 years of age.

This is a great resource to share with parents of young children, as well as middle and high school students. The topics Firefox for Families addresses in this resource are timely. What’s more, the nurturing conversation the contract offers focuses on building trust.

As a parent, building trust is an approach I recommend more than “big brother” approaches. Of course, it all depends on how your family works.

Resource #2: Google Safety Center

kids' digital life — Google Safety Center, iPhone Screenshots

The Google Safety Center offers a variety of resources and tools centered around:

Security and Privacy
Family Safety
Leadership

Family Link

The Family Safety component offers tips on how to set ground rules with Family Link. This is a way of saying, “Google can help you watch what your children do online.” For parents who want to trust AND verify what children do online, you will want to learn more about Family Link.

Family Link helps you manage your children’s accounts and devices as they explore online. You can manage apps, keep an eye on screen time, and help set digital ground rules for your family.

With the Family Link app, you can set daily limits and bedtimes for apps to “stop working.” You can also get app activity reports that let you see what your children are up to. Family Link is an app that you can install on both iOS and Android devices.

Kids Space

The Google Safety Center highlights other apps that can assist younger children. For example, Kids Space offers content to “help children discover, create, and grow.” It’s available only for Android tablets. Kids Space’s website also offers a parental guide to get you started.

YouTube Kids

Another kid-friendly space Google manages is YouTube Kids. YouTube Kids offers family-friendly videos, as well as parental resources. One of those resources includes tools you can use as a parent to control what your children can see, as well as a timer. You can also block what children have access to.

There are a lot of resources and tools in the Google Safety Center. Be prepared to spend some time exploring and taking action.

Resource #3: Be Internet Awesome

Another digital citizenship-friendly offering from Google, Be Internet Awesome offers a game. The game, “Interland,” teaches digital safety and citizenship to kids. Kids help fellow “Internauts” fight against hackers, phishers, oversharers, and bullies.

Besides the game, the Be Internet Awesome website offers the following:

Family Tips and Activities
Family Guide to Supervised Experiences on YouTube
Google Families curated content (including resources from PBS Kids and Common Sense Media)
A Family Pledge in English and Spanish
Family Link Parent’s Guide
Internaut Papercraft Activity Template
And a lot more.

While most of the links work, some, like the Family Safety Contract, are broken. This suggests the site may need some updating. In the meantime, check out CommonSense Media’s Family Media Agreement (PDF).

More Resources Available

Want access to more amazing resources? You might explore these websites:

And to learn more about safeguarding your kids’ technology use, explore the FTC’s website.

October 21, 2022 0 comments

Android Digital Citizenship Digital Literacy Google Tips and Tricks iOS Tips and Tricks

Two Options for Stopping Smartphone Trackers

by Miguel Guhlin September 26, 2022

written by Miguel Guhlin

Do you have a friend or co-worker you only can trust so far? You know the “I have an important secret to keep that would be problematic if shared with this person” type situation? If you’re sharing confidential data with your smartphone, it’s the same. You are blabbing too much. If you object to others sharing secrets against your will, you may want to pay attention to what I share today. Every day, as you use your smartphone, it’s sharing your information.

Smartphone users like you share 250 million terabytes of data every day. And companies track everything you do or say with your smartphone. They do this because, in the next three years, the in-app advertising market will reach $234 billion. Let’s explore two ways to safeguard your smartphone.

“My smartphone experience will never be the same again. I feel empty and dumb, naked and invaded.” -Famina

smartphone trackers — Image Source: Techaeris

Data Tracking Apps

“I deleted all but two of my dictionary apps on my phone! I had about fifteen of them,” says Famina. She goes on to write that her dictionary apps were sending information to Google LLC. Most of us install apps on our phones all the time. Sometimes, it’s situational. You’re out somewhere and someone says, “Try this app out! It lets you do so much.”

Or you could be in a conference session and the speaker says, “Install TikTok. Learn how to use it to promote digital resources, programming, and engagement. “Sixty percent of business owners recently reported (source) that TikTok helps their business. Why shouldn’t educators feel the same way?

