Digital Literacy Standard Curriculum Version 4 teaches generic ICT skills and concepts. The curriculum features screen shots and simulations from Windows 8 and Microsoft Office 2013 to illustrate and provide hands-on examples. Topics include the Internet, Office suite, computer security and privacy, and digital lifestyles.
Type of Material:
Tutorial
Recommended Uses:
Students self-assess their digital literacy using the website's assessment quiz, which grades the answers and gives a personalized list of tutorials to take. These tutorials are best used in a self-paced, independent mode outside of classtime to review or gain digital skills.
Technical Requirements:
The website works across browsers.
Identify Major Learning Goals:
Users will be able to:
Recall basic computer skills
Build & demonstrate advanced skills
Explain when & how to use basic WORD & Excel applications
Use the Internet and cloud services appropriately
Target Student Population:
High School, College General Ed, College Lower Division, College Upper Division, Educational technology students, Library and information professional students
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
Basic ICT literacy
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
The overall website, as well as the individual tutorials, provide clear and concise information. Microsoft is the creator of the tutorials, which explain how to use their own products. Therefore, information is accurate and complete. Content is delivered in short concise videos which are self-contained in the tutorial. Tutorials also provide opportunities for interaction and feedback. Overall the focus of this resource is on productivity. The website also has quick links to content, resources, glossary and help. Links work.
Concerns:
The information is somewhat dated (based on Office 2013 and Windows 8.1). Images are not captioned or attributed (although they are likely to have been created by Microsoft).
Requires a LinkIn account for web use. You may download the MP4 video files for viewing, however they will not include the quizzes.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
Learning objectives are clear and very detailed; they reflect ICT literacy standards well. The tutorials are well sequenced and related, building on prior knowledge, starting by providing detailed coverage of computer and device basics. Viewer can pick and choose order if needed. Each video builds on one another and the quizzes help reinforce the content. Particularly because of the assessment tool, students can focus on the concepts that they need to work on; as such; their learning can be very efficient. With the skills learned, students can perform technology actions in their daily and academic life more effectively.
Concerns:
Materials are somewhat dated (e.g., the use of CDs to store information).
Limited scope, spends a substantial amount of time on Microsoft products (Word and Excel)
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
The website instructions, including the tutorials, are clear and easy to follow. The website and tutorials are professionally done. There is an extensive table of contents that provides information about every video; the downloaded videos have same good quality as the web version, although the downloaded version does not include the tble of contents. Because they are PowerPoints with text, the tutorials are more accessible than videos, and require less bandwidth. Users also have the option to download the tutorials and MS Word for free. Quick links, including help, are available throughout the website.
Concerns:
No clear instruction existis regarding the need for a LinkedIn account or ability to download files. Users would need a video viewer for files.
There is one part of the navigation that is a little confusing: the course topics are really learning objectives; the tutorial parts are not shown at the start.
Creative Commons:
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