NYSCATE14

At Allendale Columbia School, we are heading into the 5th year of our iPad 1:1 program in our middle school. This past year, we decided to shift the focus of our traditional application based technology curriculum to a skill based digital literacy curriculum. The skills we decided to focus on are the 5 Cs: citizenship, critical thinking, communication, creativity and collaboration. Ideally, all of the skills would be presented and assessed through interdisciplinary project-based learning. Whatever the project, the emphasis is not on the finished product, but rather the process (problem-solving, self and peer evaluation, and elements of design thinking.) This presentation will give an overview of our current curriculum and how we plan on keeping it current by letting the content evolve with the needs of our students. A few of our current students will give their impressions on digital literacy, digital footprints and the need to be proactive about their digital presence. We will also discuss how and why we transition our students to a model of selective sharing versus keeping everything private. Lastly, we will introduce the concept of SWIM (school work information management) and how this neglected aspect of digital literacy is key to becoming truly fluent in the digital age.