Headlines, like this one from BuzzFeed News, are important to consider:

Leaked Audio From 80 Internal TikTok Meetings Shows That US User Data Has Been Repeatedly Accessed From China…“Everything is seen in China.”

Your data is being gathered and tracked.

Your phone is the ideal tool for advertisers and data brokers. They collect your information and serve you ads based on it. Ad companies use software development kits (SDKs). They give those to app developers for free and the developers make money from ads the companies sell.

Your location data, as well as other data, gets sent to someone else (source). The data is also sold to various other entities, including law enforcement. Besides not using apps like TikTok, known to share your data, what else can you do?

Stopping Data Tracking

You may throw up your hands in despair. How can you use your phone and valued services (e.g. weather) without unwanted data sharing?

Kim Komando offers eight ways you can prevent smartphone tracking. Here are a few of those that I have done:

Disabling location services and opting out of ads.
Use a more secure browser, like Brave or Firefox Focus, both of which I use.
Visit the Digital Advertising Alliance website, which offers a tool to opt out of ads on your phone.

But Kim doesn’t share everything you can do. Let’s explore two more options.

Stop Tracking Me

Two more options you can take advantage of include using online scanning tools. These check apps for trackers before you install them on your phone. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, right? Once your data is out there, who knows where it will go?

Option #1: Blokada

Blokada is an ad blocker and privacy app for Android and iOS. It is open source and a secure software. In spite of that, Blokada (especially on iOS) costs money. It offers two plans, including Blokada Cloud ($19.99 per year) and Blokada Plus ($62.00 per year or $6.49/mo).

What do you get for that cost?

Blocks ads and trackers
Works for all apps and browsers
Requires no root or jailbreak
Safe design that does not break encryption
More protection when using a VPN (available as part of Blokada Plus)

You can get it for Android or iOS. You can give it a try for seven days during a free trial, but cancel your subscription before then if you opt against it.

Option #2: Tracker Control

Another option for your consideration is Tracker Control. Available only for Android, it makes it easy for you to check and control hidden data collection. To detect tracking, Tracker Control relies on the disconnect blocklist and an in-house blocklist. Created from analyzing approximately two million apps, the in-house blocklist is powerful.

The Best Solution

Most of us rely on our phones for many reasons. From game-station to ebook reader to social connector, our phones do a lot. The least of which is allow us to make phone calls. Yet when we fail to secure our data on the devices we use, we become co-conspirators. Co-conspirators in selling our data with little benefit or awareness.

The best solution may be to avoid installing apps that sell our data. Using tools like Blokada and Tracker Control can make a big difference– a difference that can mean everything when someone is trying to get a credit card in our name or a loan.

Feature Image Source

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

September 26, 2022 0 comments

Back to School Digital Citizenship Digital Literacy

Common Sense Education’s Free Resources for Back to School

by Emily Horn August 19, 2022

written by Emily Horn

Back to school is officially here. Some schools in the U.S. started in late July but as we approach mid to late August, we’re seeing even more back-to-school pictures pop up. Common Sense Education is here for it. And so is TCEA! I wanted to share several new resource and articles offered by Common Sense Education that I think you’ll find useful for the beginning of this new school year. Let’s take a look!

Customizable Templates

Common Sense Education recently posted these helpful templates for educators and caregivers. They cover all grade levels and include digital citizenship agreements, dinner conversation starters, and family guides you can share with caregivers.

Roundup of Best Ed Tech Tools

Here’s Common Sense’s roundup of 46 back-to-school tools for supporting instruction with technology. These tools are categorized under the following topics:

Social-emotional learning
Curriculum and lesson planning
Feedback, assessment, and porfolios
Organization and productivity
Parent and student communication
Presentation and video
Professional growth

Tips by Text

Common Sense Education is now offering families and caregivers a free text service in English and Spanish. Guardians can sign up to recieve tips for healthy technology use via text at no charge! Tips will include information on screen time management, choosing developmentally appropriate media and apps, setting boundaries, and recommendations for entertainment based on age. Share this information with your students’ families! And, as a bonus, here is an article with Four Tips on Managing Devices and Screen Time for Families you can share as well.

