Creator: Regional Educational Media Center Association of Michigan. | visit site
Grade Range: 5 - 8
This free interactive site is an extensive digital literacy curriculum that improves technology proficiency, builds information literacy and digital citizenship skill, and provides 21st century and project-based resources online. The 21 Things are ’big ideas’ in technology and learning such as Visual Learning, Collaboration, Cloud Initiation, Digital Footprint, and much more. The student activities use free web resources designed to address the ISTE National Educational Technology Standards for Students, and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. The non-sequential Things, delivered as project-based Quests, provide links, resources, and activities for students to earn badges and awards. Registration for teachers is required and gives access to teacher resources and a downloadable Moodle version of the site; Moodle is not required to use this site. To access certain external activities and tools, students may need to register with an e-mail. Each Thing contains a Teacher Lesson Guide, Student Checklist, Learning Objectives, and links to various web resources and apps. Things and Quests have roadmap documents for students to use for tracking progress. A Quest includes an introduction (frequently as a short animated video), vocabulary, directions, tutorials, standards, apps, and a student checklist. Extensive teacher resources and support are provided. Assessments are through multiple-choice quizzes at ProProf with a provided password.
In the Classroom
Use the complete curriculum or selected Quests. Assign students individual Things to complete in school or at home as part of blended learning or flipped classrooms. Have students begin with the Basics and progress through selected skills. Use parts of the site to teach a particular skill to the whole class. Have students complete their work through an electronic portfolio Pathbrite, <a href="/single.cfm?id=14067">reviewed here</a>, but not included on the site. There are links to some ideas and samples on the Student Showcase page. Extensive teacher resources and support provided.
At Home
Have fun with your son or daughter while working on these important technologies and digital citizenship skills. Allow your older student to choose which Things they will think they need for a future career, and then work on those.
Tags
internet safety, cyberbullying, social media, digital citizenship, social networking, game based learning, thinking skills, digital storytelling, computers, webquests, organizational skills, media literacy, consumers, careers,
Subjects
Computer Literacy, English, Information Literacy/Research, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Social Studies,