What I Learned from Digital Learning Day
Digital Learning Day is a national initiative—complete with its own dedicated hashtag, suggested activities, webinars, webcasts, and other activities for educators, school leaders, and the public. The idea: For one day, we showcase the innovative teachers, leaders, and instructional technology programs that are improving student outcomes using digital tools.
Towne Point Elementary Student performed an Hour of Code for Digital Learning Day. Photo by Brian Mulligan.
But technology for technology’s sake isn’t very helpful. And tools are only as useful as the craftsmen wielding them.
Luckily, Michele Johnson and the other members of the Rodel Teacher Council happen to be masters at work.
During my visit to Towne Point Elementary School on Friday for Digital Learning Day, I witnessed the third-graders in Johnson’s library rotation working on computers at their own pace, pausing momentarily to contemplate a tricky roadblock, and helping each other out when a classmate got stuck. It was a beautiful thing.
Towne Point Elementary students performed an Hour of Code for Digital Learning Day. Photo by Brian Mulligan.
The kids were working through an Hour of Code—a free software platform that demystifies computer science with its easy-to-use, graphical interface that transforms the basic tenets of programing into fun, self-guided activities. The colors are bright, and the characters are recognizable. Most importantly, it gets kids thinking early and often about how computers and video games work.
To adults, giving commands to objects is the underlying force behind of JavaScript coding. To third-graders, their commands are simply telling the Angry Bird how to move closer to the pig its perusing. But that mental process will follow them as their minds develop.
Michele Johnson of Towne Point Elementary School in Dover is a member of the Rodel Teacher Council. Photo by Brian Mulligan.
From her computer monitor, Johnson could monitor and measure her students’ progress in real time, and give personal attention to those who needed it most. If she noticed two or three kids struggling with the same level, she might match them up for group work.
“The kids work at their own pace,” Johnson said. “And it’s an activity that shows them the back-end of what computer gaming looks like, so they’re able to learn basic programming.”
More vitally: “It’s very engaging,” she said. “The kids have a really good time. When we say we’re working on an Hour of Code today, they get really amped up.”
Hour of Code presents the basics of programming with fun, gamified activities.
Digital learning tools can alleviate some of the slog of school—for students and for teachers. And whether it’s NoodleTools at Jennifer Hollstein’s 11th grade English class at Charter School of Wilmington, or Kahoot at Robyn Howton’s AP Language and Composition class at Mount Pleasant High School—online platforms offer a needed splash of fun and engagement that’s more attuned to the digital world where most young people dwell.
“The computer lab is where I go to cool off,” a third-grader named Mya told me. “Sometimes I get frustrated in the classroom because I can’t learn something the way the rest of the class does it.”
For the adults leading the way, those same digital tools can provide a boost for self-paced learning environments and in many cases, the ability to use up-to-the-minute data to tailor instruction. It is the exact sort of stuff espoused in the Rodel Teacher Council’s Blueprint for Personalized Learning.
We all use technology every day when we send emails, use GPS, listen to a podcast, or play Trivia Crack on our tablets. Technology has permeated every facet of our lives. On Digital Learning Day I got to experience how technology is transforming classrooms in Delaware to the great benefit of students and teachers alike.
Photo by Brian Mulligan.