Additional Common Sense Education Articles

Have any resources you’d add to this list? Leave them in the comments for everyone to enjoy. And have a happy back to school!

August 19, 2022 0 comments

Digital Citizenship Digital Literacy Leadership

Empowering Students as Digital Leaders

by Jessica Mays June 30, 2022

written by Jessica Mays

As an educator, I want our learners to recognize the power of technology and its potential to cultivate world leaders who will leave meaningful impacts on our society. In order for this to be achieved, we must provide students with the knowledge and skills to engage in digital environments safely, responsibly, and with confidence. In a recent TechNotes post titled “Where Do We Go From Here?”, Luann Hughes charges all of us to take action to “correct the problems that unsafe online access is creating for our students.” So, where do we begin? We must offer up opportunities for students to be digital leaders.

Ask the Students

“Always ask the students first.” I have this simple sentence written on a sticky note posted prominently on my computer screen. I look to it as a daily reminder of how critical it is to involve students, our most important stakeholders, in all that we do. When I reflect on my most successful lessons, projects, and programs, they all have included student input or feedback. In the instances where I failed to include students, the results were far less favorable.

Students serve as leaders in their schools in a number of ways. From involvement in student organizations to athletics to fine arts, students assume leadership roles in a variety of ways and create lasting, positive impressions on staff and their peers alike. If students have the ability to lead in these ways, why would we not ask them to use their skills and talents to promote digital literacy and citizenship?

Two Ways to Promote Student Leadership

As a parent and educator, I believe I have done a good job in communicating how to safely and responsibly live, learn, and work in our technology-rich world. The truth is, regardless of my efforts, my students and my children will far surpass my efforts, because as digital natives who have been immersed in technology since birth, they have a unique perspective that I, and most current educators, do not have.

Rather than waiting for our students to become parents and educators, how might we empower them to lead learning now? Here are two ways you can involve students in promoting digital literacy and citizenship.

Create a club or an elective class with the purpose of learning about digital literacy and citizenship and educating the student body in these areas.
Form a student advisory committee to help the campus make informed decisions and to weigh in on the school’s strategic planning.

What Can These Student Groups Do?

Before establishing a class, club, or committee, it is important to set goals for the students’ involvement. Here are examples of the activities these student groups can take on.

Clubs and Classes may be leveraged to:

Design digital citizenship and literacy resources for peers, teachers, and parents
Co-teach lessons with teachers, counselors, and librarians
Lead social media campaigns for responsible online behaviors
Speak to peers at school assemblies and other functions
Serve as school ambassadors at community events
Conduct outreach programs at other campuses within your district
Mentor their peers

Advisory Committees may be leveraged to:

Share student perspectives and opinions at meetings
Poll peers
Collaborate with staff to develop recommendations
Conduct informal studies and research
Participate in panel discussions

Six Tips for Getting Started

Regardless of whether you are forming a club or organizing a committee, launching any program can be challenging. Here are a few suggestions to help you get off to a strong start.

Starting a digital literacy and citizenship club, class, or advisory committee

1. Start Small

Begin with a single class or a club with a limited number of students. Consider forming a student version of an existing committee. For example, if you have a teacher technology advisory committee, you might launch a student technology advisory committee as a companion.

2. Build on What You Know

What are some challenges students in your school are having? Leverage the club, class, or committee to address these needs first.

3. Maximize Students’ Existing Talents

Do the students involved enjoy public speaking, designing publications, or posting on social media? Maximize these existing skills within the scope of your student leadership groups.

4. Begin by Curating Rather than Creating

Rather than having students design their own publications at the start, teach them how to responsibly source, curate, and share existing publications that are relevant to the group’s mission and the staff and student body.

5. Plan for Training

This will likely be a new experience for students. Prioritize time for training the students on skills and content. Time spent up front to do this will help ensure that students feel confident in their roles and the quality of their work will be stronger.

6. Leverage Community Support

Which businesses or community organizations have visions that align with your student group’s goals? Partner with them for support. They may have resources, training, facilities, equipment, and funding that they are willing to share in this partnership.

