Digital Literacy/Northstar
Recent Newsletter Articles
Digital Equity Act Update: What Does It Mean for MN Adult Education?
$12 million in Digital Equity Act funds will be coming to Minnesota starting in 2025. Is your adult education program ready to apply and make use of these funds? Read More
Snowplows for Digital Literacy!
If you could use a good laugh right about now, check out MnDOT's Name a Snowplow Contest through this Friday, February 7. Even better, use this website as a fun opportunity to practice digital literacy skills with learners! Read More
Teachers Don’t Pay Teachers – Digital Learning Resources for You!
Check out some fantastic resources created by participants in the Best Practices in Digital Education cohort! Resources include a Distance Learning Resource Guide, a Technology Checkout form, a Chromebook Request form, a Google Meet Guide for Learners, and many others. Read More
Northstar Adds New Features, Resources, and Spanish Translations
Proactively meeting learner needs for digital literacy skills continues to become ever more central to our work as educators, given the continued expansion of the online world into every facet of life. Northstar Digital Literacy continues to innovate and develop new features to assist teachers and students. Read More
Teaching Essential Email Skills and Digital Resilience
We all agree that it's essential for adult learners to know the basics of how to send, read, and receive emails. But there are some other overlooked, yet essential digital skills we could also be teaching, including building learners' digital resilience and self-efficacy in digital spaces. Read More
IDEAL 103: Building an EdTech Strategy
While platforms such as Khan Academy or LinkedIn Learning host vast repositories of educational content, it can be a challenge incorporating them into the classroom. If you’ve struggled to digest and master a platform’s content, or how to meaningfully include such tools in the classroom, then the IDEAL 103 course is for you! Read More
You (yes, YOU) Can Teach Digital Literacy! The New Northstar Foundations Course Can Help
You likely know that the Northstar Digital Literacy standards are one of the three required sets of content standards for Minnesota Adult Education. Now, there’s a new online course to help all teachers integrate these standards into their teaching practice! Read More
EdTech Integration Strategy Toolkit: Routines to Level Up your Classroom
Over the last two years, we’ve seen more than our share of Top 10 lists and highlight reels with the newest tech to try. Finally, an EdTech Toolkit goes beyond an information-dump and provides repeatable classroom routines using low-barrier tech resources for you and your students. Read More
Northstar & CCRS: Cheers for Collaboration!
Have you been looking for ready-to-go standards aligned digital literacy lesson plans to support learners in topic areas like Using Email, Internet Basics and Google Docs? Would you like assistance with integrating the College and Career Readiness Standards and computer skills? Check out this webinar summary and recording for ready-to-go resources! Read More
Believe It or Not! Information Literacy and Adult Learners: Part 2
"Don't believe everything you read." This reminder is truer today than ever! Adult Basic Education can take the lead by promoting instructional strategies to make ABE students at all levels into more critical readers, listeners, and thinkers in this age of mass information. Here are some specific resources you can use to do exactly that. Read More