Empowering Learners through the MD Digital Learning Standards
By Kerri Lambert, Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist
In 2022, the Maryland State Department of Education adopted a new set of Digital Learning Standards for students. They are designed to ensure that students are college and career ready, have equitable access to resources, are provided learning opportunities to meet their individual needs, and become responsible digital citizens. In all, there are seven standards, each with several indicators, that are based on the International Society for Technology Education, ISTE, standards. Just like the other learning standards, the MD Digital Learning Standards should be referred to and referenced when planning an activity or lesson incorporating technology.
In this series of blog posts, we will take a closer look at each of the seven standards, and explore ways that teachers can incorporate them into their everyday teaching. First up? The Empowered Learner. Let’s dive in.
Here is the standard as it’s written:
Students should be actively involved in setting goals and plans for meeting those goals. They should be provided with choice in how they gather their knowledge and express their learning using various technology applications and tools. Finally, students should reflect on their failures and successes meeting their goals. Some student activity ideas include:
Another critical piece of this standard involves feedback. Students need guidance as they go through the process, and this can be provided by the teacher, but also through peers and other stakeholders. Examples include:
Lastly, part of taking ownership of one’s own learning, involves how to problem solve when things don’t go as expected. We’ve all been in situations where technology just doesn’t play nice! It can be frustrating, especially if you don’t know what to do. Teaching students strategies such as logging out and back on, clearing the browser history, or checking for updates to programs and applications are skills that will help alleviate frustration. If those basic troubleshooting steps don’t work, teach students where they can look for additional help. Most applications have help built in and can be found by looking at the bottom of the page or searching under the menu “help”. Additionally, here in AACPS, students can refer to the Student Intro to Digital Tools website, found on all their Classlink pages.
By embracing the Empowered Learner standard, we provide our students with tools to be active, life long learners who are able to set goals and meet them, using digital tools available to them- now and in the future.
In 2022, the Maryland State Department of Education adopted a new set of Digital Learning Standards for students. They are designed to ensure that students are college and career ready, have equitable access to resources, are provided learning opportunities to meet their individual needs, and become responsible digital citizens. In all, there are seven standards, each with several indicators, that are based on the International Society for Technology Education, ISTE, standards. Just like the other learning standards, the MD Digital Learning Standards should be referred to and referenced when planning an activity or lesson incorporating technology.
In this series of blog posts, we will take a closer look at each of the seven standards, and explore ways that teachers can incorporate them into their everyday teaching. First up? The Empowered Learner. Let’s dive in.
Here is the standard as it’s written:
1. Empowered Learner:
Students leverage technology to take an active role in choosing, achieving, and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by research. Students:a) articulate and set personal learning goals, develop strategies leveraging technology to achieve them and reflect on the learning process itself to improve learning outcomes;
b) build networks and customize their learning environments in ways that support the learning process;
c) use technology to seek feedback to inform, improve and demonstrate learning in a variety of ways; and
d) understand the fundamental concepts of technology operations, demonstrate the ability to choose, use and troubleshoot current technologies and are able to transfer their knowledge to explore emerging technologies.
So what does that all mean?
Well, basically students are to use technology to set, meet, and reflect on goals, while also receiving feedback through technology on those goals. Additionally, they need to be able to understand at a basic level how technology works and how to troubleshoot technology problems if they occur. It’s about having students take an active, ownership role in how they learn; shifting from teacher led, to student led, learning.
What does this mean/look like in the classroom?
Students should be actively involved in setting goals and plans for meeting those goals. They should be provided with choice in how they gather their knowledge and express their learning using various technology applications and tools. Finally, students should reflect on their failures and successes meeting their goals. Some student activity ideas include:
- SMART Goal Setting
- Digital choice boards (Wixie, DE, Lumio, Google)
- Note taking organizers in Wixie, Google, Nearpod, and Lumio
- Utilizing Read&Write features such as the highlighter and vocabulary tool to take notes and create vocabulary lists
- Allowing students choice in how they present their learning such as video, digital one-pagers, podcasts, digital drawings, Minecraft builds, etc
- Video or audio reflections in Wevideo or Wixie (video, audio)
- Using the voice note option in Brightspace to provide feedback
- Discussion boards in Brightspace allowing peer-to-peer discourse
- Utilizing live commenting features in programs like Google, Wixie, and WeVideo to provide feedback while the project is in progress
Lastly, part of taking ownership of one’s own learning, involves how to problem solve when things don’t go as expected. We’ve all been in situations where technology just doesn’t play nice! It can be frustrating, especially if you don’t know what to do. Teaching students strategies such as logging out and back on, clearing the browser history, or checking for updates to programs and applications are skills that will help alleviate frustration. If those basic troubleshooting steps don’t work, teach students where they can look for additional help. Most applications have help built in and can be found by looking at the bottom of the page or searching under the menu “help”. Additionally, here in AACPS, students can refer to the Student Intro to Digital Tools website, found on all their Classlink pages.
By embracing the Empowered Learner standard, we provide our students with tools to be active, life long learners who are able to set goals and meet them, using digital tools available to them- now and in the future.