The Benefits

Starting any new program can be daunting and time consuming. However, the benefits are abundant. Aside from empowering students to engage with technology safely, responsibly, and with confidence, student-led digital literacy and citizenship programs open doors to:

Partnerships with corporations and community organizations
Increased technology support capacity
Visibility by State and local leaders
Just-in-time digital learning
A comprehensive technology support system
Meaningful experiences for students that translate to post-secondary education and the workforce
Excitement for and innovation in learning

Beginning this school year, I am commiting to empowering students to lead learning in digital literacy and citizenship. I hope you’ll join me and start something great at your school!

June 30, 2022 1 comment

Advocacy Coding/Computer Science Curricular Standards Cybersecurity Digital Citizenship Digital Literacy STEM/STEAM Technology Applications TEKS

SBOE to Consider Tech TEKS and Computer Science Update

by Jennifer Bergland May 16, 2022

written by Jennifer Bergland

The Texas Education Agency, at the request of the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE), has been working with various groups of educators to review and revise the K-8 Technology Applications TEKS and four high school computer science courses. At the April board meeting, the SBOE approved the revisions on first reading. This triggered a required period for the public to provide comments on the new TEKS. The board will vote to approve the revised standards at their June meeting. Below is a brief summary of their work with instructions on how you can provide feedback to the board. I have also included a link to the proposed TEKS at the bottom of this post.

Review of the Process

In order to facilitate the review and revision of a set of standards, the SBOE nominates educators, parents, business and industry representatives, and employers to serve on TEKS review work groups. Work groups make recommendations to the SBOE for revisions to the TEKS.

K-8 Technology Applications TEKS

The K-8 Technology Applications were last revised in 2011. Since then, several pieces of legislation have passed that have changed the scope and direction of the standards. In 2019, the passage of HB 2984 (86R) required the SBOE to include “coding, computer programming, computational thinking, and cybersecurity” into the K-8 Tech Apps curriculum. Also in 2019, SB 11 (86R) required the inclusion of digital citizenship and cyberbullying into the curriculum.

Overview of the K-8 TEKS Changes

From their inception, the K-5 Technology Applications standards were grouped into grade bands (K-2; 3-5). The reviewers have recommended that the K-5 standards be broken into single grades just as they are in other content areas. Each grade level has its own set of TEKS. The different work group documents for the K-8 TEKS can be found on this TEA web page.

The work groups also combined strands, added new ones, and even reduced the number of strands. There are now five strands instead of six. I have listed them below and provided the group’s rationale for their proposed changes.

The primary change is the direction and rigor of the standards. The former TEKS were primarily teaching students how to use technology. With the introduction of computational thinking, coding, computer programming, and cybersecurity the TEKS are substantially more focused on building the academic skills that are involved in computer science.

My advice to teachers and school districts is to begin reviewing and studying the standards now so you will be prepared for their implementation in the 2024-2025 school year. These standards will take a much more concerted effort to implement than the ones they are replacing.

Strand Changes for the K-8 TEKS

Below are the strands the work groups have recommended. I’ve inserted the comments from the work group documents that gave rationale for their recommendations. I have also included those strands that were recommended for elimination.

Computational Thinking – New

This strand aligns with the Computational Thinker strand in the ISTE Standards for Students and CSTA concepts for Algorithms and Programming in accordance with recommendations from the content advisors and Work Group A. Programming, coding, and computational thinking are also required to be included in the K– 8 technology applications TEKS by the Texas Education Code §28.002(c3).

Creativity and Innovation – Current

This strand promotes creating original works that showcase the knowledge students have acquired. It aligns with the Creative Communicator strand in the ISTE Standards for Students, CTE Programming and Software Development TEKS Work Group recommendations, and Work Group A recommendations. Creativity is the process and creation is the product

Data literacy, Management, and Representation (New)

This strand encourages students to use critical thinking skills and digital tools to create visual representations of gathered data or knowledge to display, analyze, and evaluate results. This strand vertically aligns with the CTE Programming and Software Development TEKS Work Group recommendations.

Digital Citizenship (Current)

Work Group B reviewed current law and determined that this strand was still necessary.

