In chapter 3, “Conducting Research and Curating Information,” educators teach students how to identify and use quality online sources. Even though our students have had access to the Internet most of their lives, it doesn’t mean they know how to weed out the digital clutter for valid sources. The lessons in this chapter are essential to research at any grade level.
In chapter 4, “Thinking Critically to Solve Problems,” educators give students strategies for organizing different tasks and solving problems along with online collaborative tools to help with project workflow. Students will learn how to communicate with peers and others beyond the walls of the classroom using a variety of digital tools and online services.
The focus of chapter 5, “Being Responsible Digital Citizens,” is critical to students’ future success. As educators, we need to help students understand their digital footprint and what that means to their future success. A positive digital footprint carries importance, and middle-grade students need to know that what goes on the Internet stays on the Internet. As educators, we should guide young learners to make good choices every day in class and even better choices online. We tackle some tough topics in this chapter, including online safety, cyberbullying, and positive digital citizenship.
Chapter 6, “Expanding Technology and Coding Concepts,” provides lessons through which students will learn all about cloud computing and file management on devices. Because these practices are changing so fast, we need to ensure our middle-grade students understand cloud computing and how to protect their information. This chapter will provide a foundation of technology concepts and operations to help students gain the skills they need and will need in the future to perform basic technology functions, troubleshoot, and keep their data safe and organized.
We include practical classroom management tips in every chapter in clear, nontechnical language. Each chapter includes discussion questions you can use during personal reflection or when you learn with your colleagues. We also include a comprehensive appendix of terms and tools, featuring many apps, websites, or technology we write about that might help the reader and many other resources that inspired our research. Visit go.SolutionTree.com/technology to download a free reproducible version of this appendix. As authors, we understand that not every classroom is uniform, so we provided as many alternatives for resources as possible. We will continue to grow with you and share what we learn on our blog.
Building Background: Know Before You Go
Readers should be aware of a few additional concepts regarding this content before they begin engaging with the lessons and chapters that follow. We want to briefly mention suggestions for the sequence in which readers use the lessons in the book, explain the Google Drive platform to ensure all readers have background knowledge on its tools, discuss the concept of learning management systems, which we mention frequently and which play an important role in many lessons, and emphasize the importance of following policies regarding student privacy and Internet use.
Sequence of Use
We know everyone starts at a different point, so we encourage you to jump around in the book. For example, teachers who struggle with technology integration may want to focus first on chapters 1 and 6. We have filled each chapter with practical lessons you can use in any sequence based on your students’ needs. In the appendix, we have included a comprehensive list of every website, app, and product we mention in the book. As digital terms and tools come up, consult definitions in the comprehensive list in the appendix. Visit go.SolutionTree.com/technology to access live links to the sites mentioned in this book.
GOOGLE APPS
Throughout the series, we often mention the Google apps that the G Suite for Education includes. Most educators refer to this as Google Drive (www.google.com/drive). Districts set up teacher and student accounts, and your usual Google email login allows you access to the apps in Google Drive, which include:
This is a Google-heavy book, but you could adapt the ideas and activities if your district uses Microsoft Office 365.
Learning Management Systems
Schools in the 21st century use many different software programs and web-based applications, or learning management systems (LMSs). Most learning management systems have some free features and premium school or district solutions. In most schools, everyone uses the same system so students and parents don’t need to learn a different LMS for every class. Most learning management systems allow the teacher to message students, assign and collect documents, report student progress, and deliver e-learning content. Throughout the book, you will notice we provide steps for how the teacher gives digital files to students and then how students return the digital files to the teacher through the class LMS. For example, “Have students copy the URL and submit the link on the class LMS” means students copy the web address from their document or product they created and share it through the class LMS.
Common learning management systems, both free and fee based, include the following, but you can find hundreds of others on the market.
• Schoology (www.schoology.com)
• Canvas (www.canvaslms.com)
• Edmodo (www.edmodo.com)
• Otus (https://otus.com)
• PowerSchool Learning (www.powerschool.com/solutions/lms)
• Blackboard (www.blackboard.com)
• Moodle (https://moodle.org)
• D2L (www.d2l.com)
• Pearson SuccessNet (www.pearsonsuccessnet.com)
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