Advocating+&+Evaluating+Digital+Content+to+Help+Meet+Common+Core+&+Essential+Standards

= Advocating & Evaluating Digital Content to Help Meet Common **Core & Essential Standards** =

= Overview = The Information Age is simulating the creation of powerful aids for learning, communicating, and processing information. It is also has induced a very rapid increase in the volume that one might want to use, learn from, and/or teach with. You, your teachers, and your students each deal with information overload in an environment of rapid change. Successful information age teacher trainers, like yourselves, encourage learning and teaching practices that promote student participation in knowledge creation and sharing WITH and THROUGH technology.

In this session, you will first preview applications that directly support you and your teachers expanding knowledge of Common Core (CC). Next, you will be exposed to a variety of digital content repositories that directly support learner outcomes associated with CC & North Carolina Essential Standards (ES) and help to build students' capacity to understand complex informative text, solve problems, and demonstrate their mastery of content in creative ways.  Finally, you will begin to outline local processes/criteria for advocating for and evaluating new digital resources. The purpose of this session is for you to be able to return to your school/district armed with user friendly CC & ES aligned digital content as well as seeding and/or expanding evaluation standards for these resources.

Goals
You will enhance your support of teachers' application of CC & ES as well as their advocacy and evaluation of digital resources.

Outcomes
At the end of this session, you will be able to:
 * Identify CC tools that can be used in learning and teaching practices;
 * Engage with digital content repositories that can be shared with your teachers;
 * Discuss local processes for digital resource/tool advocacy, and;
 * Seed and/or expand local evaluation standards for digital content and/or resources.

= Common Core Quick Starts = All of these resources are great references for teachers to EASILY and READILY explore, understand, and apply the core standards.
 * I. ** Just as reminder there are online resources to q uickly find standards by subject, grade, and subject category (domain/cluster)... for English/Language Arts and for Math. For those of you and/or your teachers with Ipads, Iphones or Androids there is a __ Common Core FREE app __ (for Androids ). This app includes Math standards K-12 and Language Arts standards K-12. Math standards include both traditional and integrated pathways as well College and Career Readiness Standards. Here is an example of the easy layout: All of these resources great reference for teachers to EASILY and READILY explore, understand, and apply the core standards..

**II. ** The __ Framework for 21st Century Learning __, a roadmap for education centered around technology and skills-focused learning. The __ Partnership for 21st Century Skills __ has released a new __ toolkit __ (Click to download) designed to help educators implement Common Core State Standards within the P21 Framework for 21st Century Skills. Here are some examples of lesson starters you will find in the toolkit: bbmmmmmmmmmmmmmmbb

= Digital Content Resources Aligned with CC & ES =


 * I. **__ Discovery Education __ has aligned its digital content services: __ streaming __, __ streaming Plus __, and __ Discovery Education Assessment __, with __ [|Common Core] __ (CC)

**this window will pop up** : ||
 * = **Here is an example of how it works:** ||= **After selecting "Curriculum Standards" Button,**
 * = [[image:de1.png width="639" height="387" align="center"]] ||= [[image:de2.png width="523" height="511" align="center"]] ||

II. RadioLab is a portal to another world that illuminates ideas that blur between science, philosophy, and the human experience. Students can watch video episodes or listen to podcasts where critical thinking questions are investigated and discussed in relevant ways that students will respond to. Information is provided in an array of sensory stimulating ways that meet diverse learning styles, and most importantly really help meet the ES.

**III.** Thinkfinity offers comprehensive teaching and learning resources across ALL content areas. The resources are grade-specific and are aligned with [|state standards] and CC. Please click **HERE** for an annotated guide for how to find digital resources aligned with NC CCSS.

Art ARTSEDGE provides resources and examples for teachers to teach in, through and about the arts. The site includes multimedia, how to "art project" articles & lesson plans.
 * IV. Some More Digital Resources: **

Math Illuminations is the comprehensive source for instruction and learning materials based on The National Council of Teachers of MathematicsPrinciples and Standards for School Mathematics This resource provides engaging, interesting and challenging interactive applets, standards-based lesson plans and other teacher resources.

Science Science NetLinks provides lesson plans, interactives, and hands-on activities, all of which provide opportunities to bring science and technology discovery into the classroom.

US History This Smithsonian sponsored site is a gateway to innovative online resources for teaching and learning American history. History is brought to life through artifacts, primary sources and online tools for the classroom.

Social Studies This resource harnesses National Geographic’s iconic media, research, and exploration to support high quality, student-centered learning through multimedia activities, photo and video galleries, reference library, and interactive mapping and collaboration tools

Economics EconEdLink provides teachers and students with lessons and classroom learning activities based on economics topics in the news and real-time economics data. EconEdLink content is designed to help integrate economic concepts.

English Language Arts ReadWriteThink provides educators with best practices and interactive resources for reading and English language arts instruction.

= Explore CC Quick Starts & Digital Content Resources = Please select one of the resources above to explore further for about 5 minutes (Those of you with Discovery Education accounts, please consider taking a tour with table mates who do not). While exploring these, please think about:
 * How easy are these resources to navigate?
 * How do you see yourself using these resources to support your teachers?
 * How do you see your teachers using these resources to enhance their learning and teaching practices?

Please take 5 minutes and turn to a neighbor to share what you discovered.

= Critically Discuss and Record Local Digital Resource Advocacy Processes =
 * I. ** It is important that you and your staff are clear about your school and/or district's advocacy processes for new digital resources. Basically, what are the steps that staff have to take in order to request and/or use new digital resources they discover and/or learn about during professional development. The goal is to
 * Increase for staff communication;
 * Enhance opportunities for staff collaboration, and;
 * Increase transparency and reduce redundancy of approved digital resources.


 * II. ** Each LEA (singlets may have join with another LEA), please discuss the following:
 * Who are the key stakeholders that need to be involved in your local advocacy processes?
 * How do teachers currently communicate with your Technology Department? Is this working? What improvements could be made, if any?
 * How well do you expect teachers to know the resource that they are asking to use? How do you know?
 * Do you have a plan for helping teachers be open to compromise with regard to using a similar resource? If so, explain. If not, what are your ideas?
 * What will successful digital resource advocacy look like in your school?

**III.** Please use this Google Form to both guide and record your discussion. III. Please view the results.

= Seed and/or Expand Digital Resource Local Evaluation Standards =
 * I. ** The key to digital resource sustainability begins with the careful evaluation of digital resources (both human and technical aspects) at the part of the advocacy processes. The goal is to
 * Increase formative evaluation that focuses digital resources' impact on learning and teaching;
 * Create meaningful evaluation questions and/or relevant indicators, and;
 * Seed and/or expand an action plan for conducting evaluations of digital resources.


 * II. ** Each LEA (singlets may have join with another LEA), please discuss the following:
 * In what ways do your current digital resource evaluation standards/processes address the positive impact on student learning? Teaching and/or administrative efficiency? If they do not, outline your action plan.
 * In what ways do your current digital resource evaluation standards/processes address alignment with CC and/or ES? If they do not not, outline your action plan.
 * How will you measure or otherwise determine that your digital resource evaluation action plans directly supported and/or enhanced student mastery of CC and/or ES?

**III.** Please use the Google Form to both guide and record your discussion. III. Please view your collective thoughts.

=Wrap Up: Share Final Thoughts =

**Image Copyright Information** Screen shots from: http://www.discoveryeducation.com/ http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/common-core-standards/id439424555?mt=8 http://www.thinkfinity.org/ http://www.radiolab.org/