Practical Technology Concepts (New Name)

This strand was previously titled Technology Operations and Concepts. It addresses the fundamental skills that students will need to use or create with technology across the curriculum and future courses. These are transferable skills in school and life. Addressing computer systems and operating systems aligns with the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) standards.

Deleted Strands:

Communication and Collaboration:

Work Group D eliminated this strand because they didn’t feel that a stand-alone strand for Communication and Collaboration is necessary. Communication and collaboration are woven throughout the design process and there are explicit examples in other technology application strands.

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

This strand was deleted by Work Group B because these skills are incorporated across the standards.

Creativity and Innovation

This strand was deleted by Work Group B because these skills are incorporated across the standards.

Research and Information Fluency

This strand was deleted by Work Group B because these skills are incorporated across the standards.:

9-12 Computer Science and Cybersecurity Standards

I asked John Owen to provide a brief review of the revisions that were made to the high school courses. He is the Computer Science Project Manager for We Teach_CS at the University of Texas. He was involved in the revision of the four high school computer science courses.

“The four high school level computer science courses now under the CTE umbrella, Fundamentals of Computer Science, Computer Science I, II and III, underwent a revision process this past year which included a slight modification to the strand structure and adjustments to several student expectations in each of the courses. For the most part each course retained its original structure with wording changes to several Student Expectations to provide better clarity, relocating and consolidating several Student Expectations to under the various strands to improve the clarity and flow of the course, and a few Student Expectations added that needed to be deleted for being no longer relevant or beyond the scope of the course, or consolidated with other Student Expectations due to some duplication instances.

A significant effort was made to provide a seamless transition through these four courses to make for a seamless and logical vertical progression for the student taking two or more of these courses in sequence. Also, several of the Student Expectations from the existing topics were too closely aligned with specific languages, particularly Java, and efforts were made to create more general language describing the student expectation. For example, there were several Student Expectations that alluded to the use of object reference variables, a particular aspect of Java not always common to other languages, and broader language was used instead to enable use of other language choices.”

The different work group documents for the high school courses can be found on this TEA web page.

Providing Feedback

The deadline to provide feedback on the revised K-8 Technology Applications TEKS and/or the high school computer science and cybersecurity courses is 5 p.m., June 10, 2022. You can provide your comments using this form.

My advice is to be very specific about what you propose. If you want to recommend the removal or insertion of text in the standards, you should create a document that can be uploaded. Copy and paste the text you want to change. Then, strike the language you want to be deleted and underline the new text you want to include.

Here are the revised standards for Chapter 126, the K-8 Technology Applications. Here are the revised standards for Chapter 127, Subchapter O, the high school computer science and cybersecurity courses

Photo Credits:

Photo of students pointing to laptop by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

Photo of teacher helping student with coding by Mars Sector-6 on Unsplash

Photo of secure phone by Dan Nelson on Unsplash

May 16, 2022 0 comments

Digital Literacy Social Media

How to Search Twitter for Anything

by Jennifer Bergland May 10, 2022

written by Jennifer Bergland

Twitter is a great place for you to connect with others who share common interests. You can discover people who teach the same subject or grade levels you teach. Perhaps you are passionate about robotics and would like to connect with others who are as well. Or maybe you are concerned about the exodus of teachers from the classroom and want to find some resources on this topic? You don’t have to look too hard to find others with similar interests or concerns. But do you know how to search Twitter and find what you’re looking for?

Like other applications, you can use some search terms to help you locate exactly what or who you are looking for. The inspiration for this blog post came from the Twitter user @TessaRDavis. She tweeted a thread that illustrated how to search Twitter, and I thought it was pure gold! So I wanted to share some of her insights with our educator readers.

Search Terminology

Search operators are words, phrases, and symbols you use to tell a search engine what you are searching for. The operators tend to be the same or at least similar on different search engines. Thus, you can use the same phrases or words to search in Google as you would on Twitter. I will demonstrate how to use these, and then I’ll provide a list of terms at the bottom of the blog.

How to Search for Tweets about a Person

You can search for any mention of a user by simply typing in their Twitter handle (for example, @jbergland).

How to Search for Tweets from a Person

You can also search for tweets from a specific person.

