Enrich and future-proof your curriculum and prepare your students for technology adoption maturity and beyond with our Tech & Innovation Club.

Tech & Innovation Club Progression

1. Fundamentals to Mastery:
In the early grades, technology skills focus on the basics. Students learn about the keyboard, computer rules, mouse skills, and file creation. After that, they shift to the essentials such as word processing, presentation, digital citizenship, and spreadsheets. At this time, coding is block-based. Once mastery is achieved students are introduced to more complex tasks such as web development, text-based programming, data management, and animation.

2. Simple Products to Complex Artifacts:
Initially students complete simple tasks such as writing a story or journal. These lessons are short in duration and have minimal steps. In subsequent grades, the assignments become complex such as publishing a newsletter or biography. These lessons are longer in duration and have multiple steps. Similarly, coding tasks shift from simple scripts to elaborate programs.

3. Essential Tools to Multiple Applications:
At first, students explore essential tools in an application. Once familiar with their function, they use them repeatedly to gain the competency. Next, students discover features hidden in panes, dialogue boxes, or menus. Once students have proficiency, they blend multiple programs to complete real-world tasks, such as the creation of an infographic or the launch of a business venture.

4. Comprehension to Higher Order Thinking:
In the beginning, assignments require students to demonstrate a basic understanding of a concept. They might create an illustration, report, or presentation. Gradually tasks require advanced critical, creative, and computational thinking to solve problems and express ideas. Students might defend an opinion, justify a budget, interpret results, or program a game.

5. Beginner to Intermediate Challenges:
Within a technology project, assignments increase in difficulty. Initial activities focus on exploration and planning. Step-by-step, students learn new tools, techniques, or code. To differentiate instruction, DNG provides resources to meet the needs of beginners and advanced learners. For example, skill reviews solidify learning, whereas extension activities offer challenges.

Curriculum Standards and Assessment

An important component of Curriculum Standards is authentic assessment. Educators must measure whether students have reached milestones and are ready for the future. DNG technology projects include resources to support assessment practices.

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment is an ongoing process throughout a lesson, done by both the teacher and student, to verify understanding and direct the next instructional step. DNG technology projects provide a broad spectrum of tools. These can be used to obtain evidence of student thinking, clarify learning goals, encourage self-assessment, provide peer feedback, and monitor progress.

• Questions, Rating Scales, and Polls
  Questions throughout assignments engage students, form connections, identify current skills, and highlight knowledge gaps.
• Planning Sheets
  Graphic organizers help students brainstorm ideas, outline a plan, and establish learning goals.
• Checklists
  Task lists track progress, verify completion of work, and develop accountability.
• Peer Assessment
  Checklists, comments, and other constructive feedback guide revisions and the next steps.
• Skill Reviews
  Hands-on activities practice skills and transfer learning to a new situation.
• Reviews
  Quizzes with multiple choice and short answer questions measure knowledge of terminology, program tools, and concepts.
• Reflection
  Guiding questions have students reflect upon the learning experience and consider how it applies to their future.

Summative Assessment

Summative assessment occurs at the completion of a project and results in a score or grade. DNG provides tools to evaluate students’ achievements and measure how much they have learned. These can be used to assess the application of technology skills, content knowledge, and overall performance.

• Project-Based Assignments
  Assignments explain how to create original works such as digital stories, presentations, websites, portfolios, interactive maps, or infographics which demonstrate students’ competency.
• Rubrics
  Descriptions of quality provide teachers with a consistent criterion for examining completed projects.
• Marking Sheets
  The scoring system assigns a value to each component of a project for teachers to identify if goals have been achieved.
• Self-Assessment
  Personal evaluation by a student of their own work.
• Presentation
  Oral report by the student that explains investigations, results, and analysis.