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Narrator: OTAN-- Outreach and Technical Assistance Network.

Marjorie Olavides: Hello, everyone. My name is Marjorie Olavides. I am a project specialist for the Outreach and Technical Assistance Network-- OTAN-- and I'd like to welcome you all for joining us today for this month's OTAN Tech talk.

Our guest speaker is Debbie Jensen from Baldwin Park Adult and Community Education. She is also an OTAN subject matter expert. Her topic today is 21Things4Students. All right, let's get started. Take it away, Debbie.

Debbie Jensen: All right. Welcome. I'm glad you're here.

My name is Debbie Jensen. I teach basic skills to adult students in Southern California, and I work for OTAN. Today I want to share with you 21Things4Students.

Repeatedly, we have been told we need to help our students with three important 21st century skills-- how to create, how to collaborate, and how to communicate. 21Things4Students was designed for just that. Here your students will learn how to create their own digital portfolios, collaborate with each other, and communicate online, sharing what they've learned. And with each step, they are taught the digital skills needed to complete each task.

According to the site itself, 21Things4Students is an online resource to help students improve their technology proficiency as they prepare for success in the real world. You will love this resource. Not only for your students and your class, but also for yourself. This website has everything you want or need to teach your students about digital literacy and citizenship.

It is an online resource for all. It is free, and it is standards-aligned. There are no logins or passwords necessary. It not only teaches students, but it also has a section dedicated to teachers who may feel they lack some of the skills themselves. More on that later.

On the screen, you see their awesome index, where you can find what you want to teach by quest name, app, or program you want to learn, thing, vocabulary, or standards of different types.

Here are the 21 areas of study they include. See if these are skills you are trying to teach your students. Basics, visual learning, cloud initiation, collaboration, digital footprint, cyber safety, be legal and fair, troubleshooting, search strategies, digital images, powerful presentations, interactives, dig the data, social networking, design thinking, career prep, creative communications, digital storytelling, buyer beware, mobile computing, and coding in game design. I know there's something there for you and your students.

Each area is broken into quests, which are project-based activities using free internet resources throughout. Remember, a quest is a project-based project. Breaking a quest down further, each quest includes videos, learning objectives, step-by-step instructions, I can statements, key vocabulary, quizzes, and more.

To get started, on the first page, select Begin Here. There is an orientation video, then they challenge students to write their thoughts about digital citizenship answering questions, taking surveys, or joining in discussions in class or with a partner. In this section, students learn how to use the program and how to navigate the site. They're given instructions for using Quizlet, which is used throughout the course, in learning quizzes.

Having been an online student, I know frustration can be very real. In 21Things4Students, students are given many aids to help in the online experience. Some include road maps, checklists, feedback, and surveys that help students move through the course successfully.

21Things4Students starts with seven goals. They truly are the goals of every teacher. As I go through them, see how many you want to teach your students.

Goal one, we want our students to become empowered learners by improving technology skills. Here you see the quest for basics, which include eight quests-- navigation, image capture, shortcuts, web browser safety, online, email, and even correct etiquette. We'll look at this one later.

Goal two, students will learn to be safe and smart online and knowledgeable digital citizens. Students are taught about bullying, scams, passwords, cyber safety, and digital footprint, including this log of daily digital media use. The log helps students recognize the digital activities that take up their time, whether it's phone use, gaming, surfing, homework, TV, or listening to music.

Goal three, students need to think critically about online resources, and to know how to use them effectively to create and construct artifacts. They will learn how to select media, evaluate a website, and consider, is it fake news? They'll learn how to cite sources, avoiding plagiarism.

Goal five, students need to discover and use tools and strategies for collecting and analyzing data. These are free programs available on the internet, but with 21Things, it goes beyond just the tools, and helps her students explore and analyze the data.

Goal six, students will learn to express themselves creatively by using a variety of media tools that are appropriate to specific tasks. For example, learning about digital storytelling, digital portraits, and presentations.

And finally, goal seven, students will learn to make positive contributions as collaborators in local and global communities. They will practice expanding their digital footprint, collaborating outside the classroom and using social networking.

If all that wasn't amazing, 21Things4Students also includes badging and certificates ready-made to help you celebrate students success.

To get a feel for the site, let's look at the first thing called basics. As with all the presentations, it begins with a video introduction, learning objectives, links to the quests, and teacher's guides, and Quizlet quiz.

Zeroing on the quest for basics, they include navigation tips, how to do a screenshot, smart shortcuts, web browser tips, tech gymnastics, safe and secure, email, and email etiquette. I wanted to know more about the tech gymnastics, and it includes links to typing tutors and how to create an e-portfolio. There are more quests here for those who want to learn about files, and domains, and techie equipment. Each thing includes the teacher guide which is extensive and covers each quest individually, a learning objective slide if you want to project it in front of the class as you get the quest started, and the Quizlet on the topic.

Many of you are familiar with Quizlet. Each quest uses Quizlet to have students practice targeted vocabulary. But you can also use it for students to take the quiz. Each quiz can be printed to use for the final assessment in the class or have students take it online for formative assessment along the way. Students can check their answers to see what they might still need to study.

Here's a picture of part of the teacher guide for thing one basics. It walks you through decisions before you start the quest, explaining how to use each section, what to anticipate during the quest, and much more.

Navigation is simple and has much more than one way to get around. Here you see simply selecting the link connection to the next quest.

Let's begin the quest. Entertaining videos throughout the quest keep the students interested. After the video and introduction, there are I can statements and key vocabulary.

Next, you have the steps. These vary from quest to quest, but here are some of my favorites. I love the short technology skills survey, PLGs, student checklists, and roadmap.

