This week I am writing final exams and thinking about what I want to improve on for this upcoming semester. I teach in a very blue-collar district, where not all of the students have access to technology at home and therefore have not been taught many of the digital skills that educators take for granted in students. I have been working a list of skills and tools that I would like my students to possess in order to be successful in my classes and other digitally driven classrooms. Over the next series of articles, I will be exploring some of the skills that I think are essential to be a successful student in a digitally driven classroom.

In this article, I am going to talk about the tools that I want my students to have access to and know how to use.  This will not be an exhaustive list, but rather a list of the most important tools that I think all students should utilize. Most of these tools will be most useful once they move out of high school and either into college or the workforce.

Tools

1. Email – In a world where almost everyone can send a text message, email is still a better form of communication, primarily because it is not limited to a 160 characters and a free to send. As smartphones permeate students and classrooms deeper, it makes a better way for students to communicate with teachers and other students. An email can be quickly typed out on a computer or on the keyboard of a smartphone; questions/comments can be shot back and forth, as they come up while students are working.
2. USB/Thumb Drive – These small electronic storage devices can store anywhere from 1GB to 4GB typically and can be purchased from $5 to $25. This much storage can most likely hold entire high school existence on it with room to spare. Additionally, many common applications that are not available on school computers and can be installed onto a flash drive and run without any interference to the school’s computers.
3. Smart Phones – As stated earlier, smart phones are becoming commonplace among students in our digital world. These devices can and should be used in a variety of ways, from being a scientific calculator to a project/work documentation tool using the phone’s camera or note applications. Since most phones are also internet ready through WIFI or data connections, they can be excellent quick research tools, when a student needs to look up a quick fact or answer and a full computer is unavailable.
4. Digital Calendar/To-Do List – Organization is one of the most critical tools for success in my opinion and keeping on top of deadlines and due dates is a skill that all students need to master before they leave high school, no matter what they going to do after. While most students could be served with the just the simple planner, if a student has one place they can keep all of their activities and assignment deadlines/due dates it makes scheduling and planning easier. Almost all email accounts these days will give students a calendar that can be tied directly into the calendars on their smart phones. This builds a web of information that the students can use to stay organized and on top of all their responsibilities.
5. Note-Taking Software – There are several different note-taking software packages available from really robust free web based programs like Evernote to inexpensive (for students and teachers) Onenote. Building a digital library of information is awesome when you begin a new year or begin your high school journey. This is a way to not only organize all of your information, but also keep it safe and secure; you may take an algebra class as a freshman and need to refer back to that information two years later as junior. Utilizing digital note-taking software can allow you to build this library quickly and easily, incorporating written/typed notes and multimedia.