Twitter search by person — Searching tweets from a specific person.

Note that in the first search, @LLeneWinokur is tweeting about Desiree Alexander (@educatoralex), and in the second search I was searching for Peggy Reimers’ tweets.

How to Search Tweets from One Person to Another

I might also want to search for tweets from one individual to another. In the following example, I searched for tweets in which Miguel Guhlin specifically tweeted Peggy Reimers.

How to Search Tweets from a Person about a Topic

I might also want to find out what an individual has to say about a topic I’m interested in. In the following example, I wanted to know what Andre Daughty had to say about “math.” I discovered that this is a topic he frequently tweets about.

How to Search Tweets by Topic

Searching is also useful if you are wanting to see others’ thoughts on a specific topic. For instance, I am extremely interested in the topic of virtual learning. Let’s see how I can use the search operators to help me find some resources related to this topic.

First, I did a simple search with the phrase virtual learning. I found a variety of topics that were mentioned. The one below reminded me that virtual learning is happening in all types of fields, not just in education. In this example, virtual learning is being used in the field of agriculture.

Also, in this example note that the phrase virtual learning stands alone. There are no other symbols or terms placed around it. This will pull up any tweet that has those two words in the text. They do not need to be placed together in one phrase. If I only want tweets with words in a certain order, then I need to place quotation marks around them, i.e. – “virtual learning”.

How to Search Tweets by Date

Next, because I don’t want to look for tweets that focus on the failure of online learning, I am primarily interested in posts that were tweeted after the first year and a half of the pandemic. I’m looking for how schools have adapted to it. In order to do this, I will need to include a range of dates.

The placement of the dates is critical. You must start with the year, then the month, and then the day. If you want tweets from a specific date range, you will need to use the terms “since” and “until.” Here is an example: “virtual learning” since:2021-09-02 until:2022-05-05. Of all the search terms, following this formula seems to be the pickiest. Follow it exactly. I actually found that it helped to copy and paste it in the search field and then change the dates to fit my needs.

I also used the date search with these two terms robots and dash to find this gem:

How to Narrow a Search by Location

I am especially interested in any public policy discussions that involve virtual learning, so it might be helpful to narrow my search to those tweeting from the Austin area– which is where most of the legislative hearings are held. I used this search term to narrow my search to Austin: near:austin within:10mi.

I found a tweet that mentioned a hearing that I haven’t watched yet. Once I discovered the tweet, I scheduled some time to go back and watch the recording of this hearing, so I can see what else was mentioned about virtual learning.

How to Search for Viral Tweets

Sometimes we are wanting to find tweets that have gone somewhat viral. You can do this with a variety of search terms:

min_retweets: x

min_faves: x

min_replies: x

In the following example, I wanted to find tweets about Ukraine that had more than 1000 retweets.

How to Search Tweets with Links

You might be searching for tweets that include a link to a blog post, news article, or video. You can do that by filtering your tweets. In the example below, I wanted to find news articles about the teacher shortage. I used this operator to accomplish that: filter:links

How to Search for Tweets with Media

Sometimes our favorite ed tech presenters have posted one of their recommended tools. Here is one I found that Leslie Fisher posted using the filter:media.

Conclusion

As you can see, there is gold to be mined using Twitter’s search feature. You just need to know what search operators can help you find what you need. To be honest, I had a hard time stopping my search once I got started. I kept thinking of new ways I could unearth tweets that would help with my work or just for fun. Happy searching!

List of Search Terms

@twitteruser – Any mention of a twitter user
word 1 word 2 – Simple word search
from:@twitter user – Tweets from a specific individual
from:@twitteruser to:@twitteruser – Search for tweets from a specific person that they directed to a specific person
from:@twitteruser math (or other word) – From a twitter user and a word or topic they mention
from:@twitteruser filter:media – From a twitter user with some type of media image
Word or phrase filter:links – Specific word or topic in which the tweet contains a link
Word or phrase min_retweets:x – Looking for viral links – search for a minimum number of retweets
Phrase or twitter user: since:YEAR-MONTH-DAY until:YEAR-MONTH-DAY (ex: 2022-05-08) (since:2022-01-01 until:2022:05-08) – Looking for tweets that fall within a specific time frame
Phrase:min_retweets:x since:2022-01-01 until:2022:05-08 – Search for tweets that mention a topic with minimum retweets within a certain time frame
Phrase near:austin within:10mi – Tweets about a specific topic by people living in a specific location