Here is a question I always have-- how do you know what your students know already about technology? Here are four surveys broken up into age-appropriate skill levels. Both myself and my students were sad when we couldn't do some of the beginning skills. But with this program, you can add the phrase I can't do it. I can't do it, yet. But I wanted to emphasize that. that with this program, you can always add the phrase. When we say I can't do it, you can say I can't do it, yet.

For example, here's a portion of the grade six to eight skill list. The statements include I can correctly use every key on the keyboard when needed. I can format a document, and they tell you what that means-- set margins, set font size and type, set spacing, and set alignment.

I can copy and paste content such as text, images, formatting. I can type three pages in one sitting. And the student responses include yes, I can and not yet, I need to learn.

No matter what you are teaching your students, they need to begin by setting goals. And so this sections teaches them how to set PLGs-- personal learning goals-- and how to make their goals SMART. Students are taught the elements of SMART-- specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and relevant, and timely. And then they practice creating a SMART tech goal.

Each quest includes a personal checklist, allowing the student to check-off each task, including their personal learning goal and reflections when the quest is complete.

Before we leave the things, let me share one more favorite. It is in thing nine-- search strategies. This is especially timely as we teach our adult students how to evaluate the news they read online or hear each day.

In quest three-- website evaluation-- students learn what to look for when evaluating websites, videos, doing a search, and using the CARRDS method. They need to evaluate accuracy, learn to evaluate content authority or credibility, bias, or purpose of the author, and usability and design.

In quest five, they take what they have learned and move on to discuss and understand bias. They read through the infographic, once more reviewing what they need to look for. Then students look up articles, and go through the steps to examine the articles. And finally, discuss their findings. Was it fake news, in fact?

After practicing, they apply their skills to everyday news stories. To do this, as a class, first go to factcheck.org, and explore the site together. Then students go to a news site and pick a story. CNN, ABC, Huffington, Fox-- it doesn't matter. The more examples, the better.

Now they check out the story using fact check. Was the story fake news? Students are empowered to find out for themselves if the news they hear is based on fact or fiction.

We have been exploring the student side. Now let's look at the site for teachers. 21ThingsForTeachers.net is a free resource for teachers to connect best teaching practices with technology. We can learn the basics and beyond. They do an annual review, keeping things up-to-date, and they include 21Things, as well as additional resources in prepared PD modules.

Here is a suggestion for how to begin. Under Tech Readiness, they suggest you document your progress as you move through the basics. They even provide the document. Listen to what they say.

Let's begin by finding out what you know about technology. Digital learning and an online assessment raise the bar for technology skill readiness. Are you ready to be a tech ready teacher leader? Do you know what skills students will need?

21ThingsForTeachers wants to help. Their goal is to provide a single site of free resources and tutorials which meet the International Educational Technology Standards. And offer any type training to be used for professional development. Its resources are designed to serve a variety of models for PD.

Here you can find help in facing your class in the digital age-- flipping your classroom-- and learning how to use the tools before presenting them to the student. You'll learn how to differentiate instruction and include universal design lessons. And how to improve evaluation and assessment in your classroom. The site is designed to update information so you can keep up on emerging technology.

Here are the 21ThingsForTeachers. As you look over the list, you'll see some that are repeats of the 21Things4Students. But now they're teaching and preparing you, the teacher, before you present to the students. There are also unique things such as facing your classroom, content area, professional learning networks, and what you need to know about blended or flipped classrooms.

Here is an example of one section, under using technology to enhance assessment, engage learners, and inform instruction. They help you find technology to increase student perception through polls and surveys. Monitor student progress through interactives, informative tools. Assess student achievement goals using project-based learning and summative tools. And explore ways to house and use data. Wow, best practices and technology all in one place.

If we drill down into the section on progress monitoring, we see lists of apps with links, classroom application suggestions, and a learn how section with videos and teacher guides.

Here is one of the videos to teach you how to use the application Quizalize. Here is an example of a professional development module-- Google Apps, extensions, and add-ons. Many of us are getting Chromebooks for our sites, and this module discusses how to implement them in the classroom successfully. They look at Google Apps such as NearPods, Creative, Discovery, Education, and LEGO Education, as just a few.

What is the difference between an app and an extension? Or an add-on? Here you get your answers and also learn how to use them.

Each section has step-by-step instructions with diagrams and videos. Here you see the Google Drive add-ons for Google Docs and Google Sheets. They give you a brief overview of what each does.

There are even assignments for you to try it out for yourself. Evaluate and then summarize on the table what you learned about Google Apps, extensions, and add-ons.

21Things4Students and Teachers help you, the teacher, and your students become technology-using, future-focused 21st century learners and teachers.

One more thing-- I almost forgot. You can choose your language with the button at the bottom. Here the screen is in Afrikaans. For our adults being able to read the material in their own language, it's wonderful.

The site is large and comprehensive. It will make a difference in your classroom, for you and your students, as you use technology and teach technology in our digital age. Try it. Back to you, Marjorie.

Marjorie Olavides: Thank you, Debbie, for that great information. OTAN would also like to thank all of you for coming to this tech talk. If you have a tool or some tips that you use in an adult education program and that you'd like to share with the adult education field, submit your idea at bit.ly/OTTsignup-- the O-T-T is all caps.

We also encourage you to subscribe to the OTAN YouTube channel, where you can view archive tech talks, as well as view other OTAN videos

OTAN is a leadership project for adult education in California. And if you are at a WIOA funded site, you can contact OTAN for additional services, including professional development, at your site. Visit the OTAN site at www.otan/us or contact us by phone or email. We hope to see you all at a future OTAN Tech Talk.