If you use technology almost every day in your classroom, why should you make a big deal about it one day each year? Primarily, to spread the word about all the amazing things you are doing every single day with your students. Digital Learning Day is designed to amplify your story. By highlighting your students’ use of technology, you are helping others know how technology is helping your students to research, create, collaborate, and present in ways that are not possible without the digital tools you have in your classroom.
This year’s Digital Learning Day is February 27. Alliance for Excellent Education started Digital Learning Day in 2012 and it has been growing ever since. The day is designed to celebrate all the great work that you are doing in your classroom, school, and district. You can do this by letting others know how your students are using technology on this specific day using social media (#DLDay @OFFICIALDLDAY), adding your DLDay event to their map, and contacting your local media. Don’t be shy! Let others know all the great things that are happening in your classroom!
Texas Digital Learning Day Activities
To help you see what others are doing, I looked at some of the activities that are posted on the Texas map.
In Dayton ISD, all teachers (Pre-K through 12th grade) are encouraged to do at least one digital activity. All staff members are encouraged to visit the classrooms doing digital activities and record their thoughts using Flipgrid. They are having a friendly competition between campuses to see who has the greatest participation. All participants have the chance to win great prizes!
Garland ISD is celebrating DLDay in a big way. Below are some of the activities their schools are planning for February 27.
- Cisneros Pre-K students will learn how to virtually juggle (balloons, scarves, and balls) during their gym classes. I’m pretty interested in learning how they do this!
- The third- and fifth-grade classes at Hillside Academy will be paired with kindergarten through second grade classes to go on a Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham adventure using a Sphero robot. Students will be coding their way through the story.
- One school will be reading books on Flipgrid so that students in another school in the district can listen to them.
- Beaver Elementary’s first grade will be working on fractions and reading stories aloud using interactive PowerPoint presentations, Epic! books, and Google Classroom.
La Joya ISD is using Digital Learning Day to encourage their parents to log into Imagine Learning, a digital resource the district uses with their students. They are trying to build a school-to-home bridge for 24/7 access.
The Harlingen High School South will be hosting a technology-rich playground in which students and teachers can interact. They will be featuring Osmo, Merge VR, Oculus, Cubelets, Ozobot, and Little Bits.
New Braunfels ISD is declaring that every day is digital learning day in the classrooms at New Braunfels High School. Every student has an iPad, content is delivered via Canvas and/or Google Classroom, and students use a wide variety of apps to complete projects in every class from math to history. One government classroom recently completed a “Create-a-State” project using the presentation app of their choice.
Lubbock-Cooper ISD has been interviewing students from the district to create a video depicting how technology has changed their educational experience. They have implemented a 1:1 iPad model from PreK-12th grade. The video will be posted on their district’s YouTube channel for Digital Learning Day.
Robinson ISD will use LEGO Education Ev3 kits to engage their students in computational thinking as they create a forklift. The students will be using the engineering design process to envision, construct, code, and transport cargo. Teams will complete tasks based on the objectives to carry a specific load.
As you can see, there are all kinds of ways you can celebrate the great things you are doing in your classroom on Digital Learning Day. So put on your thinking caps, design how you can participate in DLDay, then go to the map and proclaim to the world all the great things you are doing with your students everyday.