May 10, 2022 1 comment

Digital Literacy

Intellectual Property 101: Copyright, Fair Use, and More

by Dr. Cynthia Piña April 13, 2022

written by Dr. Cynthia Piña

The world of intellectual property is very complicated– including copyright and Creative Commons. These would fall under digital literacy, which we know our students, and really everyone needs. Let’s explore links that break down the main terms for various media. It is important to understand the different types of attribution and when to use it.

A Quick Disclaimer

Although the sites provided below allow for “free” use of their works, always check the FAQs. Some of these are free for individuals, non-publishing, or non-commercial. However, you will have to purchase a license if you decide to use works for business, commercial, or other means (publicly or for monetization, for example). Lastly, at any point, if you see a watermark, do not use the work, as this indicates it is copyrighted material. Other stock photo sites will use their watermark (such as Shutterstock).

Important Terms

U.S. Copyright

Copyright is a license covered by U.S. law that protects intellectual property and authorship of different works of art and media. With copyright protection, the author/creator/developer can enforce how their content is distributed, shared, used, and monetized. Material, whether art, media, or other, does not have to be published. Copyright is the strictest license and can lead to fines. It can be legally enforced. A recent case out of Houston revealed a violation of copyright. In order to use any copyrighted material, you need to write for permission from the author for Use. Also, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) falls under this category and the TEACH Act for online learning.

Fair Use

Under Copyright law, there is Fair Use Doctrine. Fair Use allows for copyrighted material to be used under specific circumstances such as scholarship and teaching without acquiring the necessary permission. There are restrictions such as protection for the teacher, not the students. Also, depending on the material or work being used or replicated, there are restrictions on how much can be used. For instance, if you want to share a book with your class, you can. But you are limited to around 10% of the total work. This ensures using these materials for teaching purposes and not for creation, publication, assignments, or other reasons.

Creative Commons USA

Creative Commons is a kind of license that is open and flexible. This means that media licensed under Creative Commons is more available to share and reproduce by others. This kind of license provides broader, less-restrictive permissions. Creative Commons was quickly developed in the digital age to respond to people who wanted to share their work. Several attribution licenses are associated with Creative Commons, so be sure to check those out before sharing. The key concept to remember is that we should be looking toward OPEN availability in this digital age– just like Open Educational Resources (OERs), access, and media.

Public Domain

Public domain refers to materials or works that do not have copyright protection. This could happen for a couple of reasons, such as the work being created before the existence of copyright law or the copyright protection on the work has expired. For instance, anything published prior to 1925 is now open to all (unless copyright has been extended). If you are interested in an exciting story, the happy birthday song we all sing went through some public domain/copyright problems. It has been in the public domain since 2017.

Other Examples of Public Domain Works:

Project Gutenberg: 60,000+ downloadable eBooks (expired copyright)
Metropolitan Museum of Art: more than 400,000 images
Prelinger Archives: public domain films

Royalty Free

When works are used and no royalties need to be paid, they are considered royalty free. But be careful, as royalty free does not mean free to use or not copyrighted. For example, you may have to pay for the license but not the royalties.

Stock Images

Another term to be wary of is “stock.” In general, you will want to find images from a repository site, such as the ones below, or from Google images. You will need to filter for the non-copyrighted material. You do not want to use an image you find posted on a blog, website, or other individual’s site. That is copyright infringement. Remember, when you know the image is copyrighted, it does not matter if you cite it. It is still against the law. You will need their permission to use it.

Free Music, Image, and Video Resources

Music

Images

Videos

Tip: When using Google, you can find Creative Commons images in the image database. Narrow your image search by clicking on Tools and then Usage Rights. Select Creative Commons licenses.

I hope you find this information helpful and useful in your work. If you have any insights to add, please drop them in the comments.

April 13, 2022 0 comments

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