.png)
.png)
Welcome to the December Newsletter!
SDE has purchased a statewide Northstar Digital Literacy license for adult education agencies in Connecticut. Digital ATDN has been dedicating its time and services to provide support and document all of the valuable information shared in the Northstar training as agencies work to implement Northstar. We are excited to share the Northstar Digital Literacy Toolkit!
Professional Development
12/12/2022 | Creating Collaborative Opportunities in the Blended Learning Classroom
Presenter: MaryKate Haverly
Audience: Directors, Program Facilitators, and Teachers
Collaborative learning is critical for student success and engagement. Digital learning tools, such as Jamboard, can enhance participation, collaboration, and creativity inside and outside the classroom. This training will discuss the benefits of collaborative learning, explore strategies using Jamboard, and design learning opportunities ready to be implemented in your in-person or online classroom. Click here to register
12/19/2022 | Use Nearpod to Build an Interactive and Collaborative Class
Presenter: Briana Patriarca
Audience: Teachers
Nearpod offers a library of interactive lessons and activities on a variety of topics. In this training, we will provide a brief overview of Nearpod including navigating the site, adding and creating lessons/activities, and best practice tips and tricks in managing your Nearpod dashboard. Click here to register
Digital ATDN App
The Northstar Digital Literacy tutorial videos are now included in the Digital ATDN App. Now you can bookmark the tutorials and quickly access them when you need them on your phone or PC. Click here to access the app
Tech Support and Implementation
The Technical Support feature in Calendly has been restructured! See a list of all the programs available in each of the sessions. Northstar Digital Literacy has been added to the list of programs supported. Click here to book a 20-minute session
Resource Spotlight and Strategy: Northstar Digital Literacy
Digital ATDN has created a Wakelet where agencies can access multiple toolkits. The ESL/ELP Toolkit was launched in October and the Northstar Digital Literacy Toolkit in November. The goal of the Wakelet and these toolkits is to organize pertinent resources, websites, and materials that would be beneficial for the field
The toolkit was created with two purposes in mind:
To have a place to store resources, materials, and valuable information agencies need to know about Northstar, and
To create a live document where we can continue to add best practices, procedures, and anything additional information to support agencies in their implementation of this program throughout the year.
Listed below are three recommendations as to how to navigate the toolkit:
Skim the topics and resources before diving in. Everything you need for Northstar is included in the toolkit, but you do not need to do everything in the toolkit to use Northstar. Take a look at the resources to assess your needs.
Create a document that aligns with the needs of your agency. Northstar administrators can use the toolkit and create their own modified document with links, recommendations, and resources for your agency to focus on.
Begin with the Northstar Trainings and Northstar Resources sections. (for new users) Northstar Pro Users' top recommendation was to take your time to review the content in Northstar, starting with watching the Northstar Trainings, then browsing Northstar Resources to access the outlined curriculum (login is required to access the curriculum).
Below is a list of the different sections available in the toolkit. Additional sections focusing on best practices and various procedures will continue to be added to the toolkit throughout the school year.
👓 Northstar Learner Recommended Levels
This is a slide with Literacy Minnesota's student-level recommendation on using Northstar. Please note that teachers can scaffold the lessons for them to be offered at a lower level.
💻 Northstar Training
Rob Podlasek from Literacy Minnesota, delivered 3 training sessions to guide agencies on how to begin using Northstar, as well as the using its different features. Included below are the links for each session however, you are also able to access these from the Past PD Offerings section on our website.
10/24/2022 | Northstar Training #1 - Overview of Northstar Features Video | Presentation
10/31/2022 | Northstar Training #2 - Getting Started with Northstar Digital Literacy Video | Presentation
11/9/2022 | Northstar Training #3 - Introducing Learners to Northstar Digital Literacy Video | Presentation
🗺 Procedures and Recommendations
Digital ATDN interviewed staff from different agencies throughout Connecticut that are familiar with and have been using Northstar within their programs. With a combined total of over 20 years of experience, agencies were willing to share their experience, procedures, expertise, and recommendations on maximizing the use of Northstar in their agency. These findings have been shared throughout the Northstar Digital Literacy Toolkit, with a plan to release more throughout the rest of the year.
🏫 Northstar Power User's Recommendations
We put together an infographic with the top 4 recommendations shared by our CT Northstar Power Users on the first thing to do when getting started with Northstar at your agency.
🌅 Northstar Flyers to Use in your Agency
In collaboration with ATDN, a collection of customizable flyers has been created and shared in Canva to help your agency with the promotion of Northstar to your students and community. To edit/customize these flyers, click on the "Use Template" button. A Canva account (which is free) is required to edit the flyers. Click here to access the flyers
🌎 Northstar Resources
All the available resources from Northstar can be accessed in this section, ranging from the curriculum to various tutorial videos. Please note that these resources are also available by accessing your Northstar account and going to the Resources tab.
